Legendary band Pearl Jam’s Oakland show got saved after the rock band enlisted help from a teen fan to substitute their drummer who contracted Covid.
“Pearl Jam’s drummer tested positive for Covid before their concert last night.
Instead of canceling the show, they invited a local kid from Oakland to fill in for them,” Barstool Sports Tweeted.
Since the band’s drummer, Matt Cameron, couldn’t climb the stage, an 18-year-old fan Kai Neukermans decided to help them out and took matters into his hands.
The young boy lived his dream when he was invited to appear on the stage to perform with the band on the famous “Mind Your Manners,” track following volunteering for the task.
“Everybody, this is Kai; Kai, this is everybody,” said the lead, Eddie Vedder, while introducing the young boy to the crowd. He could be further seen in the YouTube video of the show, saying, “You’re leading the band, brother.”
Before taking the stage to perform with the Seattle-based band at Oakland Arena, California, Kai and his brother came back from watching the band’s live show in Los Angeles, said The San Francisco Chronicle.
To avail of the opportunity of performing with the Grammy-award winner band, Kai,18, approached Vedder’s daughter, Olivia Vedder, through a text message after finding her number on his cell phone following a past encounter.
The teen boy, who is currently in his senior year at Mill Valley’s Tamalpais High School, was asked to get onboard for her father’s band.
“It was a last-minute thing, and I didn’t think it was going to work out,” Kai told a news outlet.
Kai’s efforts to play with the band got the ball rolling, and shortly he was asked to send a clip of him drumming on a band’s track, which he promptly did, skipping his school.
The loyal fan then recorded a video of him drumming along to the song “Mind Your Manners” from their 2013 album “Lightning Bolt.”
Just an hour later, he received a call from the band’s manager to come down to the studio for a quick trial.
Although the band took Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Josh Klinghoffer and drummer Richard Stuverud, onboard for the safe side, they let Kai drum to one song.
“My heart started racing when everyone started screaming and my heart skipped a beat,” the young drummer described his feelings.
The teen’s short moment on the stage proved to be a success as the 20,000 people couldn’t stop chanting his name. “I tried to stay as focused as possible and watch the other band members and just tried not to look at the crowd because it was freaking me out,” he said.
