Pearl Jam bootlegs May15 '04
Lately, I’ve been getting back into listening to the Pearl Jam bootlegs that were released at the end of the year 2000, and into 2001.
For those who don’t know – Pearl Jam released a full–length bootleg for each and every show that they performed throughout the year 2000, which was something like 78. For Pearl Jam fans, this was the ultimate treat.
And for Pearl Jam fans, the ones who had the money to buy all 78, did so. However, the ones who weren’t brimming with cash, selected shows they heard from others that were great, or that they actually attended themselves – which essentially gives them a lifetime copy of that show, memories included.
I was there for two of the Pearl Jam shows that year, and I obviously own both of those bootlegs.
I was at the Alpine Valley show, in East Troy, Wisconsin. And the very next night, PJ played a "crammed in" All–State Arena, in Rosemont, Illinois.
The second night’s performance was utterly astounding. Our seats were pretty lousy, but the impact of the spectacle was the same for everyone.
In any case, the bootlegs are some of the most authentic items I’ve ever purchased. Their value is far greater than the thin cardboard paper that holds the CDs from each show, or the price it took to manufacture the CDs.
Listening to each show that I bought, you can hear everything. You can hear the sounds of cicadas, if it was deep in summer. You can hear the crowd yelling certain chants or words of praise. You can hear the perfect sounding guitars, and Matt Cameron’s crisp drumming.
This "clarity" is not only attributed to the fantastic music format of a compact disc. It is more associated with the "feeling you get," while listening to an entire show, front to back, with no moments rest – as if you were actually at the show.
The entire atmosphere surrounds you as Eddie Vedder mouths the lyrics, and as the crowd wails cheers, like waves of sound coming from a great distance.
Pearl Jam was never the same after releasing these bootlegs. Their music has become a permanent itch – with intense scratching needed every so often. Their music has a certain "acquired taste," that is not hard to pick up. They play for the masses, and the masses respond. They speak from the heart, for the cares and concerns of many.
Pearl Jam will always be remembered for their arrival on the stage of the early 90’s grunge scene. However, their music isn’t so typical grunge. It hits a chord of familiarity, while always emitting pure rock.
I love my Pearl Jam bootlegs, and they will always bring me back to my rock–n–roll youth – whatever there was of it.
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