Live At Benaroya Hall - Oct 22 2003 (Acoustic Show) - Pearl Jam

...the way only a seasoned live act can - perfectly.
The then newer tracks from Riot Act ('Thumbing My Way', 'Can't Keep,' 'All or None.') and Binaural ('Thin Air,' 'Nothing As It Seems,' 'Of The Girl,' 'Sleight of Hand,' 'Parting Ways') are delivered with equal aplomb. There's also a couple of well chosen cover tracks: Dylan's 'Masters of War' and the Johnny Cash song '25 Minutes To Go' which sounds like it was made for Pearl Jam and features ...
...and not in question: few live acts can boast such an ability to play both the anthems to a stadium sized venue (see Live In The Garden for further proof) and mesmerise a smaller crowd with the lesser heard songs. It seems unlikely though that Ed was contorting in his seat with 'Pro Choice' scrawled on his arm in marker pen whilst delivering any of these songs. The band seem to give a far more mature and collected image than they did then. However; ... more

When I think of acoustic Pearl Jam performances, two images come to mind. The first is from a 1992 MTV Unplugged performance where Eddie Vedder could barely contain his intensity and seemed incapable of staying on his stool. The second is of a more sedate Ed, on his own, a solo performance of Dead Man (also included here) that I and other early arrivals to a show in 2000 were privileged to see.

The tone of the benefit performance captured here has more in common with the latter, though that's not a discredit. While many doubt that they will return to the form and urgency they initially showed, Pearl Jam have matured well as a band both in song writing and performance and this album highlights that superbly.

Opening track 'Of The Girl' sets the mood perfectly and sets the tone; it's not a night of 'Animal' or 'Evolution,' this is a night for the slower numbers to shine. And they do just that.

The track selection on here is excellent. While many may be disappointed by the lack of Alive, Jeremy, Go etc (whose energy would have been unsuited to this style of performance) they will no doubt be compensated happily by the inclusion of early fan favourite 'Crazy Mary,' whose opening lines are received with the kind of excitement normally reserved for the hit singles, and what is possibly the best version of 'Black' heard yet. If you thought the album version sounded good you ain't heard nothing yet. It's good to hear that Ed hasn't lost the ability to hit and hold those notes.

Classic PJ tracks 'Immortality,' 'Off He Goes' and 'Daughter' are all performed in the way only a seasoned live act can - perfectly.
The then newer tracks from Riot Act ('Thumbing My Way', 'Can't Keep,' 'All or None.') and Binaural ('Thin Air,' 'Nothing As It Seems,' 'Of The Girl,' 'Sleight of Hand,' 'Parting Ways') are delivered with equal aplomb. There's also a couple of well chosen cover tracks: Dylan's 'Masters of War' and the Johnny Cash song '25 Minutes To Go' which sounds like it was made for Pearl Jam and features a vocal from Ed which would leave lesser singers gasping.

When Pearl Jam began releasing it's official 'bootlegs' Ed made the point that when you bought it you got the band in it's true concert form - warts 'n' all - without the mistakes being edited out. The same is true here. When Vedder starts playing the wrong song at the start of Thin Air and continues to fluff the guitar line during the correct song it's to the bands credit that they left it in and the singer openly admits the mistake. It makes the band seem that little more... personable. As does the dry humour with which Stone introduces 'Lukin' as a song who's lyrics are often missed by the pacing of the song before it is belted out in true punk style. There's also the revelation that Mike McCready (whose playing is faultless especially on show stopper Yellow Leadbetter) misheard the lyric to a Kiss song as "Rock and roll all night, and.. part of.. everyday."

New tracks 'Fatal' (which Ed mistakenly started at the wrong point) and 'Down' are received well by the crowd, who are perhaps more excited as they are introduced with news of the Lost Dogs album, but it's the new track 'Man of the Hour' from Big Fish, and introduced with much amusement, that is my personal favourite track for it is performed so beautifully that it's hard to imagine that it's barely a week old.

The skill and ability that Pearl Jam have developed in their touring career is phenomenal and not in question: few live acts can boast such an ability to play both the anthems to a stadium sized venue (see Live In The Garden for further proof) and mesmerise a smaller crowd with the lesser heard songs. It seems unlikely though that Ed was contorting in his seat with 'Pro Choice' scrawled on his arm in marker pen whilst delivering any of these songs. The band seem to give a far more mature and collected image than they did then. However; the intensity with which the Pearl Jam play and capture an audience make this cd hard to ignore. From the open to the finish this is a selection of well thought out, well delivered songs that will leave the listener satisfied on every level, ardent fan or not. If only they'd retained a little of that spark from those early days....
 

...less