Vedder has been a fan of Rodman’s team Chicago Bulls since childhood, while Rodman said he used Pearl Jam’s music to pump himself up before games, before his retirement in 2006. But the group won’t tolerate actual violence in the crowd – as one fan found out firsthand while being ejected from their August 22 stop in Chicago.
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Yes, you read that headline correctly – at Pearl Jam’s Monday night (Aug. 22) concert at Chicago’s Wrigley Field, frontman Eddie Vedder ejected a belligerent fan and was lifted up in the arms of former Chicago Bulls star Dennis Rodman.
An Evanston, Illinois native, Vedder has always been a devoted Chicago Bulls fan, while Rodman remains a dedicated Pearl Jam fan.
After the conflict didn’t come to an immediate halt, Vedder stepped up his efforts. Below, watch Pearl Jam stop in the middle of “Lukin” for Vedder to make the call: “Hey, mister, get your finger out of the woman’s face…”
He then says, “all the fingers are pointing at you”, when people around that man pointed at him as the trouble maker.
Vedder asked if the unidentified woman was OK, and offered a shout-out to her male companion. “Yeah? You’re good?” and then says, “That’s a good man, taking care of your woman, and then she was taking care of herself too pretty good”.
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As the band was performing “Lukin”, Vedder suddenly told his bandmates to stop playing when he thought he saw a man being rude to a woman in the crowd near the stage. “I send my love to Steve Bartman”.
