Which bootlegs are you listening to right now?

halloweenhead95

Oslo 2014

TamaDrummer91

Sacramento 2000

“Let’s warm it up.” Incredibly unusual as an opener, Whipping does just that on what must have been a cold night in late October 2000. The Vitalogy tune serves up a beginning that gets the heart racing, and is solid performances from all. Insignificance, as the second song tonight, is also quite rare placement in a set. Even for the 2000 tour, and illustrates what I believe you’ll discover is a relatively unique setlist here in Sacramento. Insignificance is not quite as tight musically as it normally is for this tour but is still a fine play as a whole. Animal comes right after, hitting hard. The 2000 bootleg mix is sonically so warm, even though the night was cold. I adore how Jeff sounds on Animal; his tone is thick and has that “live sound.” Not much crunch or brightness, just smooth rich bass. Last Exit brilliantly keeps it all moving perfectly at an upbeat pace. Mike and Stone’s guitars have a good deal of bite. I loved this rendition of Last Exit, lots of energy from Matt. SOLAT to follow is a wonderful pairing; it and Last Exit need to be paired together much more often. There is a lot of adrenaline in these first five songs. The performances are not quite perfection, but they still sound certainly the utmost cohesive.

GTF slightly calms the adrenaline rush. I thought Ed’s vocal delivery of the first verse was a bit more whispery and soft than many versions, but adds to the dynamics of song. Small Town is dedicated to everyone with a bad haircut (since Stone had a haircut and Ed was picking on him). Listen carefully for Mike’s extra folky but very subtle accents towards the end of Small Town. Super rare, Tremor Christ is up next. I got to say, it is a pretty darn good performance all around. I didn’t catch any discernable errors, the tempo is not too fast, and the song retains its bleak tone and atmosphere. For me, it was a nice touch and probably matched the cold weather. Ed makes some stabs at George HW Bush and his offspring running for president (still applies today too). Ed comes off like he is in a really good mood though.

Mike goes silent a few seconds right before his solo in Even Flow, but unless your nit picking its hardly noticeable. I liked Stone’s simple little riffs right before going back into the final chorus out of the solo. They reminded me a little bit of A Flock of Seagulls kind of sound, odd but cool. Daughter after Even Flow may look a tad vanilla on paper, but it sounds just right when listening to the boot. Not to belabor the cold temps that night, but Ed actually sounds like he is cold in Daughter. I swear it is like you can hear a slight tremble in his vocals a few times. That being said, “the shades go down” lines are sung more forcefully than usual. I really dug Stone’s tone and riffs in the tag. Daughter was awesome almost all of the time in 2000, so many amazing renditions of it on this tour. The tags were so much more effective. This one ends on a slower, soft, saddened tag that I didn’t recognize but enjoyed dearly. Betterman is next, and it may not seem particularly interesting to have these 3 live staples in a row. However, I must say they do flow so smoothly together and are intriguing plays. Keeping the “hits” flow going is Jeremy, with Ed commenting on the song beforehand. He notes that kids used to ask for money to buy chocolate milk, now it’s for ammo. I thought Mike sounded extra good on Jeremy, often complementing Ed’s vocals. Live, Jeremy sometimes has a dissonance in its sound. It’s represented like that here, especially between Stone and Mike. The take comes of raw and…well…cold.

The placement of Light Years in this set is poignant. The emotion of one of my favorite PJ songs is displayed here in a fine manner. Listen for Ed’s vocal melodies towards the end of song; they are different from the norm. They are incredibly powerful. The beautiful sounds and textures captivated me, leaving me with cold chills. For Immortality to immediately come next, what more could one ask for? Eddie had a hell of a time getting this one right in 2000. I’m happy to say in this performance he is golden. Everyone puts on an extra fine showing for it, the outro is of course the highlight. Matt’s tom heavy performance is perfection. For me, it hits an emotional nerve having Jeremy-Light Years-Immortality flow together like that. I think it is even more impactful to follow the string of hits preceding it, when taken as a whole. Jeremy being the tie that binds.

DTE gets the blood flowing, at just the right time. This main set flows like something special for me, it’s near perfect set flow. Stone sounds like he’s having a ball on DTE. The last half of the song is especially lively and groovy, a really fun play on it. Two Yield rockers back to back, Brain of J kicks in next. Stone must have had some technical problems early on because it’s all super raw in tone. I liked it, found it fitting for the song. RVM ends the main set. The beginning sounds a bit disjointed and off time amongst the guitars, but gets situated quickly. Ed changes some of the vocal melodies too. It’s a loose take on RVM, a little rough on the edges but after the edgy Brain of J, it’s not unfitting. The jam is ear candy to me, rough guitar textures from Mike and Stone that have a lot of bite and imagery. I personally treasured this main set for song choice and placement, flow, and an overall energetic performance from the band. If anything, this version of Light Years is worth a listen alone, impactful to say the least.

Ed thanks the crowd for hanging in there and promises the next show there will be in July. Breakerfall gets the encore started on a hard hitting note. To be followed with Corduroy so late in the set is cool. Ed’s vocals get drowned out a tad in some of Corduroy but like a few other songs in this gig, he slightly alters the vocal melodies to higher notes. The bridge and then the solo is pure energy. Last Kiss feels peculiar to come after Corduroy, but in a fun way. Matching nicely with the kind of retro sounds of Last Kiss, The Kids Are Alright is next. It’s a full band play, and very enjoyable. Go concludes the encore, Mike standing out to me early on. It’s heavy stuff, this version really cooks. Mike and Stone being mixed at such high levels in the mix helps make the wall of sound come off huge. The band comes out for one more, Yellow Ledbetter. Stone puts out fine riffs in the classic closer, Mike plays some Little Wing at the end too.

The setlist here is distinct in the way it flows, features a fantastic cohesiveness about it all, and a few fantastic plays on rarities. Although it is on the shorter side, 1 hour 47 minutes, don’t let that deter you from this boot. The band seems to be in good spirits, even if they had to battle through the cold weather. I felt like I was there with the audience; in the cold night, listening to my favorite band play some of my favorite tunes. I am not going to proclaim this as a really tight performance. However, I would not call this one sloppy by any stretch either, only a few rough edges here and there. I personally enjoyed the slight rawness to this boot, especially considering the song selections and placement being spot on. For me, this is a notable bootleg.

SVRDhand13

mcgruff10 said:

23scidoo said:

mcgruff10 said:

I m moving next week so send some good luck to my bootlegs. Last time I moved I lost around 50 boots. Fingers crossed they are all accounted for in the new house.

Safe travel to your boots man..

thank you! philly 1, 08 ....cool little tour that year.

do you mean jersey? lol

mcgruff10

SVRDhand13 said:

mcgruff10 said:

23scidoo said:

mcgruff10 said:

I m moving next week so send some good luck to my bootlegs. Last time I moved I lost around 50 boots. Fingers crossed they are all accounted for in the new house.

Safe travel to your boots man..

thank you! philly 1, 08 ....cool little tour that year.

do you mean jersey? lol

nj/philly...where the fuck are we anyway?!

SVRDhand13

mcgruff10 said:

SVRDhand13 said:

mcgruff10 said:

23scidoo said:

mcgruff10 said:

I m moving next week so send some good luck to my bootlegs. Last time I moved I lost around 50 boots. Fingers crossed they are all accounted for in the new house.

Safe travel to your boots man..

thank you! philly 1, 08 ....cool little tour that year.

do you mean jersey? lol

nj/philly...where the fuck are we anyway?!

I loved the 2008 tour. Except the fact I didnt get H2I and everyone else did lol.

mcgruff10

SVRDhand13 said:

mcgruff10 said:

SVRDhand13 said:

mcgruff10 said:

23scidoo said:

mcgruff10 said:

I m moving next week so send some good luck to my bootlegs. Last time I moved I lost around 50 boots. Fingers crossed they are all accounted for in the new house.

Safe travel to your boots man..

thank you! philly 1, 08 ....cool little tour that year.

do you mean jersey? lol

nj/philly...where the fuck are we anyway?!

I loved the 2008 tour. Except the fact I didnt get H2I and everyone else did lol.

Oh man you missed out. Hti was kick ass that tour!

Natashapearljamfan

Soldiers Field, 95. I got it for an anniversary present I love the rawness and Eddies energy.

SVRDhand13

mcgruff10 said:

SVRDhand13 said:

mcgruff10 said:

SVRDhand13 said:

mcgruff10 said:

23scidoo said:

mcgruff10 said:

I m moving next week so send some good luck to my bootlegs. Last time I moved I lost around 50 boots. Fingers crossed they are all accounted for in the new house.

Safe travel to your boots man..

thank you! philly 1, 08 ....cool little tour that year.

do you mean jersey? lol

nj/philly...where the fuck are we anyway?!

I loved the 2008 tour. Except the fact I didnt get H2I and everyone else did lol.

Oh man you missed out. Hti was kick ass that tour!

Oh I know. I need it just once, anytime, anywhere.

RS151862

Lubbock 2000

BF89905

During the drive into work this morning I caught some of the London, Ontario, Canada 2005 show... Oceans, Black/Red/Yellow, In My Tree - good run of songs

SVRDhand13

BF89905 said:

During the drive into work this morning I caught some of the London, Ontario, Canada 2005 show... Oceans, Black/Red/Yellow, In My Tree - good run of songs

I caught the later section of that show (and I must've heard it years ago) and yes its very good. I guess Smile was requested by a fan earlier that day.

ikiT

Checkpoint Charlie Berlin 1996
ed vocals are a little down in the mix...but I like it!

SVRDhand13

Santiago 2015 was pretty sweet! (heard half last night during the premiere and half this morning)

Pap

Buffalo 10/05/10

There's something about singing... I think it's just the amount of breath going through your body, and maybe sometimes not always getting to your brain...It kind of gets you pretty tingly, and a little high... I think about how many shows we played in 20 years... Shit, I've been tingling for a long long time... But I only say it, cause you should try it sometime... Like maybe right now... Just as loud as you can... Whatever you want... Yeah yeah... ~ Eddie Vedder

mcgruff10

san diego night 2, 95. I can't explain is such a great cover, why wasn't this played again?!

23scidoo

Kansas City 2000

ikiT

09072011 Montreal Canada HQmp3

love the intro of Down
AND the first stop of the tour right after PJ20. #sogood

dimitrispearljam

Santiago 15

TamaDrummer91

Santiago 15, full review soon! The crowd is so fucking loud!

cutz

Amsterdam-2-2014

Up to All Or None. Great Boot, so far. A LOT better then night 1.