Customer Reviews

20/6/00 - Arena, Verona, Italy

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My criteria for choosing Verona (the only one I bought) came down to song selection... The Long Road, Corduroy, Wishlist, Rearviewmirror, and the Split Enz Cover - all are great. What pleasantly surprised me is how No Code material benefits from an aggressive approach, and how the Ten material is injected with fresh energy - given how tired the band might be of their older material, you'd never know it by their lively takes - especially Alive.

The disk starts off slowly, and a little shaky. But the arc from Hail Hail through Immortality is really great - high energy, enthusiasm, and great drumming!! The second disc sags a little as the encores take shape, but Do The Evolution through Porch is another good stretch. Matt Cameron and Mike McCready's playing really stands out throughout this disc.

I docked this a star for omitting Off He Goes as the last song in favor of Yellow Ledbetter. Sorry....

I expected to be dissappointed by this disc, thinking the sound quality would suffer, or Eddie might be surly. Now I'm thinking of getting one or two more... Let's see... which one has Crazy Mary on it???....

Disclaimer: Owner of all 72 official PJ bootlegs. This massive show has one of the longest set lists in the entire bootleg series, with a whopping 31 songs, and also has one of the longest running times. Apparently Pearl Jam was feeling sentimental about playing in Verona, as they hadn't been there for a while, so they pulled out all the stops for this show. Granted, the musicianship in this performance is not very noteworthy and can be considered rather average (as compared to the rest of the bootleg series), and there are many mistakes. Also, the extra-long set list starts to really drag during the huge encore, and the show really runs out of steam near the end. However, the band's enthusiasm and love for the fans are what set this show apart. There are many surprises in the set list, including a little bit of "O Sole Mio" at the end of "Even Flow," Mike McCready's insertion of some Black Sabbath riffs into "Porch," and intense jam sessions in "Daughter" and "Rearviewmirror." In the covers department, Tom Waits' "In the Coliseum" appears for the only time in the tour as Eddie Vedder's crowd pleasing chant-along, while Split Enz' "I Got You" makes one of only two tour appearances (although the band's rendition is pretty undeveloped). The highlight of the evening is a grandiose and transcending take on "Immortality" which is even greater because Eddie actually remembers all of the lyrics. They didn't perform this incredible song too many times during the tour, possibly because poor Eddie had such trouble with the words, but tonight everything works, and not just in this song.

This should be the best LIVE album in the recent years. It starts with "Long Road" which is a great song. The 32 songs in the 2 discs represents the BEST OF PEARL JAM. This album can be treated as "BEST OF PEARL JAM 1990 - 2000". Stupendous and outstanding collection of best alternative songs. Songs like - "Given to fly" , "Pilate","MFC", "Wishlist", "Daughter", "State of love and trust", Immortality, RVM, Elderly woman .. , I got u, Betterman, Last kiss, Alive, yellow ledbetter are some of the best ones. The recording is damn clear. Infact it is really good. I bet no one will be disappointed in buying this album. It is a must BUY for die hard Pearl Jam fans. What more could have u asked from PJ...AWESOME. I am waiting to see them live at ALPINE VALLEY on 8th October.

WOW. This CD is the best purchase I have ever made. It has, I believe, 32 songs, and the set list is incredible. I love this night's version of Yellow Ledbetter, Wishlist, Given to Fly, Do the Evolution, RVM and MFC. The sound quality is perfect and the crowd does get into some of the songs. I have heard the cds from Poland, Jones Beach and Las Vegas, and this was my favorite by far. Even when Eddie messes up, the songs sound great.

When I bought this I was a casual Pearl Jam listener. I bought this because of the song selection and two cd's for the price of one, you cant get a better deal. When I popped it into my CD player I was blown away. Unlike many other bands out there these days Pearl Jam sounds just as good live as they do in the studio. This is an awesome band and I encourage anyone who enjoys Pearl Jam to immediatly Buy this.

The Verona, Italy album is an excellent addition to any cd collection (whether for the hardcore PJ fans or newcomers). I own 2 of these bootlegs (verona and spodek-night#2) and this is definitely the better of the two, even though both are phenomenal. Eddie Vedder is on top of his game. Long road, wishlist, state of love and trust keep disc one going strong from start to finish. Disc 2 is even better, with a very raw version of RVM and an amazing Split Enz cover of I Got You. The final 5 songs make the disc. Alive, Last Kiss, Porch-great version, Soon Forget, and the classic Yellowledbetter are excellent. Overall, this double disc bootleg is the best I've heard. It's raw, rare, and amazingly cool, Pearl Jam style.

I just saw Pearl Jam here in Detroit about a week ago and I was blown away then. This 25 cd collection is the next best thing to seeing PJ live. With a limited budget I debated over which of the 25 to buy first. I chose Verdona Italy and could not have been happier. They give amazing renditions of classics like "Hail, Hail"; "Even Flow"; and "Alive". The entire first disc is amazing. Highlighted by a great performance of "MFC" and the best song on the first disc "State of Love and Trust". The second disc is even better and contains some of my favorite PJ songs of all time like "Rearviewmirror","Elderly Woman","Betterman", and "Porch". Their performances are spirited and make you realize why you listen to Pearl Jam in the first place. The big highlight of the second disc is a rare song called "I got you" showing off Eddie's emotions well. This concert is amazing from begining to end sampling pretty equally all discs in the Pearl Jam catalog, plus songs not featured on those. You will not go wrong with this buy.

All of the live Euro bootlegs are of superb sound quality and capture the genius of this one-of-a-kind band.

The two songs that make this especially memorable are I Got You and Yellow Ledbetter. I Got You is a cover song, sort of rocking but filled with the passion of Vedder's voice. Yellow Ledbetter is of course played often at PJ's shows, but this take of it is the best I have ever heard, after going to 7 shows and listening to scores of bootlegs. Mike McCready ofen improvises much of the guitar solo, especially at the end.

Each PJ concert, while many of the songs are the same, has a breath of its own, and this is no exception.

Well, I guess the fans are going to be separarted from the insane people. It's hard to call this a marketing strategy, but I 'spose it is, & I assume that the point of reviews is to help folks prioritize--okay: BUY *THIS* CD! It's really good--the crowd is as enthusiastic as one could want, & the band responds with a remarkable performance: just listen to "Daughter"--it's like being there. I have a few--alright, 7--of these documents, & this is definitely the one to own (I'd put Katowice [#16] next). Hail, Hail!

After seeing Pearl Jam this year in New Orleans, there is only one word to describe the event: spiritual. The spirit of rock and roll is alive, well and captured on the most recent offering from rocks finest politicians. The band is at its best in Verona and special treats I Got You and In the Coliseum makes this one concert to have.