After attending Glen Hansard‘s funeral in Dublin, Ireland last Tuesday (Aug. 4), Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder paid tribute to his late friend and musical compatriot in the most fitting fashion possible. Vedder headed down to Dublin’s Grafton Street after the service to play a few acoustic songs in the spot where Hansard got his start at 13, performing on those same city streets for change before rising to national, and international fame with his bands The Frames and The Swell Season.
Vedder sang his band’s “Black,” as well as Bruce Springsteen’s “Drive All Night” on guitar with help from some local musicians, as captured by Scottish musician Murdo Mitchell in an Instagram post also featuring moody pictures by famed music photographer Danny Clinch. “After Glen’s funeral, I asked Dylan, Tom & Felix, if they would be up for a busk at Glen’s spot on Grafton St.,” wrote Mitchell of the up-and-coming Irish folk singers Tom and Felix Doran and Dublin singer Dylan Harcourt.
“They were more than keen so we rallied a group of some friends & we headed down even though it was like 3am, it felt like the right thing to do,” he added. “His spirit was there. Not got much footage of it. We only had my guitar, a broken string & some heart, but we made it work.”
The footage features Vedder singing along to the Springsteen song as another musician plays acoustic guitar and Clinch adds some harmonica between snapping photos. Scattered among the moody black-and-white photos is a video of Vedder playing “Black” with the Dorans providing harmony vocals.
Vedder befriended Oscar-winner Hansard in 2010 after a man leaped to his death during a Swell Season show in Saratoga, Calif. In an interview with Track Star last month, Hansard called the death “the most traumatic time” for him and said as he was mulling canceling the tour, Vedder reached out to see how he was doing. “It was so kind. We spoke for an hour on the phone and he said ‘Do you mind if I call you tomorrow?’,” Hansard said of the PJ singer, who has spoken in the past about the traumatic impact of the deaths of nine fans in a crowd crush during the band’s show at the Roskilde Festival in 2000. “For five days, he called me, and at the end of the five days he said ‘This is my number, if you’re ever in Seattle, I’d love to hang out with you,” Hansard recalled of Vedder’s act of compassion. “‘I’m really sorry for what happened’.”
Hansard died in a motorcycle crash on July 29 at age 56 and last week’s funeral at St. Patrick’s Cathedral was a testament to the deep love and admiration he inspired among his musical peers. Bono spoke about how approachable and friendly Hansard was, saying, “People on the green outside, best friends. People tuning in, best friends. Even people who haven’t met him, best friends. Everyone who met him, they just remember the day they met him,” before sharing a voicemail from punk godmother Patti Smith.
The U2 singer then performed a reworked version of his band’s “Beautiful Day” featuring new lyrics dedicated to Hansard. Vedder followed with a performance of Hansard’s “The Song of Good Hope,” which also featured Hansard’s fellow Oscar-winning Once collaborator Markéta Irglová. The service ended with a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Forever Young” featuring Bono, Vedder, The Edge, Hothouse Flowers singer Liam Ó Maonlaí and a choir of musicians assembled around the altar.
