Eddie Vedder On Michael Jordan And The ’90s Chicago Bulls: "It Was An Amazing Time In Life…"

After Pearl Jam's Present Tense perfectly soundtracked the end of hit 10-part documentary The Last Dance, the band have shared a performance of the song from 2006 – in Chicago, naturally – with frontman Eddie Vedder reminiscing about the Bulls and Michael Jordan before the song.

"14 years ago Eddie foreshadowed this moment at the United Center in Chicago, discussing Michael Jordan and the powerhouse Bulls team," they posted of the video, which first shows Eddie proudly finding and holding up a flyer to win play-off tickets, before he starts discussing the legendary ’90s-era Bulls onstage.

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“I think you can bring up Michael Jordan and the Chicago team since we’re in this room tonight and in their house,” he told the crowd at the venue before Pearl Jam performed Present Tense. “It was an amazing time in life, especially if you grew up in Chicago, to see that, and so even though music and athletics – it doesn’t really seem like they cross over, but this song, in particular, seems like it does, and I think about those guys.”

Watch the awesome video below:

Recently, Eddie also discussed his friendship with power forward Dennis Rodman, and how they flew to Las Vegas for a spontaneous trip to see Jane's Addiction following the Bulls' practice in Seattle one evening.

"I said, 'What the fuck is that?'" recalled Eddie of the moment he was presented with the tickets. "I said, 'I thought we were going to go up, I brought a book!' And he said, 'Jane's Addiction is playing in Las Vegas.' And I'm like, 'Jesus Christ, it's like fucking 6 o'clock. He's like, 'We'll get there by 9, they don't go on until 9:30.'"

The frontman continued: "We end up going through the fucking Seattle Airport. I mean, old ladies loved Dennis Rodman. I mean, we're just like running through the airport. People are like creating a running trail behind him like this river. 'Dennis! Dennis!' screaming. And he's going, 'Eddie Vedder right here! Eddie Vedder right here!' He's pointing at me."

Naturally they made it, and as they were watching the gig with a beer, Eddie revealed the hilarious punchline to the whole story: "Dennis looks over at me and he goes, 'It's relaxing, right?'"

Amazing.

Pearl Jam were recently forced to postpone their 2020 European tour, with the cancellation of this summer’s BST Hyde Park in London also announced.

“In light of the global COVID-19 pandemic, Pearl Jam’s 2020 European tour dates have been postponed until June/July 2021,” they said. “We are working with all of our partners to reschedule these dates and will release the new tour routing as soon as we are able.

“All tickets will be honoured for the rescheduled concert dates. Refunds are not being offered at this time. However, we are still reviewing specific ticketing policies with our partners in each country. Ticket holders will be notified of any changes.”

The band added: “We look forward to returning to Europe in 2021!”

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