I saw them twice that summer. Up at SPAC a week earlier and here at Waterloo. Now let me tell you how I saved Eddie that day. Sort of:)
My friends and I got separated during Soundgarden's set, so I went to our meeting spot at the main gate into Waterloo field. There's me and an elderly woman sitting behind a picnic table checking tix. Next to her is a MOUNTAIN of bottled water and candy on the ground that we all had to unload upon entrance. She's reading a book or something because the festival is in full swing and everyones inside already. All of a sudden, this little guy with a brown suede jacket (yes, THAT jacket) with his long hair tucked inside, walks thru the gate. The old woman sees his band pass and ignores him. Now, I'm on some VERY festive psychedelics, but the realization that I'm looking at the most important rock star of Summer 1992 is not lost on me, in fact I'm appreciating this on MULTIPLE levels!:)
Anyway...
Ed sees that I see him, and he tries to meekly walk past me. I don't freak out on him, in fact I don't say anything to him, I'm pretty speechless anyway. But something makes Ed stop and look back at me. He turns towards me again and asks me my name. "Steve" I tell him. "What's up Steve, you want to go watch Ice Cube with me?" Nah, I think I'll stay here with granny- OF COURSE I DO EDWARD!!
So we start walking up the middle of the very large field. Waterloo was HUGE, like 3 football fields big, and there's all the vendors and carnival madness going on. And there's me and Ed, who comes up to my shoulders. I must have had the craziest smile on my face because at this point I am S.T.O.K.E.D.!! And I still remember the smile on his face when he asked me if I caught his set, and I told him how scared I was for him when he climbed the lighting rigs. Those shows were brutal and I'm proud to have been a part of them. Eddie was always famous for being that shy rock star, and I'm here to tell you that's no act. He leaves it all on that stage. He went from being the fearless warrior up there, to this unassuming fan of music talking with me. So we're walking......
Suddenly I start to perceive the faces and heads in the crowd popping up and down, trying to see if they just saw Eddie Vedder. We're getting closer to the sound tent in the middle of the field, and there is this palpable wave of recognition coming our way. He's got a ball cap on backwards and his hair is still tucked inside that damned 'Jeremy' jacket, but if I recognized him, so do all the other goofballs. Ed became a little anxious at this point, understandably so.
We get to the sound tent and Ed tells me to stand in one spot, where he proceeded to stand hunched behind me in the hopes the crowd would lose track of him. This worked just fine. Until the sound engineer blew up his spot, screaming something like "Yo Eddie bro, what's up man?" A crowd looked our way and that was a WRAP.
Eddie looks me in the eye, says "I'm going for it, follow me", then he bolted up front towards the stage. Sadly, a man of Ed's stature can carve through a crowd like that much easier than my burly Irish ass. So I lost him. I spent the first 3 or 4 songs in Ice Cube's set looking for Ed, then gave up. I don't really remember anything else after that because I was buzzing so hard on the encounter. I probably spent the rest of the day telling the story to everyone.
I cherish that memory.
Next time Ed, I'll tell the sound man to shut the hell up!!
Comments
I saw them twice that summer. Up at SPAC a week earlier and here at Waterloo. Now let me tell you how I saved Eddie that day. Sort of:)
My friends and I got separated during Soundgarden's set, so I went to our meeting spot at the main gate into Waterloo field. There's me and an elderly woman sitting behind a picnic table checking tix. Next to her is a MOUNTAIN of bottled water and candy on the ground that we all had to unload upon entrance. She's reading a book or something because the festival is in full swing and everyones inside already. All of a sudden, this little guy with a brown suede jacket (yes, THAT jacket) with his long hair tucked inside, walks thru the gate. The old woman sees his band pass and ignores him. Now, I'm on some VERY festive psychedelics, but the realization that I'm looking at the most important rock star of Summer 1992 is not lost on me, in fact I'm appreciating this on MULTIPLE levels!:)
Anyway...
Ed sees that I see him, and he tries to meekly walk past me. I don't freak out on him, in fact I don't say anything to him, I'm pretty speechless anyway. But something makes Ed stop and look back at me. He turns towards me again and asks me my name. "Steve" I tell him. "What's up Steve, you want to go watch Ice Cube with me?" Nah, I think I'll stay here with granny- OF COURSE I DO EDWARD!!
So we start walking up the middle of the very large field. Waterloo was HUGE, like 3 football fields big, and there's all the vendors and carnival madness going on. And there's me and Ed, who comes up to my shoulders. I must have had the craziest smile on my face because at this point I am S.T.O.K.E.D.!! And I still remember the smile on his face when he asked me if I caught his set, and I told him how scared I was for him when he climbed the lighting rigs. Those shows were brutal and I'm proud to have been a part of them. Eddie was always famous for being that shy rock star, and I'm here to tell you that's no act. He leaves it all on that stage. He went from being the fearless warrior up there, to this unassuming fan of music talking with me. So we're walking......
Suddenly I start to perceive the faces and heads in the crowd popping up and down, trying to see if they just saw Eddie Vedder. We're getting closer to the sound tent in the middle of the field, and there is this palpable wave of recognition coming our way. He's got a ball cap on backwards and his hair is still tucked inside that damned 'Jeremy' jacket, but if I recognized him, so do all the other goofballs. Ed became a little anxious at this point, understandably so.
We get to the sound tent and Ed tells me to stand in one spot, where he proceeded to stand hunched behind me in the hopes the crowd would lose track of him. This worked just fine. Until the sound engineer blew up his spot, screaming something like "Yo Eddie bro, what's up man?" A crowd looked our way and that was a WRAP.
Eddie looks me in the eye, says "I'm going for it, follow me", then he bolted up front towards the stage. Sadly, a man of Ed's stature can carve through a crowd like that much easier than my burly Irish ass. So I lost him. I spent the first 3 or 4 songs in Ice Cube's set looking for Ed, then gave up. I don't really remember anything else after that because I was buzzing so hard on the encounter. I probably spent the rest of the day telling the story to everyone.
I cherish that memory.
Next time Ed, I'll tell the sound man to shut the hell up!!