Watch Members of Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, GN’R and Chili Peppers Stage an Epic Jam
‘Peak to the Sky’ festival in Big Sky, Montana united Mike McCready, Duff McKagan, Chad Smith and Taylor Hawkins
Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready. Photo: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready staged a historic rock summit at the Peak to the Sky festival in Big Sky, Montana on July 6th when he jammed with Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan, Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Josh Klinghoffer and Brandi Carlile for an evening of classic rock covers.
The two-day event was curated by Mike McCready and he was at the center of many jams through the long evening, which included all star renditions of Aerosmith’s “Sweet Emotion,” David Bowie’s “Ziggy Stardust,” Prince’s “Purple Rain” and an epic medley of Led Zeppelin songs preceded by a drum battle between Chad Smith and Taylor Hawkins. Check out this killer rendition of “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You” with Carlile on lead vocals.
The event took place the same day that Eddie Vedder was wrapping up his European tour by supporting the Who at Wembley Stadium. Pearl Jam have been completely inactive since finishing up their American summer stadium tour at Boston’s Fenway Park on September 4th, 2018. They have been picking away on their followup to 2013’s Lightning Bolt for the past couple of years, but there’s no word on when it might come out.
“We’ve gone in, probably, four or five times in the last couple of years, so we have a whole ton of unfinished stuff,” Pearl Jam guitarist Jeff Ament told Rolling Stoneearlier this year. “We’re just sort of in a little bit of limbo. I’m sure everybody’s got a bunch more riffs, and I’m sure Ed’s got a handful of journal lyrics. It’s just going to take us all getting into a room together for six weeks and just knocking something out.”
The only event on Vedder’s calendar at the moment is a September 28th performance at the Ohana Festival in Dana Point, California, which he curated. He’s sharing the bill with the Strokes, Incubus, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Jenny Lewis. McCready, meanwhile, hopes to make the Peak to the Sky festival an annual event.
