With Pearl Jam drummer Matt Cameron still sidelined after testing positive for Covid, the band tapped original drummer Dave Krusen to sit in during its May 16th show at Fresno, California's Save Mart Arena. Although he joined the band onstage during its 2017 Rock Hall performance, the gig marked Krusen's first concert with the band since May 25th, 1991 when he split the group due to substance abuse issues. While behind the kit on Monday night, Krusen tackled 10 songs with the band — eight of which he originally drummed on.
Ultimate Classic Rock quoted frontman Eddie Vedder's introduction of Krusen: “When this all went down with Matt the other day, we started thinking about all the other people that we've been through some great drummers. . . some of the best. Y'know, that first record (Ten) seems to be a record that affected so many people but our friend that was playing drums at that time, the amount of shows that he got to play with us was fairly limited. Well, it looks like this week we're going to get to make up for that.”
Over 30 years on, Pearl Jam remains one of the most consistent live acts around. Guitarist Mike McCready explained a while back why he thinks that is: “The sure-fire thing is just a confidence in our band, and I know that we've done that before and we'll do it again, because we are a really good, tight live band. And a lot of that is non-spoken because we've played together for so long. It's an interesting thing. I don't know if there's a sure-fire way of doing it, but I think we hit it pretty well most times we do it.”
