STate College Penn 2003

MayDay10

Just unreal that Buffalo and State College took place on consecutive nights.

EM65340

"I knew we were coming to State College, the tour list said State College, State College, State College.....but it wasn't until we were pulling up......PENN STATE????.....Cool!"

Been to 19 shows now and this conquers all of them. The bands energy and just pure joy of everything around them that night was second to none. The boot is killer for sure but you just cannot capture what had happened in that building that night from just the boot (a DVD would help though )I had plans to go out and hit the College Ave bars afterwords but was dead. The show had destroyed any energy I had left that day and that my friends was a GREAT thing.

elwayvedder

i loved how EV looked to the crowd for help with Satan's Bed. I remember shouting the lyrics and Jeff was pointing my way trying to tell EV to look our way for help. Between the Spectrum show and then PSU 5 days later, 2003 was amazing

RedMosquito22

State College, PA was a great boot. Satan's bad is indeed butchered. Comical

StoneVedder_10

elephanthater wrote:

wasn't there but is surely one of my favorite bootlegs. I think it has my favorite version of Crazy Mary and one of my favorite versions of Porch.

this show does indeed have the best version of Crazy Mary I have ever heard AND the worst version of Satan's Bed.

EM65340

That's one of the things that isn't captured on the boot i don't think, the reason they "had to" play Satan's Bed. Because someone threw a shirt up at Eddie and he said if it had a song on it they would play it. They were interacting with the crowd like this all night. Then of course he reads it with the joke "please F!@k me Eddie, i said i wasn't going to do that" but of course it had Satan's Bed on it. Well you could tell right away the band convened and were like, shite we don't know how to play this song but we have to try. And to me the butchering of the song was even better than if they had nailed it. True to form they were just being loyal entertainers to their loyal fans.

CranMalReign

RedMosquito22 wrote:

State College, PA was a great boot. Satan's bad is indeed butchered. Comical

Model roll model oh nu dum it aww fuck!

NoHelmetHardHead

Great boot, this boot is really what got me into listening to live shows more than the actual albums, exactly why Pearl Jam is the greatest band in the world is because of their live cuts, and this boot demonstrates perfectly (except for Satan's bed of course )

Jearlpam0925

Damn. Not as many pretentious, snobby, fan-boy wise-cracks in this thread in regards to this show as I expected there to be. Oh, well, there's still time. Looking for "This show is so overrated", "It's got nothing on Boston 3", "Just because they played for a while doesn't make it good", so on and so forth.... :roll:


And, by the way - this show fucking kicked ass.

Gonzo1977

What a show!!

I'll never forget it.

We rented a van and a bunch of us took a road trip to the show. Met some people and stayed on campus.

There was a strange vibe in the air that night. I had a feeling going in that this would be a very different show.

The political climate of the day obviously loomed large in presence and there was an uneasy tension in the air before the band took the stage. Yet...at the same time you could feel that the crowd just wanted to come in to this venue and rock out.

I'd heard about Buffalo and Denver being pretty hostile towards Ed's politics, and State College appeared on the surface to have the same kind of feeling.

Ed being Ed...didn't shy away from the politics at all. He made his points and did his thing...and yeah...some people booed...and were pissed off...but it was quickly drowned out and beaten down by the power and energy coming from the stage.

It was a force of it's own. It sort of felt like husband and wife having a heated discussion or argument...yet knowing confindetally that despite this little disscussion...that everything was going to be alright.

Eddie talked alot about how amazing it was for all of us to be in the room together and agree on this 1 thing...MUSIC. And that if we could do that...we could do anything. I really think he drove that point home and it really resonated with the crowd.

The night became a celebration.

It's hard to really put the night into perspective...even after all these years.

I know it's a bit of a cliché to say this...but I'm going to anyways...

You just had to be there.

okblueduck

Anyone know where I can find the State College boot also?

NoHelmetHardHead

I still see it at most stores, Best Buy, FYE etc. mixed in with a few other boots

fox_mulderX

it's an alright bootleg... i bought it when it was first released back in '03 and i still listen to it every once in a while.
i find that the boots from 2000 get the most listens from me. i think the band was at the top of their game on that tour.

ManOfTheHour75

I'm sure it would have been great to be there but in my opinion this ranks right up there with the most OVERATED Pearl Jam bootlegs ever! It wasn't just Satan's Bed that was a train wreck.

CranMalReign

Jearlpam0925 wrote:

Damn. Not as many pretentious, snobby, fan-boy wise-cracks in this thread in regards to this show as I expected there to be. Oh, well, there's still time. Looking for "This show is so overrated", "It's got nothing on Boston 3", "Just because they played for a while doesn't make it good", so on and so forth.... :roll:


And, by the way - this show fucking kicked ass.

ManOfTheHour75 wrote:

I'm sure it would have been great to be there but in my opinion this ranks right up there with the most OVERATED Pearl Jam bootlegs ever! It wasn't just Satan's Bed that was a train wreck.

Feel better?

MayDay10

Gonzo1977 wrote:

I'd heard about Buffalo being pretty hostile towards Ed's politics.

Not at all. There was actually next to zero politics at that show. The only moment was when people were Luuuuuuuuke-ing the Ukulele and Ed was wondering if people were saying Luuuuuuke or they were booing because it wasnt Red, White, and Blue..... then everyone cheered.

ManOfTheHour75

CranMalReign wrote:

Jearlpam0925 wrote:

Damn. Not as many pretentious, snobby, fan-boy wise-cracks in this thread in regards to this show as I expected there to be. Oh, well, there's still time. Looking for "This show is so overrated", "It's got nothing on Boston 3", "Just because they played for a while doesn't make it good", so on and so forth.... :roll:


And, by the way - this show fucking kicked ass.

ManOfTheHour75 wrote:

I'm sure it would have been great to be there but in my opinion this ranks right up there with the most OVERATED Pearl Jam bootlegs ever! It wasn't just Satan's Bed that was a train wreck.

Feel better?

I do!

Gonzo1977

Yes it was sloppy,
Yes Satan's Bed was a train wreck,

But...The bootleg will NEVER do the State College 2003 show justice

This is a FACT.

You just had to be there to fully appreciate it.

Legendary shows don't always make Legendary bootlegs.

I remember my uncle telling me a story about a DOORS concert he saw in 1968.

Apparently...

The band came on stage over an hour late
They only played for a half hour
Jim Morrison was drunk, singing the wrong lyrics to the wrong songs, mumble, mumble, mumble

BUT....

He claims it was the best concert he has ever been to.

I guess it just happens that way sometimes.

ManOfTheHour75

You just had to be there to fully appreciate it.
Legendary shows don't always make Legendary bootlegs.

I couldn't agree with you more.

I just find it funny how defensive people get about the band and some of their shows. I think the State College Show is overated because so many people think that it's so good when in fact the band didn't play that well at all. Honestly I listen to so many shows that I couldn't give a shit about the setlist or how many songs they played, it's all about the bands performance and how the songs flow together in my opinion. There's at least 15-20 shows on the 2003 tour that I think are better and there's probably 40-50 shows from 2000 that I think are better!

But whatever I would hate to upset anyone here, I know how sensitive some of you are!

pjhawks

ManOfTheHour75 wrote:

You just had to be there to fully appreciate it.
Legendary shows don't always make Legendary bootlegs.

I couldn't agree with you more.

I just find it funny how defensive people get about the band and some of their shows. I think the State College Show is overated because so many people think that it's so good when in fact the band didn't play that well at all. Honestly I listen to so many shows that I couldn't give a shit about the setlist or how many songs they played, it's all about the bands performance and how the songs flow together in my opinion. There's at least 15-20 shows on the 2003 tour that I think are better and there's probably 40-50 shows from 2000 that I think are better!

But whatever I would hate to upset anyone here, I know how sensitive some of you are!

maybe people get defensive because the negative posters are always so adament that their opinion is correct - like they made you lord and master of what makes a great song or performance. if you disagree fine, but your opinion of a masterpiece may differ from others so let people have their opinions without being so hard-headed.