Customer Reviews

State College Pa: May 3 2003

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The members of Pearl Jam have earned their money and their credentials in the studio, but it is on the road that they have cemented their place in history. Known for giving fans their money's worth both in time on stage and effort expended while they're up there, Pearl Jam has established itself as one of the great live acts in rock history. From the early Lollapalooza shows, through Red Rocks, Madison Square Garden, etc., they have provided ample fodder for argument as to what is their best show ever. But with State College 2003, they may have put that argument to rest in a marathon show featuring 36 songs that cover the full spectrum of their catalog, while offering nods to numerous musical influences. At the same time, the fans deserve some credit for the success of this show as they displayed a tremendous energy and a passion for Pearl Jam.

There is so much material on these three discs it's hard to digest, and it would be impossible for me to recap every song, so instead I'm going to try to lend some context to the show by breaking out the songs played by studio album, in the order in which they are played, and touch on my favorites in the process.

"Ten":
Release: An absolutely beautiful rendition, Ed's voice is great and the band is really tight.
Even Flow: Features an extended jam with some interesting distortion and progressions that aren't harmonic in the traditional sense; clearly Hendrix inspired.
Jeremy
Black: Beautiful, slow rendition with a superb exit solo from Mike.
Alive
Porch: A 10.5 minute version that is as much a feat of endurance as it is a musical accomplishment

"Vs.":
Animal: Stone's fingerprints are all over this one as he dips and swoops around Mike's lead. We also hear the first of several great sing-a-longs from the audience.
Elderly Woman...
Rearviewmirror: Over the years, RVM has become my favorite song for extended solos/jams, and this version is particularly good. Stone and Mike take a more `delicate' approach than normal that somehow works in what is usually a pretty hard driving song.
Daughter (Highway To Hell)/(Another Brick In The Wall): "Highway To Hell" isn't really a true cover so much as it is Ed's commentary on the state of the country. "Another Brick In The Wall" features another great sing-a-long, and Ed modifies the chorus to "Politicians leave these kids alone..."
Blood: Funky version with the best drum work of the concert.

"Vitalogy":
Corduroy: Great version! Mike's solo is ridiculously tight.
Nothingman
Lukin
Whipping
Last Exit
Betterman (Save It For Later): Great version with the crowd again getting in on the act as they sing the entire first chorus. The "Save It For Later" (by The English Beat) tag is great with Ed adding some new lyrics, and absolutely belting out the "Don't let go..." part; he actually gave me chills!
Satan's Bed: This one is preceded by some hilarious (and unprintable) give and take between Ed and the audience. The song itself is a little rusty, but an interesting change of pace.

"No Code":
Mankind: After a false start, Stone offers up a great performance with some tongue in cheek jawing at the end. My only regret about this show is that there is only one offering from No Code, which is, to my mind, Pearl Jam's best album.

"Yield":
MFC
Do The Evolution

"Binaural":
Grievance

"Riot Act":
Save You: This one is played machine gun fast and is a nice contrast to Release.
Cropduster
I Am Mine: I'm convinced that this song is much better live than it is on the album. Ed's voice is perfect here, and the guitars have a subtler sound that really highlight what a beautiful song this is.

B-Sides and other projects:
Breath ("Singles" soundtrack): Pearl Jam almost never plays this one, and half the fun when they do is Ed inevitably forgetting the lyrics. This time is no exception, but the audience bails him out. Stone also helps out on vocals.
Down ("I Am Mine" Single): Ed prefaces this one by saying it should have made the last album, and he's right. A great bluesy tune with some tremendous lyrics; one of the highlights of the show.
Yellow Ledbetter ("Jeremy" Single): Ed tells a story about a member of the lighting crew who had been sent to Iraq with the reserves a few days prior, and then reworks the bulk of the lyrics to tell his story. Very poignant and a great capstone to the night.

Covers:
You've Got To Hide Your Love Away (The Beatles): Ed acoustic ("for the Amish") and solo. He flubs the lyrics but the audience helps him out.
Gimme Some Truth (John Lennon):
Leaving Here (Eddie Holland): Incredible version! Ed is on fire and the rest of the band is really tight, at one point each (including Boom on keyboards) playing a solo in succession.
Crazy Mary (Victoria Williams): Generally not one of my favorite PJ covers, but Mike and Boom tear up the extended exit.
Fortunate Son (CCR): On the surface this doesn't seem like a song that would be conducive to Pearl Jam's sound, but it's actually really good. The band manages to put their own spin on it even as they remain faithful to the original song.
Rockin' In The Free World (Neil Young):

Improvs:
Improv #1: Instrumentally, at least, this sounded as if it had been worked on prior to the show. Ed's lyrics are simple and poignant, speaking of living life for your self. Pretty strong for an improv, I wouldn't be surprised if it popped up in a revised version later on.
Improv #2: Rawer than the first improv, this is a pretty little song about loss.

What else can I say? This was one of those nights where everything came together and something special happened. This is a must have for Pearl Jam fans, not to mention any fan of meaningful, powerful music.

Jake Mohlman

just to sum up this concert: ive never been to a longer, more amazing show.. three and a half hours of incredible music, crowd-band interaction, and energy.. the crowd sang, the band played requests, it seemed like there were 5 songs that were going to close the show, but the intensity kept rising.. all house lights were on shining down on a singing and dancing crowd for Rockin in the Free World and Yellow Ledbetter.. from beginning to end this show had a lot of personality, and what makes it even better is that it happened in little State College Pennsylvania! my personal hightlights: Crazy Mary, Black, Alive, Ledbetter, Porch, RVM, and the acoustic set with Eddie.. as Eddie put it that night: it was beautiful

Starting with their landmark Soldier Field show in 1995, I've been collecting live recordings from Pearl Jam. From that perspective, I've heard most of their songs performed a number of times, and State College does not provide a whole lot of 'definitive' live performances.

That said, this is a study in stamina and dedication, as well as professionalism. The best live band of this generation, playing the last show of the first leg of their tour, and they just don't want to leave. Maybe it's that they've learned to 'pace themselves' properly, maybe it's a renewed love for the music- whatever it is, you get 36 songs over 3 discs, and they plow through each of them with the passion and energy that they deserve. You get some things you don't get on other bootlegs on this one, such as a memorable, supposedly improvised, intro to Rearviewmirror. If you're a casual fan, you get practically all the hits on this one too. The performance of "Black" is particularly mindblowing, with the best Mike McCready solo I've ever heard. "Betterman" is also extended, with the "Save it for Later" tag.

Out of a collection of roughly 20 Pearl Jam bootlegs, this one's easily top 5. A great value for the money.

I was lucky enough to be at this show. I've been to some great shows and am frustrated by the fact that I wish I could find the words to describe how fantastic this performance was. The power set forth by opening with "Release" to the end with "Ledbetter" and his message to SARGE sent chills through the crowd. 10+ minute jams with Porch, Betterman, RITFW, RVM. At times I felt myself with my jaw-dropped. Couldn't wait to buy the boot. It's great to see/hear how human they are and how Ed made more than a handful of mistakes and just played on through them with a laugh. Betterman and Jeremy crowd participation is unreal. Do yourself a huge favor and buy it now. I would pay top dollar to see this DVD. Thanks.

Great live release from one of the greatest bands ever. What I love about this album is the jamming. The band extends many of the songs to six or seven minutes with some top notch jams. I wish they jammed like that on their studio albums. Every time I hear Mike Mcready play live he sounds better and better. There were a few times I thought I was actually listening to Hendrix. Definitely one of the most underrated guitarists ever. And what a great addition Matt Cameron was. I think he now holds the record for most appearances on Pearl Jam albums by a drummer. This album brings back a lot of the golden oldies such as Black, Porch, Even Flow; the list goes on. It was especially cool to hear Release which starts off the set. There's also a lot of rarely played gems such as Whipping, Mankind, and Blood. I especially love Gimmie Some Truth. Score one for our team! You give us the truth Eddie! I think I'll make up a T-Shirt that says "Vedder For President." I won't go through the list of songs but highlights are Even Flow, Porch and my all time favorite PJ song RVM. It's strange, I'm really more into Pearl Jam's more recent work, but the old stuff sounds fantastic on this album. Definitely the best live rendition of Even Flow I've ever heard. It's interesting to hear tunes from Riot Act as well. I don't think the new songs translate as well live as some of the older stuff, but they still sound pretty good. I'm just amazed that Pearl Jam has been kind of lost in the shuffle over the past few years. Unlike all this Nu Metal crap, consisting of talentless bands who have no concept of melody and can't write lyrics with any relevance, Pearl Jam are truly amazing musicians. I used to think Pearl Jam was one of the top 20 bands of all time. Now I'd say their top 5 or at least top 10. Geddy Lee of Rush, another underappreciated band, said he saw PJ live a few years ago and was blown away by how good they were (Check out Matt Cameron on Geddy's solo album My Favorite Headache). Listen to this album and I think you will agree with me that Pearl Jam is as good as they get.

i remember when pearl jam played state college in 93[?]with the red hot chili peppers. grunge exploded, and pearl jam was leading the way. eddy and the band rocked; it was raw and mad and wonderful.

listening to the three-disc set i realize how times change; there was no war then, and there were few reasons to be raw and mad but pearl jam was just because. and some things do not change. pearl jam is still raw and mad and wonderful.

the tale of the time is captured, along with the big sound pearl jam is known for. the porch, fortunate son, keep on rocking, yellow ledbetter sequence is worth the cost alone.

i recommend 05.03.03 highly.

Don't be fooled by the four stars -- the show is absolutely amazing. There's a lot of early material here, which is terrific. The reason it gets four stars is because of the somewhat poor sound quality. If you're playing it on your stereo and just listening casually, it gets hard to hear at points because of the muted sound.

If you are not put off by the non-top-notch sound quality however, this is a must-have for any PJ fan. As far as live shows go, buy "Benaroya" first and then buy this. It is great -- even through the bootleg you can feel the band's energy as well as the energy of the crowd. They rip through insane versions of "Even Flow," "Alive," "Rearviewmirror," and my favorite version ever of my favorite song ever, "Betterman," featuring the tag of "Save It For Later" in which Eddie Vedder's vocals are stunning.

The sound quality is sort of poor, yes, but it really shouldn't be enough to stop you from buying this. There's a lot of debate about what show is PJ's greatest ever. I would put this in the top three with the Soldier Field '95 show and the third night at Madison Square Garden in '98. It's that good.

I have heard a few of the live bootlegs, and this is probably one of my favorite. While they did do a lot of their older songs, they also did some songs that they did more songs from Vitology than they usually do. They did "Nothingmand very well. I was excited to see "Satan's Bed" on the list, but listening to it i was disappointed. Vedder completely forgot the words to the song. The cover of "you've got to hide your love away" is great too. My only other problem with this cd other than messing up "satan's bed"(it's still a great song) is the length of talking, and that some of the guitar solos are too dragged out, but it's a bootleg cd, what do you expect?

all i can say i WOW! Listening to this cd made me feel like i was in the front row.the band plays hours of great tunes. If you are pearl jam fan you will enjoy this. they play everything from ten to riot act. this is a must have!!

This concert, at the time, was the longest Pearl Jam show ever. It was an amazing sight and I can relive it every time I listen to it. The Highlight of the show is a flawless cover of John Lennon's Gimme Some Truth, played by just Eddie. The show was just GREAT! I really don't think it's lacking anything. Of all the 2003 shows I've heard, I rank this one at the top. The only other show that even touches it is the 3rd Boston show, which includes an entire acoustic set. Anyway, buy this CD if you are a Pearl Jam fan because you'll definitely enjoy...go PSU!