What was the best tour?

[96583UP]

love the last couple minutes of this version

http://www.fivehorizons.com/songs/aug98

[Monkey_Driven]

even most of 2003 is sloppy despite the "classic" Boston and Penn State shows.

most of them? no way. there's a couple of duds here and there but most of the shows are some of their best ever. melbourne 1, perth, all the japan shows, bonner springs, uniondale, msg, buffalo, st louis, champaign, little rock, both irvine shows, san diego, hershey, holmdel to name a few classics off the top of my head. maybe you should go back and listen again if you think boston and penn state are the only good shows. the lows are lower than in 98 and 00 but i think the highs are higher.

[wease]

1994 hands down.
Late March through April is the best month of this band.

Jesus Christ, this is so true.

[Monkey_Driven]

The mid 90s boots are hampered by the small catalog the band had at the time. '98-'05 is the sweet spot for me in terms of song selection, performances, and intensity.

[Kevin Davis]

The mid 90s boots are hampered by small catalog the band had at the time. '98-'05 is the sweet spot for me in terms of song selection, performances, and intensity.

Same.

[matt reeder]

even most of 2003 is sloppy despite the "classic" Boston and Penn State shows.

most of them? no way. there's a couple of duds here and there but most of the shows are some of their best ever. melbourne 1, perth, all the japan shows, bonner springs, uniondale, msg, buffalo, st louis, champaign, little rock, both irvine shows, san diego, hershey, holmdel to name a few classics off the top of my head. maybe you should go back and listen again if you think boston and penn state are the only good shows. the lows are lower than in 98 and 00 but i think the highs are higher.

Australia 2003 is the sloppiest the band ever played before 2008 or so. There's a lot of slop in the first leg of the US tour, too; but less so. There are a lot of great performances, too; but a lot of ho-hum performances with only a few standout tracks. That was my experience listening through that tour the couple of times I've tried.

You forgot about Charlotte, Nashville and Lexington - all of which are better than a decent number of the shows you referenced.

[Birds in Hell]

Yeah, there's only a handful of 2003 shows I think I'd want to revisit. 2000 and 2006 both blow it out of the water for me.

[Bi_3]

Knowing what I know now, sometimes the intensity of pre-1998 feels wrong. 2005 was a great year for them

[Ledbetterdays]

even most of 2003 is sloppy despite the "classic" Boston and Penn State shows.

most of them? no way. there's a couple of duds here and there but most of the shows are some of their best ever. melbourne 1, perth, all the japan shows, bonner springs, uniondale, msg, buffalo, st louis, champaign, little rock, both irvine shows, san diego, hershey, holmdel to name a few classics off the top of my head. maybe you should go back and listen again if you think boston and penn state are the only good shows. the lows are lower than in 98 and 00 but i think the highs are higher.

My point was really that the best 2003 shows are not well known shows. I was being sarcastic about Boston and Penn State because they are very sloppy. 2003 was the Riot Act tour which Riot Act is an album I never listen to then or now so that definitely matters and I have probably listened to the 2000 and 2003 tour more than anything else (bootleg junkie phase) and I have never thought of those shows from 2003 as standouts for the size of the tour.

[CopperTom]

even most of 2003 is sloppy despite the "classic" Boston and Penn State shows.

most of them? no way. there's a couple of duds here and there but most of the shows are some of their best ever. melbourne 1, perth, all the japan shows, bonner springs, uniondale, msg, buffalo, st louis, champaign, little rock, both irvine shows, san diego, hershey, holmdel to name a few classics off the top of my head. maybe you should go back and listen again if you think boston and penn state are the only good shows. the lows are lower than in 98 and 00 but i think the highs are higher.

My point was really that the best 2003 shows are not well known shows. I was being sarcastic about Boston and Penn State because they are very sloppy. 2003 was the Riot Act tour which Riot Act is an album I never listen to then or now so that definitely matters and I have probably listened to the 2000 and 2003 tour more than anything else (bootleg junkie phase) and I have never thought of those shows from 2003 as standouts for the size of the tour.

Satan's Bed not withstanding, State College is not sloppy at all. I'd take Buffalo, State College, NY1 and NY2 over the top 4 shows from any other year in the official bootleg era.

[Bammer]

I never saw Dave A. live therefore I cannot vote. Surely it would have been a Dave A. tour.

[CopperTom]

Trust your ears.

[LetMeSleep]

It has long been determined here that March 1998 was the peak of the Pearl Jams

I saw them March 98 and it wasn't half the show that March 95 was.

[matt reeder]

even most of 2003 is sloppy despite the "classic" Boston and Penn State shows.

most of them? no way. there's a couple of duds here and there but most of the shows are some of their best ever. melbourne 1, perth, all the japan shows, bonner springs, uniondale, msg, buffalo, st louis, champaign, little rock, both irvine shows, san diego, hershey, holmdel to name a few classics off the top of my head. maybe you should go back and listen again if you think boston and penn state are the only good shows. the lows are lower than in 98 and 00 but i think the highs are higher.

My point was really that the best 2003 shows are not well known shows. I was being sarcastic about Boston and Penn State because they are very sloppy. 2003 was the Riot Act tour which Riot Act is an album I never listen to then or now so that definitely matters and I have probably listened to the 2000 and 2003 tour more than anything else (bootleg junkie phase) and I have never thought of those shows from 2003 as standouts for the size of the tour.

Satan's Bed not withstanding, State College is not sloppy at all. I'd take Buffalo, State College, NY1 and NY2 over the top 4 shows from any other year in the official bootleg era.

I'm not sure those are even the top four shows of 2003.

[Bi_3]

even most of 2003 is sloppy despite the "classic" Boston and Penn State shows.

most of them? no way. there's a couple of duds here and there but most of the shows are some of their best ever. melbourne 1, perth, all the japan shows, bonner springs, uniondale, msg, buffalo, st louis, champaign, little rock, both irvine shows, san diego, hershey, holmdel to name a few classics off the top of my head. maybe you should go back and listen again if you think boston and penn state are the only good shows. the lows are lower than in 98 and 00 but i think the highs are higher.

My point was really that the best 2003 shows are not well known shows. I was being sarcastic about Boston and Penn State because they are very sloppy. 2003 was the Riot Act tour which Riot Act is an album I never listen to then or now so that definitely matters and I have probably listened to the 2000 and 2003 tour more than anything else (bootleg junkie phase) and I have never thought of those shows from 2003 as standouts for the size of the tour.

I agree. A persons opinion of the 2003 tour is highly correlated to their opinion of that boring album.

[CopperTom]

even most of 2003 is sloppy despite the "classic" Boston and Penn State shows.

most of them? no way. there's a couple of duds here and there but most of the shows are some of their best ever. melbourne 1, perth, all the japan shows, bonner springs, uniondale, msg, buffalo, st louis, champaign, little rock, both irvine shows, san diego, hershey, holmdel to name a few classics off the top of my head. maybe you should go back and listen again if you think boston and penn state are the only good shows. the lows are lower than in 98 and 00 but i think the highs are higher.

My point was really that the best 2003 shows are not well known shows. I was being sarcastic about Boston and Penn State because they are very sloppy. 2003 was the Riot Act tour which Riot Act is an album I never listen to then or now so that definitely matters and I have probably listened to the 2000 and 2003 tour more than anything else (bootleg junkie phase) and I have never thought of those shows from 2003 as standouts for the size of the tour.

Satan's Bed not withstanding, State College is not sloppy at all. I'd take Buffalo, State College, NY1 and NY2 over the top 4 shows from any other year in the official bootleg era.

I'm not sure those are even the top four shows of 2003.

Neither am I, but my point stands.

[CopperTom]

even most of 2003 is sloppy despite the "classic" Boston and Penn State shows.

most of them? no way. there's a couple of duds here and there but most of the shows are some of their best ever. melbourne 1, perth, all the japan shows, bonner springs, uniondale, msg, buffalo, st louis, champaign, little rock, both irvine shows, san diego, hershey, holmdel to name a few classics off the top of my head. maybe you should go back and listen again if you think boston and penn state are the only good shows. the lows are lower than in 98 and 00 but i think the highs are higher.

My point was really that the best 2003 shows are not well known shows. I was being sarcastic about Boston and Penn State because they are very sloppy. 2003 was the Riot Act tour which Riot Act is an album I never listen to then or now so that definitely matters and I have probably listened to the 2000 and 2003 tour more than anything else (bootleg junkie phase) and I have never thought of those shows from 2003 as standouts for the size of the tour.

I agree. A persons opinion of the 2003 tour is highly correlated to their opinion of that boring album.

That logic applies to every album \ album tour.

[Bi_3]

Yeah, but who can resist a chance to slander Riot Act?

[Birds in Hell]

I wish I'd been around for the release of Riot Act (I was taking a vacation from Pearl Jam fandom at that point), because it's always interested me why it was so poorly received by some fans, the same fans who'd very much enjoyed Binaural, and why those feelings still run so deep. It was the point where both Caryn at 5 Horizons and one of the other dominant fansites (I'm struggling with the name, PJ Network? A guy called Adam?) effectively got off the bus, having been very invested in the band up until that point.

I think Riot Act is a flawed album that I very rarely want to listen to but, man oh man, things sure got much worse.

[CopperTom]

I wish I'd been around for the release of Riot Act (I was taking a vacation from Pearl Jam fandom at that point), because it's always interested me why it was so poorly received by some fans, the same fans who'd very much enjoyed Binaural, and why those feelings still run so deep. It was the point where both Caryn at 5 Horizons and one of the other dominant fansites (I'm struggling with the name, PJ Network? A guy called Adam?) effectively got off the bus, having been very invested in the band up until that point.

I think Riot Act is a flawed album that I very rarely want to listen to but, man oh man, things sure got much worse.

It's not all Riot Act's fault. 2003-2005 is probably where the 10C cared the least about active memberships, fan satisfaction, etc. If you wanted to be a member of the 10C - ok. If you wanted you leave the 10C - ok. This was also the most vocal PJ was about politics. Most people clap or lol over the speeches, however, some fans legitimately got irate over it. 2003 featured Bushleaguer incidents in Denver and Uniondale and 2004 was the Vote For Change tour. This era thinned the herd, but it's definitely not all Riot Act's fault.