Pearl Jam Returns to Denmark, Shares Love For Roskilde Victims

Seven years ago tomorrow, nine people died in a wet, muddy, suffocating crowd surge during a Pearl Jam show at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark. This past Tuesday, the band was back to play Copenhagen for the first time since the tragedy.

Of interest to fans: Pearl Jam played The Who’s Love Reign O’er Me (below) live for the first time. Strange but true: In December 1979, 11 fans died during a suffocating crowd surge before a Who show in Cincinnati.

Of interest to anyone with the slightest philanthropic bent: Apparently Eddie Vedder or guitarist Stone Gossard will soon testify in Danish court to help Roskilde victims’ families recoup “funeral costs and [funds for the] upkeep of the burial plots.” The families’ lawsuits against festival organizers have so far been unsuccessful. (Pearl Jam was not responsible—though authorities did initially pin blame on the band.) What do the families hope to win? 170,000 kroner. That’s about $31,000 US dollars for each case. Sure, the logistics of an outdoor rock concert make for a challenging CSI plot, but come on, Roskilde. This isn’t TV. You didn’t skip a beat, and they’re not asking for millions.

Our continued sympathies to the families of the Roskilde tragedy. And a tip of our cap to Pearl Jam for continuing to care.