Eddie Vedder made a lot of Kiwis' nights over the weekend, but one young fella in particular had an ‘unreal’ night he'll never forget.
The band's setlist for their final NZ show of the Dark Matter World Tour last night was nothing short of legendary, featuring tracks like 'Release', 'Black', and 'Better Man' among so many more.
But one of the night’s most memorable moments came when they invited a teenage fan onstage to join them in a cover of Neil Young’s 'Rockin’ in the Free World'.
17-year-old Leon Fenemor stood in the crowd with a painted sign reading ‘Eddie can I play guitar please?’ on one side, and a list of song requests on the other. Among his picks were the Neil Young classic, alongside Pearl Jam songs like 'Scared of Fear', 'Evolution', 'Wreckage', 'Better Man', 'Corduroy', and 'Rearview Mirror'.
After patiently waiting for most of the show, Leon was given a guitar and pulled on stage, where he slipped into the band effortlessly, absolutely nailing the cover.
Speaking about how the moment came about, Leon told The Rock: “A security guard came up to me and told me to come to the edge of the stage. He said to wait until Eddie says to come up.”
He went on to explain that once he got the cue, he headed onstage and Eddie passed him a guitar pic.
“It felt so unreal, and looking out at the huge audience was just crazy. I was never nervous, instead I was just so excited,” Leon said.
Leon, who learnt how to play the guitar during lockdown four years ago and has been practicing the band’s songs ever since, showed he could rock well beyond his years. He made sure he soaked up every moment with each band member - even providing some back up vocals on guitarist Stone Gossard’s mic at one point.
The teenage guitarist is in a band called Blue Mig, so has done some small gigs before, ”but nothing even close to this obviously,” he said.
At the end of the performance, Leon and Eddie shook hands and got a selfie together.
What a legendary moment…but for a while there, it looked like it wasn't gonna happen for young Leon.
Eddie had noticed Leon a few times during the gig, first pointing out his sign early on and then again when Crowded House’s Neil Finn joined him onstage.
“Can I just say there’s this young guy who’s been holding up this sign all night. It’s a pretty well made sign…” Vedder said as the crowd cheered and the camera panned towards the sign.
“You wanna play this guitar?” he asks.
“Well, I’ll find out your name later but I’m sorry kid it was either you or Neil Finn, I had to go with Neil Finn,” Vedder continued.
With that, Vedder and Finn launched into 'Throw Your Arms Around Me' by Hunters & Collectors - another high point in the show.
Much to the delight of the crowd - and definitely Leon - the long-awaited collaboration did happen, and it made an already epic night even more awesome.
