Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready staged a historic rock summit at the Peak to the Sky festival in Big Sky, Montana on July 6th when he jammed with Guns N Roses bassist Duff McKagan, Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Josh Klinghoffer and Brandi Carlile for an evening of classic rock covers.
The two-day event was curated by Mike McCready and he was at the center of many jams through the long evening, which included all star renditions of Aerosmiths Sweet Emotion, David Bowies Ziggy Stardust, Princes Purple Rain and an epic medley of Led Zeppelin songs preceded by a drum battle between Chad Smith and Taylor Hawkins. Check out this killer rendition of Babe Im Gonna Leave You with Carlile on lead vocals.
The event took place the same day that Eddie Vedder was wrapping up his European tour by supporting the Who at Wembley Stadium. Pearl Jam have been completely inactive since finishing up their American summer stadium tour at Bostons Fenway Park on September 4th, 2018. They have been picking away on their followup to 2013s Lightning Bolt for the past couple of years, but theres no word on when it might come out.
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Weve gone in, probably, four or five times in the last couple of years, so we have a whole ton of unfinished stuff, Pearl Jam guitarist Jeff Ament told Rolling Stone earlier this year. Were just sort of in a little bit of limbo. Im sure everybodys got a bunch more riffs, and Im sure Eds got a handful of journal lyrics. Its just going to take us all getting into a room together for six weeks and just knocking something out.
The only event on Vedders calendar at the moment is a September 28th performance at the Ohana Festival in Dana Point, California, which he curated. Hes sharing the bill with the Strokes, Incubus, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Jenny Lewis. McCready, meanwhile, hopes to make the Peak to the Sky festival an annual event.