Pearl Jam took to the stage in London last night and wowed 20,000 fans with a twenty-eight song set - paying homage to Michael Jackson in the process.

Playing for over three hours, Eddie Vedder and co. held the London audience in their hands playing hits from throughout their career such as 'Even Flow' and 'Alive' alongside cover versions and previews of their new album 'Backspacer' including a first live airing of 'Supersonic'.

The show was a star studded event too with Hollywood stars Jonah Hill, Tim Robbins and Josh Brolin in attendance.

At one point, Eddie Vedder affectionately dedicated 'Blood' to Robbins.

Paying homage to Michael Jackson the Seattle band played an acoustic snippet of The King of Pop's 'Ben' within their own song 'Rats'.

Before launching into 'Rats', Eddie Vedder gave a nod to "the man who was due to grace this same stage."

Jackson, of course, was due to begin his sprawling 50-date O2 Arena residency this summer.

In cover happy mood the band also did versions of 'Reign O'er Me' by The Who, 'Crazy Mary' by Victoria Williams and the Holland Dozier Holland track 'Leaving Here'.

As Vedder left the stage he hinted at a long wait for fans to see Pearl Jam again however, saying “We won't be back in Europe for some time.”

(by David Renshaw)