How does a random 18-year-old get to play the drums for Pearl Jam? Literally by shooting his shot.
The legendary band’s drummer, Matt Cameron, recently tested positive for Covid-19 and for obvious reasons he had to isolate himself. So the band had no choice but to enlist a few stand-in drummers.
That’s how Kai Neukermans (who drums for a band called The Alive) comes into the picture. He told the San Francisco Chronicle that when he heard Cameron was unavailable to play the show, he took his shot. Having met Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder’s daughter Olivia on a previous occasion, he decided to text her.
He was then invited to send a video of him drumming along to a Pearl Jam track. His dedication knows no bounds as he skipped school to do this and eventually ended up on stage at the Oakland Arena this past weekend.
Watch the fan-shot footage of Neukermans joining the band for their 2013 song “Mind Your Manners” below.
