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Pearl Jam may play gig for Tester
By JENNIFER McKEE
Gazette State Bureau
HELENA - Negotiations are under way for headliner rock band Pearl Jam to play a Montana benefit concert for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jon Tester, a Big Sandy farmer and president of the state Senate.
Tester confirmed Monday that efforts were ongoing, but stressed that a concert is far from a done deal. No details were available Monday as to where and when the concert might be.
"They're working on it," Tester said "I don't know that it's going to happen. I hope it happens, but I don't know."
Pearl Jam is a famous alternative rock band. Tickets for a recently announced Canadian tour sold out in minutes.
Tester, a third-generation farmer, grew up in Big Sandy, the same Golden Triangle community as Pearl Jam's bassist, Jeff Ament.
Ament's dad gave Tester his first flattop haircut, now a Tester trademark. Ament supports Tester's Senate bid and was in Missoula when Tester announced he was running there in late May.
Tester said lots of things have to be hammered out before his campaign is ready to definitively announce a Pearl Jam benefit. All the members of the band have to agree to it, Tester said, and the campaign has to make sure the concert adheres to all campaign finance laws.
"In order for it to happen, it's got to be done right," Tester said.
Although the election isn't until November 2006, several Democrats besides Tester have already jumped into the race. State Auditor John Morrison, a former Helena lawyer, announced his bid in April. Political newcomer Clint Wilkes, of Bozeman, has also entered the race and former state Rep. Paul Richards, a media consultant in Boulder, may join the race.
The winner of the June 2006 primary will square off against incumbent Republican Sen. Conrad Burns, who has held the post since 1989 and is the longest-serving Republican Montana U.S. senator in state history.
Should the Pearl Jam concert materialize, Tester, 48, a former music teacher who plays the trumpet, said he doubted he'd get on stage and perform with the band.
http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?d...0-pearl-jam.inc.