A Boston Fan's appreciation of Columbia 2008

locked

Seen all the talk about Mansfield, Hartford, Bonaroo and MSG..

But I gotta say, the 6/16/08 Columbia boot is one hell of a good bootleg
(no I was not there)

Really good sound quality/ crowd response too..

my favorites:
Why go (great Mikey solo)
Hail Hail (solid)
Sad (solid)
Red Mosquito (super vocals by Ed.. rare appearance of this song)
I am Mine (rare for this tour )
Off he goes (only Mansfield 1 has a better version)
Elderly Woman Behind the counter in a Small Town (perfection)
Present Tense (another rare pick)
Whipping (Best version of the tour.. yes..better than Mansfield)
Army Reserve (chiming guitars are great on this)

Inside Job (I will go out on a limb and say this is the best live version I have ever heard from any tour..this is the gold standard...vocals, guitars, drums all perfect!)

Given to Fly (great with strong intro by mike)
Education
WMA (my favorite version.. better than MSG, I do not like the chorus of backing vocals on MSG.. sorry!)
Save You (howling and speedy)

These next three are the best of the whole tour IMO:

Footsteps
Alive
Indifference

give 'em a listen and let me know if you agree..

no hidden agenda just a love of good boots..

locked

bump..

LukinFan

I completely agree- damn good show/boot

bootlegger10

There really isn't a lot of difference between shows in NY/Boston vs. shows in Lexington/Columbia. Certain shows have more hype, and NY/Boston may get a special song, but when it comes down to it, there is not much of a difference.

raszputini

I fortunately attended Columbia, and I've been saying this since the show. I wasn't reaaly that sure whether I was just biased. Glad to see a little validation.

I think this is the gem of the tour. First you get the Red Mosquito, which was the song I asked for on various boards before I went. I also think this was the best WMA of the tour. I think the versions of Whipping, Army Reserve, Off He Goes and Hail Hail are upper echelon.

There was an incredible vibe at this show. Ed even talks about it during the show. We all know Ed will bullshit and schmooze a crowd a little, but this wasn't crowd ass-kissing. This little forgotten about Columbia crowd TOOK OVER Betterman, Elderly Woman, Present Tense, WMA, and Why Go.

I've been to my share of PJ shows going back to '95, and I've never been REALLY disappointed. Asheville 2004 was a little short due to Ed being a little ill. I was amazed at the atmosphere at this show. Probably the best one I've been to since '98.

motorcitymadman

the show had some intense moments. it was a special environment in there, largely because of the venue. the boot does not capture that completely. they should've left the crowd noise "up" like it was during the encore break. very good show, nearly epic, but a sad turn towards the end after the "no more" speech.

STT757

I was at MSG II, I have that bootleg as well as MSG I, West Palm Beach, Tampa, Virginia Beach, Camden I, Hartford, Bonnaroo and Columbia.

And so far Columbia has been the best by far, they seemed really into it that night.

WaveCameCrashin

I knew there was a reason I didn't buy any other boots besides columbia. 10/5/95 9/4/98 8/4/00 8/6/00 4/19/03 6/16/08 421XXX

Smarter_Than_U

I was at this show and I purposefully picked it so we would get good 10C seats. My wife and I ended up with front row, first section on the Stone's side wing. And I must say it was one of the best Pearl Jam shows I have ever seen (and I've seen some epics too). I really felt like the ceiling was dripping when we walked out. Plus the staff at the arena were some of the nicest people you'd ever meet.

My favorite visual Ed memories from the show:

1) During Present Tense when Ed ripped all of the strings off his guitar (after saying that everything sounded out of tune).
2) During Betterman before the second verse when there is a really long pause, Ed kept fucking with the crowd and faking us (he did it like 8 times) putting his mouth to the mike and pulling back before going into the Ohohoh part.
3) I forget which song, but Ed was literally lying down on the stage on Mike's side and just admiring his band. He sat there for like two full minutes and just rocked his head like he was a fan.
4) Before the infamous No More speech, Ed comes out by himself with an acoustic guitar and the crowd start chanting Eddie. He reels backs and flips a double bird to the crowd to shut them up (very effective BTW) and then he says the whole thing about "that you could turn someone into an asshole real quick by doing that" or something like that.

I am sure there is more that I am forgetting. But it was a great night and I am glad I was lucky enough to be there.

STT757

Red Mosquito from Columbia is one of the best versions of this song I've ever heard, also really fits being played in South Carolina as it's a very "Twangy" song.

Also Inside Job is jumping to the top of my list of epic Pearl Jam songs.

locked

STT757 wrote:

Red Mosquito from Columbia is one of the best versions of this song I've ever heard, also really fits being played in South Carolina as it's a very "Twangy" song.

Also Inside Job is jumping to the top of my list of epic Pearl Jam songs.

word..