Mill Valley high school student fills in for Pearl Jam's drummer at Oakland Arena show

In an experience he called “surreal,” a North Bay teenager took the stage in front of 20,000 people Friday night as he stepped in to play drums for Pearl Jam at the grunge band’s concert in Oakland.

Kai Neukermans, an 18-year-old senior at Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley, was invited to fill in for Matt Cameron, who tested positive for COVID-19 and had to sit the concert out, according to SFGATE.

Upon hearing the news that Cameron was sick, Neukermans was encouraged by friends and family to reach out to the band. He sent a video of himself covering “Mind Your Manners,” one of the band’s songs, to Vedder’s 17-year-old daughter Olivia, whom he met a year earlier while performing at Ohana Music Festival in Dana Point, he told SFGATE.

Shortly after submitting the video, Pearl Jam’s manager Mark Smith called to let him know he got the gig.

Next thing he knew, Eddie Vedder was introducing the high school student to the Bay Area crowd.

“Everybody, this is Kai. Kai, this is everybody!”

The young drummer spent three minutes on stage.

The Alive, the teen’s own band, shared video of the appearance on social media.

“It was surreal, the amount of people that were there,” he told SFGATE on Sunday afternoon. “The arena lit up and everyone was screaming.”

The Alive consists of his brother Manoa Neukermans, 14, on bass, and friend, Bastian Evans, 17, on vocals and guitar. Together, they perform rooftop bus gigs, at surf shops and skate parks, as well as at a number of festivals, including Lollapalooza Chile and Shaky Knees in Atlanta. He documents his journey on Instagram @kai_drums_415.

The Alive is set to play BottleRock Napa Valley on May 27 in Napa.