Episode 95: Benaroya Hall – 10/22/2003

In this episode we’re covering Benaroya Hall – the 2,500 seat capacity Seattle venue usually known for being an orchestra concert hall was taken over by an insane Pearl Jam crowd there to witness the band perform some of their rarest cuts in rare form.

The band usually known for their on-stage energy were confined to a seated position as they busted out, for the most part, an acoustic set of songs that fans hadn’t heard live before. They were treated to live debuts of two original songs – Fatal and Man of the Hour and a rare Johnny Cash cover of 25 Minutes To Go. But alongside the debuting tracks were songs so deep in the band’s back catalog that these fans might’ve needed to be on a different continent in order to have heard them before. Versions of Low Light and Around The Bend were sparse at the time and adding songs such as Parting Ways, All Or None, Dead Man and Masters of War gave the crowd plenty to cross off the checklist.

We’ll do it old school style and go song-by-song in full as we talk about the once in a lifetime event and what made it so legendary. We’ll also recap the story shared by Kenny Mayne in our profile episode about how a ticket to this show fell into his lap during a Sonics game.