WATCH: Pearl Jam perform 'Angel' for the first time in two decades
A rare outing for the 1993 gem
Pearl Jam surprised fans at Colorado's Ride Festival over the weekend by playing ‘Angel’ for the first time since 1994.
A favourite amongst Pearl Jam purists, the track was originally released in 1993 as the A-side to their third annual Ten Club holiday singles. The 7” single was released to 50,000 copies and came backed with a live version of ‘Ramblings’.
Introducing it, Eddie Vedder told the Ride Festival crowd: "Some of you may know that this next song doesn’t get played much and some of you may not.
"It was written by the guy who was our drummer. Dave Abbruzzese. We wish him well."
The track is such a rarity on the live stage that it has only been performed four times by the Seattle rockers previously.
One of those performances was an acoustic rendition at the 1992 Bridge School benefit concert with Abbruzzese swapping his drums for the guitar.
On the road to celebrate their 25th anniversary, Pearl Jam have been digging deep into their musical arsenal to perform rarities as well as unlikely covers of the Police with Sting (‘Driven to Tears’) and the Doobie Brothers (‘Takin' It to the Streets’).
At the Ride Festival gig on Saturday, the band also performed their 2009 holiday single ‘Santa Cruz’ for the second time ever.
The full setlist was as follows:
Nothingman Pendulum Thin Air Sleeping by Myself Off He Goes Just Breathe Angel Society (Jerry Hannan cover) Low Light Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town Setting Forth Corduroy Why Go Mind Your Manners Even Flow Glorified G Daughter Sirens Unthought Known Better Man
Santa Cruz I Won’t Back Down Smile Given to Fly Comfortably Numb Black Crazy Mary Alive Yellow Ledbetter