Let's Talk about the 2003 Tour

[CopperTom]

I don't agree that 2003 was a celebration at all. The US 2000 tour at times felt somber, especially leg 1, but there was a reason for that. 2003 wasn't somber, but it wasn't a celebration either.

[warehouse]

I don't feel that "celebration" element in '03 at all -- if anything, the pervasive political themes running through those shows kept that component of their persona at bay entirely, though there were a few "big shows" on the tour (State College, MSG) that were forerunners to the 3+ hour marathons that are now a nightly expectation.

those shows seem like the seeds of what pj shows would become. long encores, rare songs, etc. i think they are kinda over the marathon shows now and have mixed up rare songs w/ staples better.

have they done covers w/ themes since 2003-2004?

[CopperTom]

I don't feel that "celebration" element in '03 at all -- if anything, the pervasive political themes running through those shows kept that component of their persona at bay entirely, though there were a few "big shows" on the tour (State College, MSG) that were forerunners to the 3+ hour marathons that are now a nightly expectation.

those shows seem like the seeds of what pj shows would become. long encores, rare songs, etc. i think they are kinda over the marathon shows now and have mixed up rare songs w/ staples better.

have they done covers w/ themes since 2003-2004?

The themes have been either overplayed or shitty.

[Norah]

I don't feel that "celebration" element in '03 at all -- if anything, the pervasive political themes running through those shows kept that component of their persona at bay entirely, though there were a few "big shows" on the tour (State College, MSG) that were forerunners to the 3+ hour marathons that are now a nightly expectation.

those shows seem like the seeds of what pj shows would become. long encores, rare songs, etc. i think they are kinda over the marathon shows now and have mixed up rare songs w/ staples better.

have they done covers w/ themes since 2003-2004?

I agree. 2003 wasn't really party celebration Pearl Jam, but I believe it's the tour that Pearl Jam saw that in themselves and decided to make the change.

[hlniv]

2005 > 1998 > 2003 > 2006 > 2000 >>>>>> all that have occurred since.

It's not possible to compare these to earlier tours. The 91-94 run with Dave A was one thing, 95-98 with Jack was another.

I much prefer the 95-98 Jack period to all, but the 98-06 run was very good all the way through. It continually built upon itself and made them who they are today, rightfully or wrongfully. It peaked in 2005, and while the 2006 tour was still great, the S/T songs began to water down the experience into longer, looser, participatory events. Even beyond the S/T songs, it was in 2006 where priorities were placed on the celebratory element of a PJ event, as opposed to the best performances and collections of the best songs.

The Bonnaroo show in '08 was the culmination of that, a true festival show that was very good all the way around. I really, really enjoyed it. But by that time, there was no turning back, and it all just started to feel like PJ covering PJ after that. Now, this isn't necessarily bad, its just not what it could have been had they continued to keep exploring the limits of their expression as they aged. Instead, they retreated to what they knew would pass for Pearl Jam, without taking any real risks.

[ridleybradout]

Some good points here hlniv. I don't think I've ever seen anyone rate the 2000 tour so low though - what don't you like about it?

I know the 2005 tour was great but I sometimes find it hard to enjoy the bootlegs as I really don't like the mix, in particular Matt's impotent sounding snare tone.

I just wish they all sounded as good as the Easy Street EP

[hlniv]

I think they are all good, so none is really rated low. I put the others ahead for various reasons, but I think the last three are fairly interchangeable on that list. If I listed them again, it would probably be different. The 2005 and 1998 tours are what I go to most often.

[darth_vedder]

As much as I love the band with Jack, that '98 tour with Matt was really special. Maybe the best of their career.

2003 is very solid. I don't get party PJ at all, but Ed seemed to get a little more comfy with banter, and it seemed they realized, eventually, that it's ok to have fun. There was still vintage pissy Ed (Hersey for example).

From what I remember, I didn't really care for the Australian leg. I hadn't heard much of the Japanese leg till "The Guest Are Refined" mix. This is a fabulous mix. The band seemed very tight, this leg. I guess the crowd was more chill, but that's fine by me. The band / Ed are both very very good.

The US Tour seems a little spotty. Some really good shows, and some tired, meh shows. Overall not as consistent as the 2000 US legs.

I loved the idea of the pre-set acoustic set in Mansfield. I'd be all for PJ doing a mini unplugged type tour.

[numbers]

I love the 2003 tour, I rate it more highly than most of you.

[CopperTom]

I love the 2003 tour, I rate it more highly than most of you.

I'm with you.

[chuck taylor]

I think the performances on this tour were less consistent than the subsequent 2005/2006 tours, but the peaks were higher.

I went to my first 4 shows on this tour (Buffalo, MSG 1&2, Hershey). MSG 1 was really memorable for me because I lucked out a with good seat through a fellow fan club member, but the performances in Buffalo and MSG 2 were tighter. Hershey show was decent, but the venue was very meh.

[Bammer]

I think I only got 2 shows that year, Vancouver and Benaroya Hall. Both were great shows for me. Good fun. I miss those days. Hard to imagine it's been 10 years.

These are the two I attended in '03 as well.

Going back to the OP .. 13 shows in one year, wow I am jealous. The most I've done is four in one year, during a time in my life where I had a nice blend of the money to afford it and the free time. I've always been jealous of you east-coasters with all those big cities within reasonable driving distance. My show count is now up to 26 and that spans 9 different metro areas, the closest being a minimum 2-3 hour drive from home. I've always wanted to do a run like NY, Boston, Philly, Ohio, DC, Pitt, etc., it just hasn't been in the cards. My absolute dream would be a 2 week, 5+ shows in Europe but let's be honest that will never happen.

Benaroya was really such a cool experience. I'm sure I've written about it at length on the Archived board. The things that still stand out to me:
- I got my first real glimpse of the psychopaths referenced in the Meet & Greets? thread. People with handmade shirts and whatnot. I don't even want to venture a guess as to how much $$ some people spent to get there.
- The ticket ushers at Benaroya are, on average, about 88 years old. In retrospect it would have been pretty easy to walk right in there without a ticket. "Oh, sorry I just had to step outside real quick. I must have left my ticket in my coat pocket which is inside already, waiting on my seat."
- This was before, at least in my own experience, internet use really took off. I wanted to remember the setlist so I wrote down the name of each song they played on, as I recall, a grocery store receipt that I had in my wallet that night.
- Met a girl there who I ended up dating for about a year so that was cool. She was a huge PJ fan but it didn't work out (for the better).
- I bought the poster, though I agree it's ugly and it sucks. This show was in October so it was Halloween theme. I did a pretty elaborate frame job on this poster with my ticket and the local newspaper review of the show all matted and framed together. It's huge even though the poster itself isn't very big. I now have it out in my storage shed because it's big and obnoxious and the colors are ugly ... wifey won't let me put it up in the house so someday I need a man cave so I can hang my whole poster collection.
- People consider this to be one of the truly epic PJ performances, and for good reason. It was absolutely awesome.

[Kevin Davis]

I remember staying up late and watching the Benaroya setlist come in live on a site called "Given to Wail," which was a site devoted to Mike McCready guitar tabs (I just checked, looks like it still exists, but hasn't been updated since 2011). I was over the moon that they had played "Fatal" live -- the first real breakout from "Lost Dogs."

Benaroya is a truly wonderful show -- it's all meat, no moments where you feel like they're stepping back and phoning it in -- just one great song after another, performed with an element of clarity and focus that they would only display on the rarest of occasions going forward. So weird to think that's been over 12 years ago now.

[Norah]

given to wail was a great site

[Wendy Carlos's Twin]

Hershey show was decent, but the venue was very meh.

No doubt, but because it was such a small venue, it came with the usual perks that the other, bigger shows I witnessed did not:

- You could clearly hear what was going on.
- You could clearly see what was going on.

The show also had some rare features:

- An angry Eddie rant.
- The band was apparently very angry about something so they played like they meant it, despite being tired...something that rarely happens now.
- As far as that entire tour goes, it was one of the tighter shows...though all of the shows towards the end were good.
- The setlist is really good, IMO.

So even though there are obviously better shows that I could have/should have attended, I'm glad that I went to this one, because the others I saw sounded like someone playing a boombox in a huge cave.

[darth_vedder]

Hershey show was decent, but the venue was very meh.

No doubt, but because it was such a small venue, it came with the usual perks that the other, bigger shows I witnessed did not:

- You could clearly hear what was going on.
- You could clearly see what was going on.

The show also had some rare features:

- An angry Eddie rant.
- The band was apparently very angry about something so they played like they meant it, despite being tired...something that rarely happens now.
- As far as that entire tour goes, it was one of the tighter shows...though all of the shows towards the end were good.
- The setlist is really good, IMO.

So even though there are obviously better shows that I could have/should have attended, I'm glad that I went to this one, because the others I saw sounded like someone playing a boombox in a huge cave.

I enjoyed the show too. I remember Ed saying something about the flashing girl during "Insignificance" (I think), then later when on the epic "mosquito bites" / "shitting on girls heads" rant.

[chuck taylor]

Hershey show was decent, but the venue was very meh.

No doubt, but because it was such a small venue, it came with the usual perks that the other, bigger shows I witnessed did not:

- You could clearly hear what was going on.
- You could clearly see what was going on.

The show also had some rare features:

- An angry Eddie rant.
- The band was apparently very angry about something so they played like they meant it, despite being tired...something that rarely happens now.
- As far as that entire tour goes, it was one of the tighter shows...though all of the shows towards the end were good.
- The setlist is really good, IMO.

So even though there are obviously better shows that I could have/should have attended, I'm glad that I went to this one, because the others I saw sounded like someone playing a boombox in a huge cave.

Yea, the setlist is pretty good. Which part of the show was the rant? I'm blanking out on that one. I'll have to give this one a spin this weekend.

[chuck taylor]

Right between Driven To Tears and Whipping, Nevermind. Just nevermind it all.

[Bee Girl]

I think I only got 2 shows that year, Vancouver and Benaroya Hall. Both were great shows for me. Good fun. I miss those days. Hard to imagine it's been 10 years.

These are the two I attended in '03 as well.

Going back to the OP .. 13 shows in one year, wow I am jealous. The most I've done is four in one year, during a time in my life where I had a nice blend of the money to afford it and the free time. I've always been jealous of you east-coasters with all those big cities within reasonable driving distance. My show count is now up to 26 and that spans 9 different metro areas, the closest being a minimum 2-3 hour drive from home. I've always wanted to do a run like NY, Boston, Philly, Ohio, DC, Pitt, etc., it just hasn't been in the cards. My absolute dream would be a 2 week, 5+ shows in Europe but let's be honest that will never happen.

Benaroya was really such a cool experience. I'm sure I've written about it at length on the Archived board. The things that still stand out to me:
- I got my first real glimpse of the psychopaths referenced in the Meet & Greets? thread. People with handmade shirts and whatnot. I don't even want to venture a guess as to how much $$ some people spent to get there.
- The ticket ushers at Benaroya are, on average, about 88 years old. In retrospect it would have been pretty easy to walk right in there without a ticket. "Oh, sorry I just had to step outside real quick. I must have left my ticket in my coat pocket which is inside already, waiting on my seat."
- This was before, at least in my own experience, internet use really took off. I wanted to remember the setlist so I wrote down the name of each song they played on, as I recall, a grocery store receipt that I had in my wallet that night.
- Met a girl there who I ended up dating for about a year so that was cool. She was a huge PJ fan but it didn't work out (for the better).
- I bought the poster, though I agree it's ugly and it sucks. This show was in October so it was Halloween theme. I did a pretty elaborate frame job on this poster with my ticket and the local newspaper review of the show all matted and framed together. It's huge even though the poster itself isn't very big. I now have it out in my storage shed because it's big and obnoxious and the colors are ugly ... wifey won't let me put it up in the house so someday I need a man cave so I can hang my whole poster collection.
- People consider this to be one of the truly epic PJ performances, and for good reason. It was absolutely awesome.

It was before the internet stuff was really happening. We had to call a special phone number for tickets. I could not convince any of my friends to go with me so I had to go by myself. I probably only got a ticket (and on the floor, too) because I started looking for just one ticket. I was standing around outside before doors, feeling weird because I was alone, and had several offers to buy my ticket- one guy offered me $800 for it. I was tempted, as I was a single mom with a little one and could have paid a lot of bills with the cash- but I knew it would be special and I just was not willing to give up the experience. And I am so glad I made that choice. I never framed my poster, but I still have it. Benaroya Hall is still one of my favorite shows of all time.

[Strat]

03 tour was my favorite. That jaunt throught he midwest was fantastic. I would show up early and usually get front row.

Fargo
Chicago
St. Paul
East Troy
Council Bluffs
Cleveland
Chicago

Great road trips, camping. Ah....the good ol' days