PJ20 boot

Vitalogensia

I was at both shows.  I haven't listened to the audience recordings in a few years, but from what I recall Ed flubbed a lot of lyrics, and I think he said during the second show that they were playing "Reach Down" again because it didn't sound good enough night one.  

Regardless, I enjoyed the hell out of both shows, it was a fun event.

mace1229

I don’t mind a sloppy performance for a bootleg. Sloppy by PJ standards is still a good show. The main thing I hate for bootlegs are poor quality recordings.
Theres enough good quality and good shows already available, I don’t need another one. I’d rather have something that was memorable, like PJ20. I’d be more likely to buy that than some random show from 20 years ago I didn’t attend - I’d probably buy both, but would look forward to the one more than the other.

mfc2006

I have nothing but great memories from that whole weekend. Loved every minute of it.

EMizner

I don’t remember the shows having a single bad moment. I remember being freezing cold in the rain, but the whole thing was magical

3days

Loved both shows. Night 1 was fairly sloppy... just not their tightest/best, but there were some great highlights. Stardog Champion was pretty choice. Night 2 was better performed, but perhaps more hits heavy. 

Members of PJ performed during so many other band's sets those days... It's understandable that their performances were less polished.

BF25394

Ryan said:

Night 1 was one of the sloppiest shows, maybe even sloppiest, out of the 70 times I’ve seen Pearl Jam.  

Twins! I have also been to (precisely) 70 PJ shows, and these two shows definitely rank towards the bottom. The Temple of the Dog reunion was not as exciting to me as it may have been to other folks because I had been at both the 2003 Santa Barbara and 2006 L.A. shows where they had previously been joined by Cornell for Temple songs.

I don't specifically remember the band sounding shambolic. I liked the inclusion of several "Lost Dogs"; I did not care for the litany of uninspired covers: "Arms Aloft" and "Public Image" as well as "Kick Out the Jams" and "The New World." And Pearl Jam should never "cover" "Setting Forth."

If they were shambolic, I'm not sure what their excuse was since they had plenty of time to rehearse (not that rehearsal is something they've ever embraced, as far as I can tell).

The most shambolic show(s) I've ever heard were the two in Oakland in 2022 when Matt had COVID. They were really exciting because there was so much energy in the room, especially the first night, but it was apparent live-- and really apparent on the CDs-- that some of the songs were in danger of falling apart at any moment. (I have it on good authority that the band itself felt this way.) Anyway, if they released those shows (and they did), I can't imagine that performance quality is what's keeping PJ20 from being released (and, again, I don't have any specific recollection that they sounded that bad in Wisconsin).

iOnlyownMymind

BF25394 said:

Ryan said:

Night 1 was one of the sloppiest shows, maybe even sloppiest, out of the 70 times I’ve seen Pearl Jam.  

Twins! I have also been to (precisely) 70 PJ shows, and these two shows definitely rank towards the bottom. The Temple of the Dog reunion was not as exciting to me as it may have been to other folks because I had been at both the 2003 Santa Barbara and 2006 L.A. shows where they had previously been joined by Cornell for Temple songs.

I don't specifically remember the band sounding shambolic. I liked the inclusion of several "Lost Dogs"; I did not care for the litany of uninspired covers: "Arms Aloft" and "Public Image" as well as "Kick Out the Jams" and "The New World." And Pearl Jam should never "cover" "Setting Forth."

If they were shambolic, I'm not sure what their excuse was since they had plenty of time to rehearse (not that rehearsal is something they've ever embraced, as far as I can tell).

The most shambolic show(s) I've ever heard were the two in Oakland in 2022 when Matt had COVID. They were really exciting because there was so much energy in the room, especially the first night, but it was apparent live-- and really apparent on the CDs-- that some of the songs were in danger of falling apart at any moment. (I have it on good authority that the band itself felt this way.) Anyway, if they released those shows (and they did), I can't imagine that performance quality is what's keeping PJ20 from being released (and, again, I don't have any specific recollection that they sounded that bad in Wisconsin).

You thought they sounded that bad at Oakland? I was in the pit both nights and sure it wasn't perfect with fill in drummers, but I thought were pretty sweet shows and the songs felt pretty alive to me.

darthvedder

Yeah, the 2013 Oakland show was much more "shambolic" than the 2022 Oakland shows. It seemed like every Yield song they attempted blew up in their faces. 

When they introduced the bootlegs in 2000, they specifically mentioned they would be released "warts and all," as someone else mentioned in this thread. Poor performances have never been a reason to not release bootlegs. It has to be something else with PJ20.

evenflow82

It wasn't just any old gig though. This isn't Fresno in 2000, etc it was Alpine Valley for their own twentieth birthday celebration. 

I wish PJ would rehearse more. It's unfortunate we have to wait until their fifth gig for them to hit their stride when they perform 9-20 shows a year. 

Bunting10

I will say night 1 was underwhelming. Night two though I think was pretty damn good.

SVRDhand13

To me PJ20 was the most epic experience of all time whether the boots sound good or not. 

trees

Best PJ I ever attended 

JimmyV

SVRDhand13 said:

To me PJ20 was the most epic experience of all time whether the boots sound good or not. 

As someone who wasn't able to get there, I've always felt like the boots would be a way for me and others to experience just a little bit of that.