Only two major Grunge bands survived the 90's. Soundgarden, and Pearl Jam. I don't really count Alice in Chains. When Layne Staley died, the band name went with him in my opinion.
Eddie Vedder has long been my musical idol. Seriously, you will never have a clue how the music he makes helped me get through all the bad times in my life. If it was a break up, Black was playing. If it was anger, Blood or Go played. If it was depression, it was Footsteps.
I finally got the chance to see him in person. It was July 1st, 2011 in St. Louis for one of his solo shows at the Fox Theater.
We drove all night long to get there, only stopping to sleep for an hour or two. Due to the floods that summer, it took forever to get there. Instead of just cutting through Missouri, we had to go all the way down through Kansas, and then into Missouri, basically adding 4 hours on to the trip. Pain in the ass.
We got to the building at about 9 a.m. Little did we know, his tour bus wouldn't arrive until about 3:30 that afternoon. Still, we sat, and we waited.
The temperature was insane that day. It was no joke 100 degrees. Luckily, there were plenty of other fans who brought everybody lots of bottled water to keep from dying. Really it was not a pleasant experience at all. About 8 hours of standing in hundred plus degree heat, the bus finally arrived.
Eddie's dick head body guard came out and told us that he won't be signing autographs, or doing pictures, but he would shake hands. FUCKING REALLY??? I WAITED 8 GOD DAMN HOURS IN THE HEAT AND ONLY GET A HANDSHAKE?
Oh well, at least I got a hand shake. He stepped off the bus wearing shorts and a fucking black leather jacket. Apparently nobody told him about the weather? Or maybe he is too cool to care? He finally came to me, as about 40 other douche bag Pearl Jam fans crowded around. I shook his hand and thanked him, and he moved on.
If you ever get the chance to go see him, do it. It's worth the time. Not only does he play his own solo work, but does covers, and lots of Pearl Jam stuff as well.
