© K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune
Pearl Jam’s rousing show in Las Vegas on Saturday night was defined as much by what happened off stage as on it. Between songs, frontman Eddie Vedder took a bold stand for equality, directly challenging controversial comments made by Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker in a recent graduation speech.
Vedder used his platform to encourage the packed MGM Grand arena to fully embrace the night’s opening act – the rising indie band Deep See Diver. He pointedly noted that two of the band’s core members, including lead singer Jessica, are women. “The singer, Jessica, and the keyboard player, Patti, they must not have believed that ‘diabolical lie’ that women should take pride in taking a back seat to their man,” Vedder declared.
In his graduation address, Butker had suggested that homemaking was the highest calling for women and promoted a fixation on masculine chest-thumping. But in Deep See Diver, Vedder saw proof that such rigid stereotypes had no place in music or society. “There should be pride in homemaking if you’re a man or a woman … it’s one of the hardest jobs and you should definitely take pride in it, but you’re going to benefit by giving up your dreams? I couldn’t understand the logic, so I’m questioning it in public right now … It’s not a graduation speech.” he told the roaring crowd.
“The irony was that the football player — well, kicker … You see the kicker doesn’t have the pads because he doesn’t tackle anybody or get tackled — but he started telling men, ‘Don’t forget to puff up your chest and be more masculine. Don’t lose your masculinity.’ The irony was that when he was saying that, he looked like such a f—ing p—-. There’s nothing more masculine than a strong man supporting a strong woman,”
