Could Pearl Jam Open for Pearl Jam on Next Tour?
Pearl Jam’s recent live addition, Josh Klinghoffer, offered the prospect that some — or even all — members of the band could join him during his solo support set on their upcoming tour.
The former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist, who was also part of Eddie Vedder’s band for the latter's recent album Earthling, will open the Pearl Jam shows under the banner of Pluralone — his first-ever solo performances.
“It will just be me,” he told Spin in a recent interview. “I’m traveling with those guys because I’m playing with them, so it would be logistically difficult to bring other people. I never wanted to be a solo performer, or, at least, to start as a solo performer. What I’ve got coming up is a big step forward for me, and fucking nuts to imagine doing, but I’ll do it.
“From things those guys have graciously said, I can imagine there being some special guests from the pool of musicians that will be in the building anyway. Jeff [Ament] already helped out at Ohana and Stone [Gossard] has offered.” He added with a laugh: “ I'm sure if I wanted it, I could get all five of them up there at one point or another, but I'm not going to ask!”
Klinghoffer said there was some “push and pull” when it came to his role in Pearl Jam’s headline spots. “Some people would have me up there the whole show,” he said. “I’m in agreement that I don’t need to be up there for early songs and stuff they clearly don’t need any help with. The one great thing about them is that they’ve never said no. At rehearsal, they trust me, which is the best thing about it. They trust me to know what to play and when to play it. No one has ever told me not to do something.”
Pearl Jam's North American tour commences May 3 and runs until Sept. 22.