For the third time since May 2022, Pearl Jam touring member Josh Klinghoffer was again called on to play drums on short notice for the band last night (Sept. 13) in Fort Worth, Tx., while Matt Cameron recovers from a bout with COVID-19. The latter’s illness, in tandem with frontman Eddie Vedder battling the flu, apparently led Pearl Jam to postpone its Sunday show outside Indianapolis. Vedder was feeling better enough to take the stage tonight, but Cameron’s ongoing recovery meant he was unable to perform. Enter, Klinghoffer.
Unlike last year in Oakland and Fresno, Ca., when he shared drumming duties with Richard Stuverud and original Pearl Jam drummer Dave Krusen, Klinghoffer played the entire show in Fort Worth, which at 27 songs and 155 minutes was the longest of the band’s short fall U.S. tour so far. Among the rarities were just the third performance of Vitalogy‘s “Satan’s Bed” since 2016 and the second of Yield‘s “Pilate” since 2018. Six songs were played from Yield, with the lone track on the set list released after 1998 being “Mind Your Manners,” from 2013’s Lightning Bolt.
Klinghoffer joined Pearl Jam as touring member in early 2020 in time to participate in rehearsals for a spring tour in support of the album Gigaton, but when those shows were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he had to wait until Sept. 18, 2021 to actually perform with the band in front of an audience at New Jersey’s Sea.Hear.Now festival. The multi-instrumentalist previously served as the lead guitarist in the Red Hot Chili Peppers from 2009 to 2019, when he was replaced by longtime guitarist John Frusciante. He’s also a lifelong Pearl Jam fan who owns the drum kit former member Jack Irons used on the albums No Code and Yield.
Pearl Jam returns to Fort Worth on Friday and wraps its 2023 roadwork on Sept. 19 in Austin, Tx.
