CONCERT REVIEW: Eddie Vedder At The Tower

BY JONATHAN VALANIA FOR THE INQUIRER Eddie Vedder is a golden god to that sector of the rock-audience demographic that loves sports as much as it loves music. On Thursday night, the first of a two-night sold-out solo stand at the Tower Theater, Vedder regaled the crowd with tales of soul-brother handshakes with Dr. J and bar-hopping during the NBA Finals with Sean Penn and Jack Nicholson (wherein a beautiful woman walks up to Jack and asks if he wants to dance, and Jack responds that she’s chosen the wrong verb to describe what he wants to do with her), and made up a song on the spot that urged the Phillies to “do it again.” The crowd seemed just as thrilled with these moments of sports solidarity as they did with the songs he played. And he played plenty, drawing largely on his soundtrack work and well-chosen covers, along with a few Pearl Jam nuggets, in the course of a powerful two-hour set. MORE