As Pearl Jam has been making their way through Europe on a headlining tour, the group made a stop at the NOS Alive festival in Portugal, with the band doing something special by performing cover of the Neil Young staple “Rockin’ in the Free World” with Jack White. As reported by Rolling Stone, White came on stage for Pearl Jam’s final song of the night, and he ripped some sweet guitar solos and leads to close out the night in epic fashion. While Pearl Jam has been performing “Rockin’ in the Free World” as their closer during their recent tours, White coming out came as a total surprise.
This is not the first time the two have shared the stage as White played with Pearl Jam during a secret show in Nashville in 2016 before their performance at the Bonnaroo festival. With its anthemic lyrics and simple chord structure, “Rockin’ in the Free World” lends itself to extended jamming, as Pearl Jam, along with members of Rush, Yes, and Journey all performed the song at last year’s Rock n Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Additionally, the likes of guitar virtuosos Joe Satriani and Steve Vai have also performed incredible versions of the song, with plenty of room for extended soloing.
Pearl Jam is currently in the midst of a European tour, one in which they had to cancel their first-ever show due to frontman Eddie Vedder needing to rest his vocal cords. The band released some new music earlier this year, and they plan on release a new full-length album shortly.
After the breakup of the White Stripes in 2011, Jack White set out on his own, with his most recent solo album, the incredible Boarding House Reach, hit number one on the Billboard album charts earlier this year, relying mainly on physical album sales to accomplish the feat. Like many other artists, White has banned the use of cell phones from his solo concerts earlier this year, taking a hard-line stance that is becoming more and more popular to do in an age where fans are content to take photos and videos on their phones instead of focusing on the live performance happening in front of them.
You can watch footage of Pearl Jam rocking out with Jack White in the player below.
Photo credit Alyssa Fried
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