Episode 110: Toronto, ONT, CA (Binaural Album Show) – 5/10/2016

Our final stop of the 2020 Around The World Series leaves us in Canada to talk about a show from Toronto where they did they inconceivable and played the Binaural record in full.

The band at this point is coming off two full album shows in 2014 as well as two earlier in 2016 with Vs. in Greenville and Ten in Philadelphia. Since Toronto was the last spot on the tour and a city that the band has such rich history in, they busted out the album with possibly the rarest songs they’ve ever played live. While this is such a huge treat to all the Pearl Jam lifers, Binaural isn’t an album that resonates that well with the casual crowd. So 13 songs in a row that they almost never play live will leave you a mixed reaction no matter how you slice it.

But the situation was of course unique and a service to the many late era fans who probably checked off a lot of serious collector boxes this night. God’s Dice, Evacuation, Rival, Sleight of Hand and Parting Ways are songs that were barely consistent in their set when the album came out in 2000 so to get them here, and as a podcast we don’t get to cover these songs too often, it’s a treat break these songs out of the back catalog. Along with the entire album we’ll discuss the rest of the set, the hits and misses and what made this show so hard to construct a set for.