Longtime Paul McCartney drummer Abe Laboriel Jr. joins Pearl Jam at Ohana Festival

has joined Pearl Jam behind the kit during a surprise performance at Ohana Festival.

The appearance came last night (September 25) during a festival headline slot that had been billed as “Eddie Vedder and Friends” at Doheny State Beach in Dana Point, California.

Instead, Vedder was joined by his Pearl Jam bandmates, who opened with ‘Corduroy’ before running through ‘Hail, Hail’, ‘Scared Of Fear’, ‘Wishlist’ and ‘Dark Matter’, with Laboriel making his debut behind the kit.

The show marked Pearl Jam’s first live performance since Matt Cameron announced that he was leaving the band after 27 years in July 2025. It is unclear whether Laboriel has permanently taken Cameron’s place, with Vedder introducing him as “filling in tonight”.

A banda está programada para abrir o Ohana novamente amanhã à noite (27 de setembro), sua única outra apresentação agendada atualmente em 2026.

Laboriel has played with McCartney since 2001, first playing on his album ‘Driving Rain’ before making his live debut with him at the Concert For New York City that year.

He has remained a member of McCartney’s live band ever since.

No início deste ano, McCartney elogiou Laboriel enquanto conversava com a NME sobre tocar ao lado de Ringo Starr.

Reflecting on the two drummers playing ‘Helter Skelter’ together, McCartney said: “There’s my drummer, Abe, who always plays it great, but then this one night, Ringo gets in and plays with Abe, and it’s just very special because he was the original drummer on it, and also because it’s Ringo.”.

Laboriel já tem história com Vedder também. Ele tocou bateria e percussão em “Picture”, a colaboração de 2022 de Vedder com Elton John do álbum solo “Earthling”.

He also stepped into Vedder’s live band The Earthlings at Ohana in 2023, filling in for Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith.

Laboriel has also worked with artists including Sting, Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood.

Encore: ‘Better Man’ (with ‘Save It For Later’ tag) ‘Even Flow’ ‘Sonic Reducer’ (Dead Boys cover) ‘Baba O’Riley’ (The Who cover).

Cameron joined Pearl Jam in 1998 and became the longest-serving drummer in the band’s history. When announcing his departure last summer, he called his time with the group “an incredible journey” and thanked the band for “the opportunity of a lifetime, filled with friendships, artistry, challenges and laughter”.

Ele explicou mais tarde sua decisão de deixar o grupo, dizendo que os shows de três horas e a constante turnê se tornaram difíceis. “Estou em um ponto agora em que quero fazer um set de 70 minutos que derrete o rosto”, disse ele, confirmando que a separação foi amigável e que ele permanece um músico ativo.

Cameron, desde então, tem direcionado sua atenção para concluir o último álbum do Soundgarden, que conta com vocais inéditos do falecido Chris Cornell.

Pearl Jam’s most recent studio album, ‘Dark Matter’, arrived in 2024. NME awarded it four stars, praising the band for delivering “some of their most impressive musicianship yet” and showing “a determination to take risks after years of playing it safe”.

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