Episode 157: Albany, NY – 5/12/2006

The 2006 tour is seen as Pearl Jam’s last massive rigorous year in their touring history. Supporting the Self Titled, or better known as Avocado record, they were finding their groove with new songs while also emptying the tank of all their songs with long droughts of not being played.

The Albany show that we cover in this episode takes place just over a week after the album’s release, and while nine of those thirteen songs were showcased, the band went through and did some digging deep into the back catalog to bring back a few that hadn’t seen the live stage in a number of years – Red Mosquito, that had been played on the previous tour year but held off for 40 straight shows, Satan’s Bed, which was haphazardly brought back at State College in 2003 but played for the first legitimate time since 1996, and Rats which had only been played twice in the Matt Cameron era. Rats is the big one from this set that most fans will remember since it had gone 224 shows on the shelf. Later that month, the band would end up adhering to another popular drought request, Leash, and then eventually the elusive Dirty Frank.

This show is defined by its rarities just as much as its defined by the brand new songs energizing them. Wasted Reprise/Life Wasted combo opening the show was something they didn’t break out very often, and after this era songs like Marker In The Sand, Army Reserve and Gone were pushed aside. We’ll get to talk extensively about some of these tracks and how fresh they felt being played for only a single digit amount of times till that point. Thanks to Horizon Leg Patron Zach Fields for requesting this show!