The Complete Pearl Jam Live Album Guide
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/rolls/20000926/en/the_complete_pearl_jam_live_album_guide_1.html
Tuesday September 26 07:47 PM EDT
Twenty-five live albums, fifty-plus hours of music, twenty-five
"Corduroy"s -- this is the task Pearl Jam have placed at their fans'
feet. By recording and releasing their 2000 European tour as twenty-five
double CDs (exempting, of course, the tragic Roskilde, Denmark, show),
the mighty band is drawing up a new blueprint for marketing live music,
and beating bootleggers at their own game.
While most live albums are gleaned from the best takes of entire tours
and spliced together, for Pearl Jam every show must stand alone. Live
Without a Net, indeed. But how are Pearl Jam fans supposed to know which
musical European journeys beckon them -- or, in extreme cases, which of
their twenty-five new albums they need to play first?
To answer both of the above questions, we formed our own crack Ten club
and immersed ourselves in five albums each. Through our scientific, sonic
study we strove to distinguish each album by pointing out its high points
("Pearls"), low points ("Grievances"), memorable quotes by one Eddie
Vedder ("Off Eddie goes") and crowd participation moments ("Crowd
participation moment"). As a special bonus, we also answered the query no
doubt on every Pearl Jam fan's mind: "Ur, how's the 'Even Flow'"? We even
ranked them in order, from best (Hamburg still knows how to rock) to worst
(not much Jamily love to go around in Landgraaf, Holland).
Bon voyage!
Code: 1
Date: 05/23/00
Venue: Estadio Do Restelo, Lisbon, Portugal
Tracks: 28
Running time:140:19
Set list: Of the Girl, Do the Evolution, Animal, Red Mosquito, Corduroy,
Grievance, Light Years, Nothing As It Seems, Given to Fly, Even Flow,
Faithful, Untitled, Last Kiss, MFC, Breakerfall, Wishlist, Thin Air,
Daughter, Evacuation, Immortality, Betterman, Black, Go, Last Exit,
Jeremy, Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town, Alive, Yellow
Ledbetter
Pearls: No Jeff Ament album packaging; the crowd clapping in place of
the Matt Cameron's disabled drums for a verse and chorus of "Last Kiss";
"Red Mosquito" captures all that PJ do right -- shifting tempos, with
guitars and vox kept in check.
Grievances: Vedder's surf chat before "Light Years"; "Do the Evolution"
captures everything that PJ do wrong -- a turgid nightmare full of too
many guitars; are "Given to Fly" and "Wishlist" the same song? The crowd
seems to know the words to the latter.
Off Eddie goes: "Matt Cameron, this is Portugal. Portugal, meet Matt
Cameron."
Crowd participation moment: Batshit screams that greet "Even Flow."
"Even Flow": Screams pay off.
Rank: 6
Code: 2
Date: 05/25/00
Venue: Palau Sant Jordi, Barcelona, Spain
Tracks: 25
Running time: 126:13
Set list: Long Road, Breakerfall, Corduroy, Hail Hail, Animal, Even Flow,
Nothing As It Seems, Light Years, Given to Fly, Insignificance, Daughter,
Rearviewmirror, I Got Shit, Thin Air, Black, Betterman, Do the Evolution,
Alive, Grievance, State of Love and Trust, Wishlist, Elderly Woman Behind
the Counter in a Small Town, Go, Last Kiss, Yellow Ledbetter
Pearls: Leads off with a stately version of "Long Road" from the Dead Man
Walking soundtrack, then pounds into a brutal "Breakerfall"; kick ass,
enthusiastic crowd keeps boys on their toes and pushes them over the edge,
particularly on "Corduroy"; pick a rocker, and PJ crank it to 11 for the
Spaniards.
Grievances: Meandering noodle through "Daughter"; Eddie apologizes for a
minor flub during "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town,"
explaining that "right in the middle I had the mike on my mouth, and I
realized that from the opening band [the Vandals], that this microphone
was on that fucking guy's penis and his ass . . . I got a little
distracted."
Off Eddie goes: Offers up the theory that had Spanish architect Antonio
Gaudi been a musician, he would have been the original Jimi Hendrix. "So
Jimi's from Seattle, but you had Gaudi, so I think you were first
actually -- you had the first Hendrix."
Crowd participation moment: Barcelona knows how to rock, as evidenced
early on when the crowd greets the intro to "Corduroy" with a thrilling
football-style chant, and tries to sing along to "Daughter" and "Small
Town."
"Even Flow": Like every other rocker on tap here, exceptionally inspired.
Imagine grunge is young and still full of untapped promise, and you're
hearing this warhorse for the first time. It's kinda like that.
Rank: 3
Code: 3
Date: 05/26/00
Venue: Velodromo Anoeta, San Sebastian, Spain
Tracks: 25
Running time: 129:25
Set list: Release, Given to Fly, Do the Evolution, Corduroy, Insignificance,
Of the Girl, Jeremy, Light Years, Nothing As It Seems, Even Flow, Faithful,
Daughter, Breakerfall, Rearviewmirror, Betterman, Go, Last Exit, Hail Hail,
Immortality, State of Love and Trust, Alive, Whipping, Last Kiss, Smile,
Yellow Ledbetter
Pearls: Eddie's growl-to-falsetto croon on "Release" ("release me--ee--hey--
ooh--aye--aye--aye--woah-eee"); the segue into Tom Waits' "Hold On" and the
Doors' "Love Me Two Times" during "Daughter"; a scorching "Whipping" into a
syrupy "Last Kiss" makes for a nifty juxtaposition of extremes.
Grievances: "Alive" dissolves into a parody of a stoner high school band,
prompting Eddie to apologize; is that a drunken Cher singing "Do the
Evolution"?; and, yes, Jeremy's spoken.
Off Eddie goes: "Hola!" "We got a little bit of a surf in today . . . it's
been interesting singing tonight 'cause I got so much salt water up my
fuckin' head."
Crowd participation moment: Soccer chants of "Ole, ole, ole, ole" fill the
stadium before encore. Eddie joins in for an extended sing-and-clap-along.
"Even Flow": Mike and Stone's guitars are tepid at best, bleating sheep at
worst. Eddie's vocals are garbled and passionless. Must be all that salt
water.
Rank: 24
Code: 4
Date: 05/29/00
Venue: Wembley Arena, London, England
Tracks: 26
Running time: 123:39
Set list: Of the Girl, Breakerfall, Grievance, Gods' Dice, Light Years,
Corduroy, Animal, Given to Fly, Even Flow, Nothing As It Seems, Daughter,
Faithful, MFC, Wishlist, Do the Evolution, Black, Alive, Timeless Melody,
Insignificance, Rearviewmirror, Betterman, I Got Shit, Go, Soon Forget,
Soldier of Love, Yellow Ledbetter
Pearls: "I Got Shit" requested by an unnamed girl at a bar the night
before; Pearl Jam's only song with a ukulele, "Soon Forget," -- Eddie
laughs, flubs lyrics and stumbles through chord changes on what Matt
Cameron called a "grunge-ulele" all the while the crowd cheering him on.
A great set from Yield: "Faithful," "MFC," "Wishlist," and "Do the
Evolution."
Grievances: Somehow PJ's only false notes seem to come playing some of
their biggest hits, often their earlier material. Tonight, "Betterman"
sounds like it could have been a PJ cover band -- you could almost see
this version ending up in a Priceline commercial.
Off Eddie goes: "When I was a kid . . . it seemed like there was heaven
and then somewhere above that there was London where all the gods came
from like Zeus, Artemis, Aphrodite and Paul and Ringo and Keith and Mick
and Keith and Roger and John and Keith."
Crowd participation moment: "Black" -- the crowd is in this one from the
first "Heeeeeyyyyyyohhhh" and keep going even after the band has stopped
playing and Eddie's stopped singing.
"Even Flow": Eddie gives the Reader's Digest version of the story behind
"Even Flow -- "Here's one called 'Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Your
Grievances."
Rank: 9
Code: 5
Date: 05/30/00
Venue: Wembley Arena, London, England
Tracks: 25
Running time: 120:21
Set list: Sometimes, Grievance, Corduroy, Hail Hail, Animal, Dissident,
Nothing As It Seems, In Hiding, Even Flow, Thin Air, Habit, Untitled,
MFC, Off He Goes, Daughter, Not For You, State of Love and Trust,
Immortality, Rearviewmirror, Light Years, Do the Evolution, Last Exit,
Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town, Black, Alive
Pearls: "Animal" snarls with conviction, "State of Love and Trust" is
tight and right, and "Immortality" achieves an almost "Stairway to
Heaven"-esque grandeur.
Grievances: The band's on, but there's serious lack of personality at
this show. Eddie doesn't have much to say and the set list is predictable.
Off Eddie goes: Affects pseudo English accent to declare, "We shan't be
leaving London just yet." Bonus Tommy reference: "I'll never forget
tonight, because like Sally Simpson I'm going to have a scar to remember
it, because Mike McCready fucking hit me with his guitar tonight, the
fucking little prick. Bastard!"
Crowd participation moment: One guy screams for "Brain of J," but has to
make due with "Elderly Woman..."
"Even Flow": Not bad at all -- feisty and almost fresh; Eddie dedicates
it to Tony Price, guitarist for opening band Monkeywrench.
Rank: 18
Code: 6
Date: 06/01/00
Venue: The Point Theater, Dublin, Ireland
Tracks: 22
Running time: 112:53
Set list: Sometimes, Breakerfall, Grievance, Corduroy, Given to Fly,
Animal, Nothing As It Seems, Faithful, Even Flow, Off He Goes, Elderly
Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town, Insignificance, Daughter,
Rearviewmirror, Alive, Go, Do the Evolution, Lukin', Wishlist, Betterman,
Garden, Black
Pearls: On twangy "Off He Goes" the band shows rare restraint, seven-and-a-
half-minute version of "Black" makes for an epic finish.
Grievances: "Breakerfall"'s Who-soundalike intro is growing tiresome, set
list is pretty standard.
Off Eddie goes: After telling a meandering story about "a farmer, his son
and his horse," Eddie poses the obvious question, "What's the point?" and
then answers, "Oh, it's this really great place to play in Dublin."
Crowd participation moment: A few people from the good village of Donnegal
respond to Eddie's shout-out.
"Even Flow": With guitar (and guitar effects) turned up to eleven, this
raucous "Even Flow" could have sneaked onto Van Halen II. A feisty, zesty,
robust take -- and the one by which all future "Even Flow"s will be judged.
Rank: 20
Code: 7
Date: 06/03/00
Venue: SE + CC Arena, Glasgow, Scotland
Tracks: 26
Running time: 118:45
Set list: Sometimes, Breakerfall, Corduroy, Hail Hail, Animal, Dissident,
Grievance, Nothing As It Seems, Given to Fly, Even Flow, Daughter,
Untitled, MFC, Habit, Betterman, Present Tense, State of Love and Trust,
Rearviewmirror, Brain of J, Do the Evolution, Light Years, Elderly Woman
Behind the Counter in a Small Town, Last Kiss, Once, Soon Forget, Yellow
Ledbetter
Pearls: Eddie gives a shout-out to Scotland's own Mike Scott of the
Waterboys; "Soon Forget" is one charming little campfire song.
Grievances: Flat take of "Dissident," no shout-out to Sheena Easton, and
when stacked up to "Given to Fly," how lame is "Nothing As It Seems"?
Off Eddie goes: In a foreshadowing of tragic events to come later in the
month, he scans the front of the moshpit during "Fly." "Is everybody OK
right in this corner? Is everybody up? . . . Nobody underneath?"
Crowd participation moment: After Eddie admits that Pearl Jam have only
been to Glasgow once, crowd boos vociferously. He replies, "Fuck you. I
had laundry to do."
"Even Flow": Solid run-through (can even make out the word "concrete").
Bonus points for Eddie's introduction: "This next one's called 'In a Big
Country.'"
Rank: 8
Code: 8
Date: 06/04/00
Venue: Manchester Evening News Arena, Manchester, England
Tracks: 28
Running time: 127:29
Set list: Of the Girl, Breakerfall, Grievance, Corduroy, Light Years, Go,
Given to Fly, Evacuation, Even Flow, Daughter, Animal, Wishlist,
Nothingman, Betterman, Insignificance, Rearviewmirror, Last Exit, Once,
Black, Timeless Melody, State of Love and Trust, Fuckin' Up, Leatherman,
Footsteps, Do the Evolution, Garden, Yellow Ledbetter
Pearls: A cover of Brit band the La's' "Timeless Melody;" the entire
second encore that includes "Fuckin' Up," "Footsteps" and "Leatherman" --
"Since we did "Nothingman" and "Betterman" we're gonna fill it out with
"Leatherman." It seems that PJ couldn't even find a copy of this rarity,
but just to give you a sense of what you're in for, the song's last line
is "Give him some skin/He's Leatherman."
Grievances: "Black -- When Eddie sings, "Love gone bad/Turned my world to
black," he sounds bored. The crowd, which usually sings along on this one,
is bored too.
Off Eddie goes: Introducing "Timeless Melody" to the crowd, Vedder says,
"A great songwriter from your town [wrote this song] and his last name
ain't Gallagher . . . I think we can take those guys on. How are those
guys anyway? They're from here, right?"
Crowd participation moment: Inspired by Stone and Eddie's fake row,
Manchester gets proactive. After Vedder says of himself and Gossard, "We
may not be brothers but we can fight just like the best of 'em," the
crowd boos and jeers, with one guy apparently hurling a beverage at
Gossard. "Hey wait," says Eddie, "I'm the only one who can abuse him.
I'll fucking kick your ass if you even go near him. What was that? A
beer? A full beer? Can I have it?"
"Even Flow": Remember the days when Pearl Jam made videos? The guitars
are particularly crunchy tonight and when the song goes into an extended
jam, you can almost see Eddie hovering precariously above the crowd.
Rank: 4
--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢(ptt.csie.ntu.edu.tw)
◆ From: h219.s60.ts30.hinet.net