Customer Reviews

14/6/00 - Paegas Arena, Praha, Czech Republic

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Disclaimer: Owner of all 72 official PJ bootlegs. This gig in the Czech Republic hasn't gotten much attention, and rarely makes fans' lists of the "best" of the bootleg series. But I feel that this show is the best from the European series. The sound quality is crystal clear, unlike many of the European bootlegs, the crowd is loud and enthusiastic, the set list offers many surprises, and the band is energetic and flawless. While Eddie Vedder keeps the stage talk to a relative minimum, he delivers one of his funniest and sickest moments in the tour when he says "...last time we were here it was really cold...but today it's as hot as the devil's asshole." And he wasn't just talking about the weather.

The key ingredient in this great performance is Mike McCready, who is positively on fire. Get a load of his incredible soloing in "Red Mosquito" (which makes a rare but very welcome appearance here), "I Got Shit," and his regular showcase "Black." Mike adds freaky and feedback-drenched rhythm work to two more of his personal classics, "Present Tense" (the best performance of this song in the tour) plus "State of Love and Trust." This show also offers above-par versions of "MFC," "Even Flow," and "Go." The moody "Sleight of Hand" makes it first appearance in the tour here. I thought the studio version of this song was rather dull, but it works very well in concert as a slow-burning tension builder. The cover of "Timeless Melody" by The La's is a nice addition, and the four final songs ("State of Love..." through "Yellow Ledbetter") make up one of the most effective closing sequences of the tour.

This show and the Milan show are very close in terms of having the title of "Best European Bootleg". This show has quite a few little flaws that are throughout the album, but the energy and setlist make up for that a great deal. The band sounds full of energy, and are enjoying themselves to the fullest. Thats one large thing I look for in a true great live show. Even with its few little flubs, it still manages to be an awesome show period. The show contains awesome versions of Grievance, Animal, Red Mosquito(my favorite version of the song), Pilate, Present Tense, Habit, Untitled, Even Flow, Go, Sleight of Hand, State of Love and Trust, and Do the Evolution. Do the Evolution even has verses messed up and still remains one of the better versions of the song out there. Thats one thing thats cool about this boot is that the mistakes arent really bringing the songs done or making them bad in any way. There is also a cover of Timeless Melody thats kinda hard to come by. It alone is worth buying this. Its a great cover by the band, my favorite cover they have done. The sound quality on this album is also very nice. The bass isnt mixed quite as low as the rest of the Euro boots. Everything can be heard very clearly. The crowd is good as well. So, with flaws and all, its a great live album.

Great one. Brilliant version of Present Tense. Eddy says: we are taking things to a next level here. He is right. Only Milan beats this one. When you decide to buy a few bootlegs you definitely have to get this one.

Most of the press for this show comes from Eddie Vedder comparing the hot weather to the Devil's rear exhaust duct. Too bad, because this is one hell of a show. Only the Hamburg performance edges it out as Best of the European 2000 Tour. Mike McCready is in especially good form, but the rest of the band is right there, turning up the heat that much more. Eddie's satanic anatomy lesson aside, this one is a scorcher.

While other PJ fans have rated this show as a so-so performance, I must admit, the first disc alone is worth the purchase. There are some noticeable mess-ups all over this disc, but it's still a great show (especially the crowd interaction). The "Untitled" song on the first disc is fantastic, with the Czech crowd chiming in prior to a raucous version of "MFC." The highlights of this disc are "I Got Sh*t," "Of the Girl," and an extended "RVM." "SOLAT," my favourite PJ song, is somewhat overshadowed by Stone's initial screw up to start the song (so far, #38 in Columbus has the best rendition of the tour). "Red Mosquito" starts out great, but during the verses, someone is playing some really off chords (Cameron has a great drum fill during the solo). "Go" is pretty solid and "Betterman" includes the "Save it for later" tag and is done fairly well. I felt that this show was above average, and very deserving of a four star review. If you are going to buy only a few of these "official bootlegs," I'd strongly suggest Philadelphia the first night (#45), you won't be disappointed.

I was in Prague at the time and decided to go to the concert and watching it live was incredible. Couple months later they were selling all the tours on CD so I decided to buy it for keepsake. However, this should be in any collection...if you like pearl jam you'll love this live performance...i was suprised how close it sounds to the real thing.