The Pearl Jam formation, which will be at the Videotron Center on September 1, canceled on Wednesday a show scheduled for Vienna, Austria and the one which was to take place Friday evening in Prague, due to problems with Eddie Vedder’s voice.
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The 57-year-old singer’s voice was affected during a concert presented on July 17 at L’Hippodrome de Longchamps, in Paris, during the Lollapalooza 2022 event.
Smoke generated by fires in southwestern France, due to a heat wave, has altered air quality and damaged Eddie Vedder’s vocal cords. The mercury exceeded 40 degrees Celsius in southern Europe causing several forest fires.
Firefighters have been fighting forest fires since July 12 in France.
“Ed saw a doctor in Prague and he continues to receive treatment for his vocal cords. He no longer has a voice. The effects on her voice at our last outdoor show were too harsh. We offer our most sincere apologies to all those who had worked to put on this show and to the spectators. We have always had memorable visits to Prague. We are extremely disappointed,” the group said Thursday in a statement posted on its website.
Pearl Jam is due to end its European tour on Sunday and Monday at the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam.
Hot for the Stones
The Seattle band will then hit the road again on September 1 at the Videotron Center with an 11-concert tour on North American soil. Stops are planned in Ottawa, Hamilton and Toronto in Canada.
So far, the intense heat in Europe has not caused any major concert cancellations.
On July 19, Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones gave a performance at the Groupama stadium in Lyon, France when the mercury was 36 degrees Celsius in the early evening.
“This is our 53rd concert in France, but it is certainly the hottest,” Mick Jagger told the 50,000 spectators present, in remarks reported in the pages of the daily Le Figaro.
Hours before the Stones show, guitarist Ron Wood issued a warning to concertgoers in a Facebook post.
“Drink lots of water, wear a hat and stay hydrated. It’s going to be steaming,” he said.
