Eddie Vedder tells packed stadium Seattle has no reason not to solve homelessness crisis

At Pearl Jam’s first Home Show Wednesday night, front man Eddie Vedder dedicated their hit song, “Evenflow,” to another Eddie.

This Eddie was a man experiencing homelessness outside of the band’s original studio in Pioneer Square.

Vedder described getting to know Eddie while working on their first albums almost 30 years ago.

"He’d tell me these stories about what he’d been through and some of the atrocities he’d seen," Vedder said.

But after a long tour, Vedder said he lost touch with Eddie and later found out that he had died.

“The song was written before he passed away, and he never got to hear it,” Vedder said. “And he never knew that he was part of it.”

Pearl Jam’s two Home Shows are part of a fundraising campaign for Seattle’s homelessness services.

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Vedder told the packed stadium that Seattle has no reason not to solve its homelessness crisis.

"When we're as profitable as we've ever been, we can beat this," Vedder said. "And we can do it together and we need your help."

Right outside of the stadium Michael Dotts was selling Real Change newspapers.

Dotts has been living out of his car for more than 20 years. 
 
He says he appreciates the band's message, but not a single fan had bought a newspaper Wednesday.

"I know everybody's got things to do and whatever," Dotts said. "But if they can just take time out and just speak to a homeless person and just say 'How ya doin?' because a lot of people don't say nothing to you if you're homeless."

[asset-images[{"caption": "Michael Dotts sells newspapers to get his car out of impoundment. ", "fid": "146570", "style": "placed_wide", "uri": "public://201808/20180808_184232_0.jpg", "attribution": "Credit KUOW PHOTO / CASEY MARTIN"}]]Pearl Jam and its partner businesses say they've raised over $11 million so far and will decide how to spend the money when fundraising is over.

Their second "Home Show" is Friday night.