2003 - The Peak of Pearl Jam?

24

Comments

  • diamond_marmalade
    diamond_marmalade Posts: 426
    I'm loving the 03 shows I've being listening to. Buffalo, DC, Detroit, Hershey and Camden. They sound so tight. What has surprised me is the lack of talking between songs. I thought this was a political tour but there isn't a great deal of this in the shows I've listened to. I've not listened to any 98 shows so can't comment on those but 03 stands out as their best for me.
    2007 London
    2009 Manchester
    2010 Dublin / London
    2012 Manchester I & II / Berlin I & II / EV: Manchester
    2014 Amsterdam I & II / Vienna / Berlin / Leeds
  • drakeheuer14
    drakeheuer14 Posts: 4,623
    Two different categories... before and after 2000. Before: 1998 peak. After: 2006 peak. 
    Pittsburgh 2013
    Cincinnati 2014
    Greenville 2016
    (Raleigh 2016)
    Columbia 2016
  • cp3iverson
    cp3iverson Posts: 8,702
    2003 Spectrum is the best of all 5 Spectrum shows when it comes to performance.  They killed it.  They were sounding great that tour.  
  • 1STmammal2wearPants
    1STmammal2wearPants Worcester, MA Posts: 2,992
    I had nothing to compare it to since 2003 was my first show, but that tour was unbelievable. Seeing Mansfield III as my first show made me a superfan instantly. The amount of experimentation (and sheer tour dates) probably hasn't been topped since. (I wonder if they'll ever go back to Japan)
    2003 Mansfield III 
    2004 Boston I 
    2006 Boston I 
    2008 Bonnaroo, Hartford, Mansfield I 
    2010 Hartford 
    2013 Worcester I, Worcester II, Hartford 
    2016 Bonnaroo, Fenway I, Fenway II 
    2018 Fenway I, Fenway II 
    2021 Sea.Hear.Now
    2022 Camden
    2024 MSG I, Fenway I, Fenway II
  • LukinFan
    LukinFan Florida Posts: 29,119
    Loved the 2003 tour. 2000 was pretty great too 
    www.RLMcDaniel.com

    1996: Ft Lauderdale
    1998: Birmingham
    2000: Charlotte, Tampa
    2003: Tampa, Atlanta, Phoenix
    2004: Kissimmee
    2008: West Palm Beach, Bonnaroo, Columbia
    2010: MSG2
    2012: Music Midtown
    2014: Memphis
    2016: Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, Jacksonville, JazzFest
    2018: Wrigley 1, Fenway 1
    2022: Nashville
    2023: Ft. Worth II
    2024: Baltimore
    2025: Hollywood II
  • 2-feign-reluctance
    2-feign-reluctance TigerTown, USA Posts: 23,462
    Best sounding bootlegs to date. Everything is just so clear and balanced.
    www.cluthelee.com
  • RB16012
    RB16012 Posts: 74
    The quality of the 2003 bootlegs are great. I'm always impressed with the mix. If I could go back. I'm going to 94 though. 
  • Foriginal Sin
    Foriginal Sin Scottsdale, AZ Posts: 1,876
    2003 Champaign was TIGHT AF. Only fuck up was Ed during Blue Red and Grey and the guy that yelled for YL causing the band to scratch it from the setlist
    Chicago 6/29/98, Alpine Valley(EV) 6/13/99, Alpine Valley 10/08/00, Chicago 10/09/00, Phoenix 10/20/00, Orlando 4/12/03, Tampa 4/13/03, San Diego 6/05/03, Vegas 6/06/03, Phoenix 6/07/03, Chicago 6/18/03, Alpine Valley 6/21/03, Orlando 10/08/04, D.C. 10/11/04, Chicago 5/16/06, Chicago 5/17/06, LA 7/12/08, Chicago 8/23/09, Chicago 8/24/09, LA 10/07/09, San Diego 10/09/09 (Front Row Center, Finally), Phoenix(EV) 11/4/11, Wrigley 7/19/13, Phoenix 11/19/13, Denver 10/22/14, Wrigley 8/20/16, Wrigley 8/22/16
  • PJNB
    PJNB Posts: 13,890
    Foriginal Sin said:
    2003 Champaign was TIGHT AF. Only fuck up was Ed during Blue Red and Grey and the guy that yelled for YL causing the band to scratch it from the setlist
    LMAO I never knew about this. Will have to check that one out. 
  • bbiggs
    bbiggs Posts: 6,964
    Foriginal Sin said:
    2003 Champaign was TIGHT AF. Only fuck up was Ed during Blue Red and Grey and the guy that yelled for YL causing the band to scratch it from the setlist
    One of their best and it still pisses me off to no end that I didn't make the short drive down for this show. 

  • Spiritual_Chaos
    Spiritual_Chaos Posts: 31,520
    Yes. 2003 is weirdly magical live.
    "Mostly I think that people react sensitively because they know you’ve got a point"
  • LukinFan
    LukinFan Florida Posts: 29,119
    One of the best things about the 2000 and 2003 tour is that they played everywhere 
    www.RLMcDaniel.com

    1996: Ft Lauderdale
    1998: Birmingham
    2000: Charlotte, Tampa
    2003: Tampa, Atlanta, Phoenix
    2004: Kissimmee
    2008: West Palm Beach, Bonnaroo, Columbia
    2010: MSG2
    2012: Music Midtown
    2014: Memphis
    2016: Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, Jacksonville, JazzFest
    2018: Wrigley 1, Fenway 1
    2022: Nashville
    2023: Ft. Worth II
    2024: Baltimore
    2025: Hollywood II
  • MyBitterHands76
    MyBitterHands76 Posts: 346
    I always thought they sounded the best in 2003. They were so tight and in sync with each other and just fed off each other energies. Eddie vocals were on point. Mike and Stones guitar tones were damn near perfect. I always liked the 98 and “Touring Band” eras too. But there was just always something about 2003 that was just different musically. I was actually listening to a few bootlegs from 2006 not that long ago and there is definitely a difference in sound form 2006 to 2003. Eddie almost sang slightly higher in 2006 as opposed to how he was singing in 03 and tones of the guitars and drums almost sound brighter. As opposed to the angry vibe that was coming off at 2003.  I also thought they sounded really good in 2013 too.
    "If you're like me, then you know me"

    2006: Camden 1
    2008: Washington DC
    2009: Philly 1, Philly 2, Philly 3, Philly 4
    2013: Philly 1, Philly 2, Baltimore
    2016: Philly 1, Philly 2,
    2017: Temple of The Dog Philly 2
  • CO278952
    CO278952 Orlando, FL Posts: 1,451
    cp3iverson said:
    2003 Spectrum is the best of all 5 Spectrum shows when it comes to performance.  They killed it.  They were sounding great that tour.  
    Was my first of 7 ‘03 shows.  The other six were in July that summer all in 10 days. Epic!
    4.17.94 Paramount 9.28.96 Randall's Island 8.25.00 Jones Beach 4.28.03 Spectrum 7.5.03 Camden 7.6.03 Camden 07.08.03 MSG 07.09.03 MSG 7.12.03 Hershey 7.14.03 Holmdel 6.12.08 Tampa 10.19.13 Brooklyn 4.11.16 Tampa 5.1.16 MSG 5.2.16 MSG 8.7.16 Fenway 9.2.18 Fenway 9.4.18 Fenway 9.11.22 MSG 9.16.22 Nashville 9.18.23 Austin 9.19.23 Austin 9.3.24 MSG 9.4.24 MSG Fenway 9.15.24 Fenway 9.17.24 Hollywood 4.24.25 Nashville 5.6.25 Nashville 5.8.25
  • mcgruff10
    mcgruff10 New Jersey Posts: 29,138
    LukinFan said:
    One of the best things about the 2000 and 2003 tour is that they played everywhere 
    Totally agree.  
    I'll ride the wave where it takes me......
  • LC
    LC North Andover, MA Posts: 307
    The 3 nights in Mansfield were ok, I guess.
    8-29-00 Mansfield, 6-29-03 Montreal, 7-2-03 Mansfield, 7-3-03 Mansfield, 7-11-03, Mansfield, 9-28-04 Boston, 9-29-04 Boston, 10-8-04 Kissimmee, 9-15-05 Montreal, 9-16-05 Ottawa, 5-12-06 Albany, 5-13-06 Hartford, 5-24-06 Boston, 5-25-06 Boston, 6-28-08, Mansfield, 6-30-08 Mansfield, 5-15-10 Hartford, 5-17-10 Boston, 7-19-13 Chicago, 10-15-13 Worcester, 5-2-16 New York City, 8-5-16 Boston, 8-7-16 Boston
    EV- 2008, 2011 Boston
  • CarryTheZero
    CarryTheZero Posts: 3,492
    LC said:
    The 3 nights in Mansfield were ok, I guess.
    😂 
    Yeah, pretty good!

    I really enjoyed the 2016 tour actually, but looking back 2003 is pretty magical. Mansfield, State College, the Japan/Australia shows.

    My only shows were Atlanta (really fun) and MSG #1, Live at the Garden show. That is still probably my number one show. Man. So good.
  • kosteva2
    kosteva2 Posts: 329
    I agree that 2003 was the best live year for them.  I'll even pin it down the the end of the April '03 shows as their best run of consecutive shows ever:  Philadelphia-Albany-Uniondale-Buffalo-State College.  Boom was pretty well integrated by that point.  They did 20 shows just in April!  Band was on fire and really meshing well together.  Great mix with the setlists.  Really expanded to a whole bunch of new covers that year.  Started adding more length to the sets around that time.   Used to be rare to find 3-disc shows in the old CD bootleg era but they were cranking them out routinely at the end of that run.  Just great energy overall.  Even some classic shows in the summer '03 tour like MSG 1, Holmdel, Mansfield 3.  April '03 was to Pearl Jam what May '77 was for the Grateful Dead.
    TFC '97, TFC '98, Pittsburgh '98, Camden I,II '98, Camden I,II '00, Pittsburgh '00, Philly '03, Camden I,II '03, MSG I,II '03, Hershey '03, Reading '04, Philly '05, Camden I,II '06, Meadowlands I '06, Camden I,II '08, DC '08, Spectrum I,II,III,IV '09, Made in America '12, Philly I,II '13, GCF '15, Philly I,II '16, MSG I '16, Apollo ‘22, MSG ‘22, Camden ‘22, MSG I,II '24, Philly I,II '24
  • darthvedder
    darthvedder Posts: 2,676
    Wasn't there a major change of guitars by Ed and Stone for the Riot Act tour? Add Boom to the mix, and it's almost like a rebirth for the band.
  • bbiggs
    bbiggs Posts: 6,964
    ^ I don’t remember seeing Ed play the SG before this tour, but I could be wrong. 

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