Episode 220: Sydney, AUS – 2/14/2003

This is our first episode of a year long series featuring coverage of some of Pearl Jam’s milestone tour anniversary dates, and we’re gonna kick it off with the tour that will be dissected the most – the 20-year anniversary of the 2003 Riot Act tour. The pacific rim was their first stop as they visited Australia and Japan, and this episode will cover the third night in Sydney.

This was a little bit of a strange time for the band live. The Iraq war was on their minds and they had no problems being outspoken about it. Every show had a hint of it somewhere, whether it be the stage spectacle performance of Bu$hleaguer or even War tagged onto Daughter, it was pretty much guaranteed to be a nightly theme during this time. Another thing that looms heavily over the first leg is the Roskilde tragedy. Riot Act songs such as I Am Mine, Love Boat Captain and Thumbing My Way that were specifically written in the aftermath draw raw, emotional power as the incident was still fresh in their heads. There is a section in this show that will exhibit the pain and sorrow they were working through.

We also get Can’t Keep as the opener of this show, which led to our question of the week that you answered – what song that’s never been opened with before would you like to hear begin a show? Also our Gear Guru segments will discuss Mike’s octave pedal and how effective it was on the song Ghost, and the implementation of Boom’s presence and Stone’s guitar that make performances of Black stand out from this era. Oh, and McCready is a highlight on that too!