Audience members got a bit of a surprise during Eels’ encore performance at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul on Sunday night. Instead of finishing up the set by themselves, Eels welcomed Journey vocalist Steve Perry onstage to sing a few tracks with them.
First, Perry joined the band in helping them perform their 2000 song “It’s a Motherfucker” off of their album Daisies of the Galaxy. Then, Perry and the band performed a few songs from his days in Journey: “Open Arms” and “Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’.” It was Perry’s first onstage performance since the 90’s; he’s kept a pretty low profile since he left the band. The only time he’s really been spotted singing in public includes a few times he’s been seen singing at some San Francisco Giants baseball games.
There’s no word on exactly what caused him to decide to join up with Eels for Sunday night’s performance, but Perry did offer some insight into how he feels about them. After he sang, “It’s a Motherfucker,” he commented, “I love that song. I’ve told you over and over again I love that song… Someday I wanted to sing that song. Tonight was the first time I ever sang it. You know, I don’t know why the Eels don’t do my music.” Then, Eels replied, “We were just waiting for you.”
Earlier this year, Eels released their eleventh studio album, The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett. You can catch last night’s performance with Steve Perry below.
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