After a handful of songs at Ohana Fest on Friday night, the “Eddie Vedder And Friends” set turned into a full-on Pearl Jam performance. (They are still scheduled to headline on Sunday.) It was the band’s first show since drummer Matt Cameron left last summer after 27 years.
Behind the kit for Vedder’s Dana Point fest was Abe Laboriel Jr., the 55-year-old session drummer and member of Paul McCartney’s live band since 2001. He's also toured with Sting, Eric Clapton, and Steve Vai, and he performed on Vedder’s 2022 album Earthling. His dad, Abe Laboriel Sr., is an acclaimed session bassist and founding member of Friendship and Koinonia.
Laboriel previously played live with Vedder when filling in for Chad Smith during Vedder and the Earthlings’ 2023 Ohana set. Notably, Smith filled in for Laboriel when McCartney played Saturday Night Live in May.
Vedder introduced Laboriel as “filling in,” so it was not a formal hiring announcement, but r/pearljam posters had long speculated that he’d be Cameron’s replacement.
Pearl Jam's set included covers of Dead Boys and the Who, and the first song with Laboriel on drums was “Corduroy,” the Vitalogy cut and live staple Stereogum once named the band's best song. Watch below.
