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Pearl Jam Played “Angel” for the First Time Since 1994

The glory days of grunge are well in the “Rearviewmirror.” Pearl Jam, the grunge scene’s enduring forebear, is already celebrating its 25th anniversary as a band. The Seattle icons have been playing lots of deep cuts and unlikely covers on their recent tour to honor that full two and a half decades of repertoire. On Saturday, during the group’s headlining performance at Colorado’s Ride Festival, Pearl Jam busted out perhaps the rarest track yet: the 1993 Christmas single “Angel” that they hadn’t played live in 22 years.

“Some of you may know that this next song doesn’t get played much and some of you may not,” Eddie Vedder prefaced, according to a discussion on Pearl Jam’s website. “It was written by the guy who was our drummer, Dave Abbruzzese. We wish him well.” Abbruzzese was fired from the band in 1994 because of his “rock star” lifestyle and, in 2015, he was wanted for arrest on two different drug charges.

The dude can write a damn good song, though. At least he could back in the early ‘90s. “Angel” is standard PJ fare, and actually sounds a lot like “Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town.” Check out the fan-filmed clip, and then take a peek at another rendition of the song shot back in 1992, which features Abbruzzese on guitar:

According to Rolling Stone, Pearl Jam also busted out the rarely heard track “Santa Cruz” on Saturday. The song originates from a 2009 Christmas single and had only been played live one other time.

Any hardcore Pearl Jam fans catch any other rare songs on this tour? Let us know in comments below.

Featured Image: Deep Ghosh/Flickr

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