Pearl Jam covered the Doobie Brothers hit "Takin' It to the Streets" during their stop at Madison Square Garden last night, all in the name of frontman Eddie Vedder saying happy birthday to an old friend.

"I've got this friend, right? And I've known him long enough where he could give me some s---," Vedder told the crowd. "So we're celebrating a big birthday for him and his request was so f---ed up. Just f---ed up. I was like, 'That's a bit gutsy, especially at the Garden. I don't want f--- around when we're playing the Garden."

Without mentioning the song by name, Vedder laughingly noted that his friend prefers the vocal stylings of former Doobies singer and five-time Grammy winner Michael McDonald to his own. "He said, 'Ed, I've known you a long time and you're actually one of my favorite singers, but you're not quite as good as this other guy.' I think he has a point. I mean, it's not Lou Rawls. I'm not as good as Lou Rawls. But we're just gonna play a second of it. Happy birthday, Jack."

Contrary to what he told the crowd in his introduction, the band ended up playing much more than a second of "Takin' It to the Streets" — as you can see in the fan-shot footage above, they went through a couple verses before segueing into "Whipping," a track from their 1994 album Vitalogy. Pearl Jam return to the Garden tonight, and will remain on the road through late August. Visit their website for a complete list of shows and detailed ticketing information.

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