Customer Reviews

22/6/00 - Fila Forum, Milan, Italy

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Pearl Jam's unprecedented documentation of their entire european tour provides 25 albums and for the normal fan (read not insane) that means picking and choosing between the albums. This particular concert does seem to stand out of the 25. It has an excellent set list, with songs ranging from newer stuff like "Sleight of Hand" and "Of the Girl" while also playing earlier songs not found on many of the bootlegs including an excellent version of "Garden" and also "Rear View Mirror". The album also includes a cover of Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World", a Pearl Jam encore traditional. This is also one of the longest bootlegs, giving customers more bang from their buck. Finally, the crowd is everything that one could ask for, enthusiastic, present, but not interfering with the music. Vedder even stops to note that the fans are "some of the best singers in the world." It's everything you could want in a concert: a great crowd, a great set, a great band.

All i can say is this cd is unbelievable! i have purchased 3 of the pearl jam bootlegs and this is the standout. its setlist is terrific, the solos are great, and the quality is beyond impressive. makes you feel like you are there at the show. another reason to buy milan is for the crowd. i usually find crowds to be annoying on bootlegs, but they help spark the band's performance. on daughter, the crowd starts up a 5 minute chant between them and eddie. it gives me goosebumps to hear it every time i listen to it. i don t know if this cd is for everyone (ie non pearl jam fans), but if you are a fan of the band, definately get this one! it is one of the band's 6 favorties for a reason. this is a standout show. as close to perfection as a live performance can get.

Disclaimer: Owner of all 72 official PJ bootlegs. Not including the lengthy tour finale in Seattle, which contains a lot of extra stage talk, this show in Milan, Italy is the longest gig in the entire bootleg series, at a whopping two hours and twenty-five minutes, following another very long show in Verona the previous evening. Unlike some of the other very long shows in the series, the band actually manages to keep the intensity level up during the entire evening, and this show is a non-stop powerhouse. This is clearly one of the best shows of the European portion of the tour. Some highlights of the evening include punishing takes on the rarely performed rockers "Gods' Dice" and "Rival," a flawless performance of "Garden," which was mostly a disaster in its other European appearances, and probably the strongest and sharpest European takes on "MFC" and "Grievance." The band tackle some of the more challenging material from **No Code** and deliver tight performances of "Present Tense" and "Smile," strong tunes that are performed very rarely throughout the tour. Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World" appears for just the third time to close the show in a climactic and convincing matter. Mike McCready and Stone Gossard are both especially strong this evening, and Eddie Vedder is in a weird mood, explaining the origin of "MFC" (a car he fell in lust with), and stating that the band didn't play Rome on this tour because the Pope won't leave. Take it easy there, big guy!

Having listened to a majority of these "Bootleg" albums so far, I'd have to say that this is the best one. The Italian crowd seems to be very excited as they sing along loudly to most of the group's classics. The band seems to be at thier peak also. After playing 'Wishlist', Ed proclaims that it was the best time they played the song.

The album is also very well balanced. Along with staples like 'Jeremy' and 'Betterman', they throw in some lesser known tunes like 'Smile' and 'State of Love and Trust' to make everything flow very well. In my opinion, the best song that they played was 'rearviewmirror'. I never really liked it much until I heard this version. It really whips you into a frenzy. At the end you feel warn out from all the energy the music gives out. They also perform a worthy cover of Neil Young's 'Rockin in the Free World'. There are a few slip-ups here and there, but that's what makes this album (or any of the others) great. It hasn't been polished or glossied-over. It's raw, stripped to the bone, and pure. This is Pearl Jam at their best.

Milan got a quick reputation for being one of the better of the live series, and it is a sparky set loaded with energy, but a little short on the emotional impact lurking behind the best PJ music. Stand outs include `Of the Girl,' `Corduroy,' `God's Dice,' `Given to Fly,' a super-energetic `Not For You,' an upbeat version of `Thin Air,' and the not often played cover of Young's `Rockin In The Free World'. The big bonus is the very rarely performed `Garden,' a tad drum cluttered, but more than compensated for by the excellent guitar and extended end-section. A surprise star emerges for a few tunes, the audience, coming alive for a terrific call and response duet with Eddie for the ending of `Daughter,' transforming `Nothingman,' into a pub-sing-a- long, providing a background chorus for `Betterman,' and a very curious sustained hum during the encore break, "Ooooohhhhhhmmmmmm." ?? As far as the guitar (see review), to these ears McCready is in good form, no doubt, but checkout Sporthall (Germany) for guitar that blows this away. Good set, good mix, but Sporthall is better.

As a Pearl Jam fan from their inception, I have had the opportunity to see these guys perform many times. This recording makes me sorry I didn't vacation in Italy this summer. This album proves once and for all that Pearl Jam are clearly in their proper element when performing live. Many of these tracks sound much better than their studio versions. Especially "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town" which has a bit more bite, and "Of the Girl" which is an inspired choice for an opener. This album is a must have not just for Pearl Jam fans, but all fans of music.

Firstly I have to thank previous reviewers for recommending this one, because when I was hit with choosing from 25 odd European titles it is a bit intimidating. Having not heard any other live albums from their Binaural tour, I can't compare this album to other ones, but I know that PJ fans will not be disappointed with this one. As previous reviewers have mentioned, the crowd here is amazing - singing and clapping to every song, even the new ones. The roar when Pearl Jam steps out on stage before they kick into the drum intro for Of The Girl makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up everytime. Despite every song being performed well (the only noticable slip-up is when Stone screws up the chords in Gods Dice), here are some of the highlights you can look forwards to - the three hits in a row of Elderly Woman, Even Flow and Not For You, the end of Daughter when Eddie does some call and response for about 4 minutes with the audience who at this point are so loud that they distorted the recording slightly, Nothingman where again the audience carries the song with Eddie (and they CAN sing too - perfectly in tune, not a drunken out-of-key crowd), Sleight of Hand - which sounds incredible live and very powerful, an extended powerful Garden, and Rearviewmirror complete with a huge jam during the bridge. I would say that Disk 2 is the one that I prefer to listen to, but the whole album is great, and at around 30 songs you won't get better value for money. I love shutting my eyes, putting on the headphones and remembering what it was like last time they toured Australia.

This is without a doubt the strongest show of the whole European tour back in 2000. The setlist is full of songs that either dont get played very often or arent usually played very well. For instance, Garden and Gods Dice. Garden was played very little throughout the tour(I think maybe 3 times in total) and was usually a mess. In this show its done amazingly well and is really good to hear. The live version found here is such much better than the studio version found on Ten. The band also does an amazing version of Gods Dice, its not perfect though. Some talk about how Mike missed a note. Yes he did, but is almost makes the song better. Its actually cool how the riff sounded in the note he missed because Stone(PJs other guitarist) was still playing his part. Thats what makes these shows special is that sometimes the mistakes make the songs more enjoyable to hear, especially if you hear the studio version hundreds of times. There are also very strong and awesome takes on Of The Girl, Animal, Rival, Not For You, Thin Air, Present Tense, Jeremy(very good version), Go, Nothingman, Sleight of Hand, Rocking in The Free World, and Smile. The band was just awesome that night as well. Perhaps Eddie Vedders best night of that tour. Some of the harder songs to sing like Jeremy, Gods Dice, Sleight of Hand, and Garden are done perfect. I notice every flaw in these bootlegs that I own and I try to find which show has the fewest. This has only a few. Not many at all. Most people wont be able to tell. The show performed in Milan that night was just flat out superb and all around a damn fine killer show. Highly recommended to anyone who may still be on the lookout for these soon to be classic shows.

Like a lot of the Euro shows, it takes awhile for the band to get truly comfortable here- despite the proficiency and great vocals on Corduroy and God's Dice, Mike McCready doesn't sound as into it as he usually does. By 'Given to Fly', he wakes up a bit, and provides a riff unlike any I've heard on the other bootlegs. It's not the best performance of the song, but it's unique. For most of the rest of the main set, the entire band is on- Rival and Thin Air, Binaural rarities, are stunning and perfectly executed. The crowd participation on "Small Town", "Present Tense", and "Daughter" makes each of those among the best versions I've heard. Ed flubs a few songs in the encore- Betterman and Insignificance- but makes up for it with Sleight of Hand, Garden, and rocking performances of the acronym songs, RVM, SoLaT, and RitFW. This show just keeps getting better, which is a tall order for a show that clocks in at almost 2 and a half hours. Definitely a highlight of the Euro tour.

Generally the Hamburg and Milan sets have been forwarded as the best of Pearl Jam's 2000 European Tour, and whereas I cannot wholeheartedly be that enthusiastic about Hamburg, this is really one of a kind. Play is great, the recording is above average as well but what makes this such a unique set is a fantastic audience, which even took the band aback at some stages. You really feel sorry for not having been there when you listen to this one. Unfortunately I missed them at Werchter (the show was understandably cancelled due to the Roskilde incident the day before) but these CDs almost make up for it.