Eddie Vedder to launch brief solo tour in April

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder will launch his first solo tour in Vancouver on April 2 to help promote his soundtrack album for "Into the Wild," according to a statement issued on Friday.

But the brief "April Fools" theater trek will take him only as far as California: Santa Cruz (April 5), Berkeley (April 7), Santa Barbara (April 10), Los Angeles (April 12, 13) and San Diego (April 15).

Tickets, priced at $65 before fees, go on sale on February 22, except for Santa Barbara, where they will be available on February 29.

New Zealand singer/songwriter Liam Finn will open the shows. Vedder and Finn have played together before, and Vedder is a longtime fan of Split Enz, the art-rock band led by Finn's father Neil and uncle Tim.

Vedder won acclaim with his soundtrack for "Into the Wild," director Sean Penn's adaptation of the nonfiction book about a college graduate's ill-fated expedition to Alaska. Vedder won a Golden Globe for the track "Guaranteed," but was a surprise omission when Oscar nominations were announced last month. The song also received a Grammy Award nomination.

Pearl Jam, meanwhile, after a relatively quiet 2007, will headline the Bonnaroo Music + Arts Festival, which takes place in Manchester, Tenn. on June 12-15. Tickets go on sale on Saturday.

(Reporting by Dean Goodman)