Vic or Bonnaroo...which setlist is better???

LukinFan

Oxxys wrote:

yeah I remember alive being out of order, I only got a quick glimpse of the shot of the list

I could have sworn I saw indifference up there too and completely didn't notice watch, but someone said it was there.

You're probably right, the weekend was kind of a blur to me- way too much to take in.

InHiding19

I'm not going to say, which show was better. Although, this show completely made up for spending 4 hours clicking a refresh button trying to get vic tickets.

1STmammal2wearPants

Oxxys wrote:

I could have sworn I saw indifference up there too and completely didn't notice watch, but someone said it was there.

You are correct sir, that too was up there.

zepcowboy

Believe it or not, I was at both shows, and it's impossible to determine which is "better." Bonnaroo was my eighth PJ show.

I had tickets to Columbus in 2000, but I gave them to a big PJ-fan friend of mine (thinking that he would take me, although I told him he could take anyone... he of course ended up taking his ex-girlfriend). That would have been my first show. I only had Ten and Binaural at the time and I recognized that I was just getting into the band and not the biggest fan. As it was, my first show was Denver in 2003. Then Toledo on the VFC '04 tour, Toronto '05, Toronto '06 (x2), The Vic and Lollapalooza last year, and then 'roo a few days ago.

I don't get on this forum that much - usually whenever there's some new release or right before and right after I'm about to go to a show. I guess I've reserved my uber-fandom for Led Zeppelin, although that may seem strange for a guy of 26 years...

Anyway, I can tell you that there simply is no "better" show between these two. Bonnaroo destroys the Lolla show from last year, of course, which was pretty much a Greatest Hits kind of show, but the 'testicle comparison' was apt that someone else used... The Vic show was an intimate experience at which it felt like everyone was old friends. The band was comfortable and yet I would say just a little tight - at least at first - because they didn't want to disappoint a crowd of their most loyal fans. They pumped the set full of rarities and it was fantastic to hear things like Education and Undone. Best moments for me were Hard To Imagine (which had me singing along so loudly that I got a weird look from someone next to me), In Hiding (the fantastic sing-along from the whole crowd), Rats, Why Go, Love Reign... but it wasn't necessarily the ultra-rarities that made the show great - it was the sense of community with fellow Ten-clubbers and how the band made us all feel. We were on the same page, and that's really what defines a great show for me. I can't truly enjoy a concert if I've got some asshole near me talking on a cellphone the whole time (see the VFC Toledo show where I had some guy knock over his cup of urine onto me, only to scream "It's fuckin' Neil Young, man!" over and over again, apparently to everyone in his address book...). The Vic was special for that reason - everyone was feeling the love for the guys in the band, and they were soaking it up and giving it right back to us.

Now, Bonnaroo was something else entirely in terms of who was in attendance, and the band had something to prove. I was nowhere near the front - my fiancee and I had to wait for some friends to catch up with us and we were up and back of the scaffolding for the cameras (not sure if the soundboard was located there too, or not). Being there with another couple who are great friends of ours and huge Pearl Jam fans was a huge plus, and made the atmosphere that much sweeter. After each song, we would shake our heads at each other in amazement, often because we couldn't believe they were playing this stuff for a festival crowd. The vibes were different for this show, because no matter what anyone else tells you, there were plenty of people standing around with confused looks on their faces when songs like Hard To Imagine were being played, waiting for Even Flow, Why Go, Daughter, et cetera. I'm not going to delude myself and think they converted many people by playing "All Night," which I didn't recognize immediately (and then got the title wrong, telling my fiancee and friends that I thought it was called "Drive All Night"), but the band DID probably convert any doubters in the audience by the pure intensity of their set and their refusal to be stuffed into a pre-determined time slot. They came onstage on time, stayed late, and showed a lot of love to the fans... essentially, the antithesis of Kanye West, from what I've come to understand (I did not stay for his set - I wouldn't have been there for his show if he had played his originally scheduled 8:30/9pm show, and I certainly have even less interest in ever seeing him now, if that was possible).

The setlist for Bonnaroo struck such a great balance that it has taken all of us - obviously some of the band's biggest fans - by surprise. I consider myself incredibly fortunate to have been in attendance for these two magical shows. I had more to say, but I feel like I'm repeating myself, so I'll end it here. The bootleg won't do it justice, but try to imagine yourself in the crowd and don't look at the track list for what's coming next (I only happened to see "Alive" when they showed the setlist on the screen, and then looked away). Then tell me you're not blown away.

EDIT: I do realize the original question was about setlists, but I think it's impossible to divorce the overall feeling of the show from what songs are played, especially if one was at the shows. It's really about how those songs that were played affect the audience in attendance.

NeilJam

satansbedbugs wrote:

someone else had a good point about bonaroo on another thread, put both setlists aside for now and think of this: The vic was only 1000 ppl. Bonaroo was 100,000 ppl. Both setlists are GREAT , but there has to be something to be said for the intimacy at the vic and not having to have to push your way to the front or give some dude an iron claw because hes too drunk to know where hes walking. Plus, I DO want to hear the music and not have to watch them play on a jumbotron.

There were not quite 100,000 people at Roo this year. Ticket sales were down, and it seems their limit is about 80,000. If it had been a sell out there might have been that many with all the other bands, crews, Roo staff, and some gate crashers. Since it did not I figure it was probably closer to 85,000.


I don't think the setlists can really be compared as they were aimed at two different audiences. The Vic was a great setlist for fans that mostly want to hear rarities, but not as many hard rocking songs as Roo. There were some great new and long absent songs at Roo, like All Night, and it was also aimed at the general Bonnaroo crowd. Pearl Jam proved there that they can jam and won the crowd over. I did not hear one bad review of their performance from anyone there.


I've never heard the Vic show, and I just got home from Bonnaroo yesterday. If I were to just go by reading the setlists I might say the Vic, but their performance at Bonnaroo was amazing so I am biased towards it.

poto101

For a hardcore....VIC

for a casual fan....ROO

I was also at both, both was different. i just think the vic was better because it had an overall rarer setlist. only one song off ten (why go) and TONS of rarities.

CantKeepmedown

PJAMEDVED wrote:

You gotta remember, alot of people will say Bonnaroo because they got shutout for Vic tickets. I was at the Vic and was not at Bonnaroo. With that said I would have givin' my left and my right nut for Vic tickets and to compare The Vic to Bonnaroo is one of the most asinine things I've ever seen on the board. However the thread isn't saying which show would you rather of attended. It's a setlist question. Bonnaroo's setlist is better, that's an easy question. But setlist or not nobody here can say they would rather have been at ROO over The Vic.


Kat or Sea, locker up now.

Yeah, just like a lot of people who passed on Bonnaroo because it's "only a festival" are pissed and will say the Vic was a lot better.

It's not asinine to compare these shows.