MUSIC

Oakland Teen Saves Pearl Jam Concert After Drummer Gets COVID-19: 'Kai Neukermans from Local Band The Alive'

May 15th, 2022

Local teen to the rescue!

After learning that Pearl Jam's drummer Matt Cameron tested positive for COVID-19, a local 18-year-old drummer decided to take matters into his own hands by volunteering to join the band at the Oakland Arena on Friday night.

"Everybody, this is Kai; Kai, this is everybody!" Eddie Vedder introduced the high school student to the crowd from the clip the band posted on YouTube.

Kai Neukermans of Mill Valley already plays for his band The Alive, consisting of his 14-year-old brother, who plays bass, and their friend Bastian Evans, 17, who helms the group's guitar and vocals.

Prior to taking the stage on Friday, Neukermans and his brother had just returned from watching Pearl Jam in Los Angeles, The San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Neukermans' friends and family reportedly encouraged the young drummer to offer himself up as a replacement for Cameron after the veteran musician tested positive for the coronavirus.

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Giving his best shot to secure the spot, Neukermans sent a text to Vedder's daughter Olivia Vedder, whom he met at Ohana Fest in 2018. Olivia responded and told Neukermans she would ask her dad about his proposal.

The next day while at school, he received a response from the band, who requested him to submit a video of himself drumming. Within an hour of submitting the clip, he was contacted by a manager who then asked him to show up at the stadium for rehearsal.

"They were having so much fun," Neukermans told The SF Chronicle of the band. When Eddie introduced the teenage drummer to the crowd on Friday, he mentioned having seen The Alive perform, telling the audience he was impressed by "how hard they can play."

"You're leading the band, brother," Eddie said while handing off the responsibility to Neukermans in the video.

Neukermans later wowed the crowd with an explosive rendition of "Mind Your Manners" from the group's 2013 Lightning Bolt album.

Curated By

Maya Gupta
Investigative Journalist | Grassroots Movement Organizer | Economy Consultant/Speaker
Maya Gupta writes from the fault lines of a world that refuses to stay quiet. Focused on the collisions between culture, power, and accountability, her work cuts past polished narratives to expose what’s really moving beneath the surface. From the rise of creator-driven influence to athlete activism and grassroots resistance, she tracks the momentum shaping a generation unwilling to wait its turn. Her reporting doesn’t cater to comfort, it confronts it, challenging institutions that lean on legacy instead of legitimacy. With a voice rooted in urgency and a lens tuned to those often ignored, Maya delivers coverage that reflects the stakes as they are, not as they’re packaged. This is journalism that doesn’t just observe change, it stands in the middle of it, documenting the push, the backlash, and the undeniable shift underway.

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