Eddie Vedder and Will Forte put on a rollicking performance of a Neil Young classic that first rocked SNL over 35 years ago.
Video has emerged of Vedder covering Young’s “Rocking’ in the Free World,” with help on vocals from Forte, at the star-studded SNL50 after-party. The 4:30 A.M. performance went down at the Plaza Hotel on Sunday night, following the show’s live anniversary special.
Other A-list talent like Brandi Carlile, Arcade Fire’s Win Butler, and The Roots members James Poyser and Captain Kirk Douglas can be seen accompanying Vedder and Forte—plus occasional glimpses of Jon Hamm rocking out and embracing the Pearl Jam frontman.
Vedder slows things down in the middle of the song to reflect on what SNL meant to him growing up. “I was only ten years old. I would wait for [my parents] to go to bed, and then I would sneak out into the living room and turn the black-and-white small TV on—quietly, so they didn’t know that I was watching this crazy thing called Saturday Night Live,” said the musician, who also performed at Friday night’s SNL50: The Homecoming Concert.
“And on Monday morning, I swear, the kids that had also seen it…” he adds. “Even at ten, that’s where I found my tribe.”
“So here’s to the tribe all here tonight,” Vedder toasts before jumping back into the song.
It’s not the only time the song made its way into the SNL50 festivities. Jack White performed a rousing rendition of the track as part of his appearance to close out Friday night’s Homecoming Concert. The song itself harkens back to one of Saturday Night Live’s most acclaimed musical performances when Young performed the song during his first turn as musical guest in 1989.
Conan O’Brien—then a writer on SNL—later reminisced about watching that performance from the floor of Studio 8H during an interview with Young. “Something happened that night,” O’Brien told Young. “Something… was transcendent, and punched through the television.”
“I think there was structural damage to 30 Rock,” O’Brien joked, “and it’s never been quite repaired.”
Young noted that the band didn’t do the song at run-through for that Season 15 episode, hoping to save the energy for the dress rehearsal and live show performances.
From the looks of it, Vedder and Forte’s rendition may have left a few cracks in the foundation of the Plaza. The full performance can be viewed at the top of this post.
