what is the best boot to buy?

Kevin Wilson

Hey Ive been to a few shows this tour and have boots for them cinci and cleveland both great!!!! What are some oter outstanding boots ? Any input would be great!

Nakedeye66

I've heard them all at least twice. My opinions are geared purely towards LISTENING to boots (crowds and visuals not considered). Only a few shows disappointed. LA1 is subpar, LA2 is average, and Cincy is sloppy. The recording error diminishes Meadowlands 2 and, though decent, the short St. Paul, Milwaukee, and Denver shows are short of a "real" PJ experience. Every other show is very good, but my special mention goes to these 10:

San Francisco 3 - The band was on a mission coming out of the short shows, and the final stretch of the tour proves it. But maybe none more so than this one. SF 1&2 aren't bad, but not up to the level of the gems on this stretch. But this third night reminds me a lot of the Buffalo show ending the first leg of '03. The last show(s) seemed more prone to hype, but shows near the end were actually better. Second only to Sweet Jane, Watchtower is arguably the most covered song of all time. For 30 years I've been listening to boots of varying quality with this song, and I now have a new favorite. Where has Untitled been? It's back here. Why is Red Mosquito so rare? It's back here. Present Tense, Why Go, In Hiding, Light Years. This show has a unique setlist and executed to the hilt. I think I'm comfortable calling this one the best, but still in the running for my personal favorite is also ...

Las Vegas - This is an unorthodox pick, as most people have fawned over the subsequent SD show and dismissed this one. Even if Ed's comments about the venue are true, it doesn't matter. And though Ed was sick, he made up for it in heart. As an opener, Inside Job is at its most appealing. The Fortunate Son-Porch closer for "W's birthday" is unmatched, with a Dirty Frank tease-tag. Also, the little Come Back tag at the end of Black is a nice twist. I love Boom, but the Benmont Tench wrinkle plus imrpov makes this one of the best Better Man versions ever. Throw in Little Sister and Parachutes for uniqueness, and LV is my sleeper pick for best show.

Santa Barbara - I'm not sure how the sets were set up. That first set isn't acoustic, but it seemed an early, shorter, mellower set ... and it's great! A superbly executed show that sees rarities Oceans, the Interstellar Overdrive Intro, and U. Grand Rapids is almost universally hailed as "the show" which, in my opinion, is based almost entirely on the first encore. Which begs the question ... where's the love for SB, the first set of which is every bit as good as the GR encore and is better as an overall show.

The Gorge 1 - Dirty Frank!! They actually played it, and with a vigor that makes it sound better with each repeated listening. As a matter of personal taste, Wash as an opener always sets a special tone (and seems to be there in so many of the best recent shows). The Mamasan trilogy opens first encore with Crown Of Thorns. Since it seems to me Footsteps and Crown Of Thorns alone gave Chicago 2 it's glowing reviews (I was there), this show has so much more overall (and outdoor shows always have a built-in advantage). Finally, Daughter gets the It's OK tag, which is a big favorite of mine and leads me to ...

Cleveland - My favorite show of leg one inching out Camden 2. The '03 show here was also superb but was similarly unheralded. Forgive the ill-fated attempt to open the show with crowd singing and this show takes off otherwise. The Daughter/It's Ok here is a tour highlight. After screwing it up every time in 2000 but playing it masterfully in 2003, Immortality is MIA this tour ... but not here. The setlist won't floor you, but the execution of this show will. I love the Roger Waters-esque megaphone on Comatose with it's slap at Detroit. The bash-other-venues banter which riddles the Grand Rapids-Cleveland-Detroit stretch is hilarious and prior to the post-Petty west coast stretch, these three dates are where the band peaked.

Camden 2 - I have frequently given love to the GR-Cle-Det trio of the first leg but this show might stand above them all. No doubt Philly has gotten it's share of special shows (and Wash openers). The '05 show was insane and the Philly 1 '00 remains my favorite from that set. An incredibly solid show and I never thought I'd enjoy Wishlist for it's rarity, but it's come to that.

Detroit - I think this is the best I've ever heard Ed sound on a recording. They wisely dump the GR-Cle idea of singalong openers with a welcome return of Long Road. Nothingman has all but disappeared but shows up here, and I think Why Go-Porch-Indifference-Kick Out the Jams-YL is the best finish of the leg. It was great to hear the Jams cover in '05, but Detroit provided the MC5 inspiration that S.America could not making this one of the very best cover performances I've ever heard from PJ.

Grand Rapids - I think it's the longest show of the tour and the first encore is remarkable. Those reasons alone make it worthy of top mention ... but the only reasons. I differ quite a bit from most fans on this point. I still think GR is a great show, but by no means THE show.

San Diego - Great set openers with Oceans and encore with Long Road. solid show all-around. But if Ed doesn't make his typical tongue-in-cheek comments ripping on the Las Vegas gig ... do fans still rate this ahead of LV after complete listens?

Chicago 1 - Where is the love for this show? I have been at all Chicago and Wisconsin shows from 2000 on, and with the exception of Alpine Valley in 2003, this one was the most solid. Yes, better than night 2 ... slightly better than Rosemont 2000 ... and clearly better than the Ed-belongs-in-bed-with-Nyquil UC show of '03. For the fan of less recent vintage hoping for hits, Ten gets great play including jams on even Flow and Porch that match up with ANY. Like mellow rarities? Both Low Light and I'm Open here. For No Code freaks (like me), the Present Tense was as good as I've heard. Bush detractors must love the Daughter tag. And the Blood/Atomic Dog and Indifference back-to-back at the end blew me away. A well-executed, lengthy, and great sounding show (in a venue with abysmal acoustics).

Albany - Once 30+ shows rolled in afterwards, Albany lost a bit of its luster. too bad, because this show is excellent. The return of Rats and Satans Bed, perfectly executed, are treats. The Wasted Reprise-Life Wasted works. No Code gets a nod with rarities Red Mosquito and Off He Goes. And the Porch is mindnumbingly good. The end of this show is a bit flat and sloppy, but near perfect until then.

OutOfBreath

10 boots, and you left out Toronto 2?
Granted, I havent got that many of the boots, but if all those shows are better than Toronto 2, then wow.

Toronto 2 is great bacause of the following:
*The crowd is on fire from song 1 (which is Release, a beautiful opener). Sing-along all the way through. Eddie after 30 minutes tells the crowd they topped yesterday's crowd already.
*You get an idea of influence for the song I got shit, which he promises to leave out of the boots Instead it appears twice, both after and before.
*Strong 3-song string going from an improv "I dont wanna go from Toronto" into Whipping, You Are and I got shit.
*Eddie laughing half the way through Ledbetter
*A crazy Crazy Mary.
*the second encore, starts with "Don't leave us, Toronto" sung very nicely over a few times by Ed, and then you get all the closing favorites. Go, Crazy Mary, Fuckin Up (George Bush loves this song), Indifference, and Yellow Ledbetter.

I have quite a few boots from the previous 2 tours, but this boot has just about the most energy of any of the ones I have heard before. Highly recommended!

Peace
Dan

SVRDhand13

gorge 2 > gorge 1
and no not because i was there. but for me the bootleg is just a little better.

Parachutes Fan

Gorge 1 - Dirty Frank, Wash - overall sound awesome!