Episodes Covering Pearl Jam Concerts in 2000

Like any major arena rock band, Pearl Jam is most known for putting on massive shows in the world’s biggest cities. While their shows in New York, Philadelphia and Chicago are always ones to keep an eye out for, America’s smaller towns have also gotten the band at their very best. On the 2000 tour, Pearl Jam ran through dates at places they have yet to return to in 25 years such as Albuquerque, Boise, Greensboro and the show we cover in this episode that emanated from Lubbock, Texas.

Lubbock is just the 10th largest city in Texas, but still very much a small town in comparison to Dallas or Houston. While Texas Tech grads may argue that the Red Raiders are the most notable thing from Lubbock, most music fans know that it’s the hometown of rock ‘n’ roll pioneer, Buddy Holly. Anyone that knows their rock history knows about the plane crash that took the lives of Holly, Ritchie Valens and JP Richardson aka The Big Bopper at such a young age, but what some may not know is the full background of the story. We’ll share some of the eerie details of the crash and it’s aftermath as we take in a moment of tribute with the band covering Holly’s popular song Everyday.

We’ll run through the entire set and talk a little about the recent death of KISS lead guitarist Ace Frehley and his impact on Pearl Jam.

A three night stand is a bit of a rarity in the Pearl Jam world, but any time that it’s happened, the shows immediately become a part of the band’s folklore. Mansfield’s trilogy is always the premiere go to, but the three shows at Jones Beach in 2000 are legendary in their own right. The Daughter/It’s OK moment from night two may still dominate the conversation 25 years later, but it’s the night three show where the band went to all depths of their catalog to put together an extremely memorable finale on Long Island.

The big theme of this show is centered around the high usage of an album that’s considered to be a favorite of the die hard fan – No Code. There were seven tracks from the record played, and none of them were what you may consider to be as the commonly played songs from that record at the time (Hail, Hail, Lukin and to an extent, Habit). It’s songs like Red Mosquito, Off He Goes, letting Stone sing on an inspired version of Mankind and a late encore performance of Smile, which was not considered to be a common song during this era like it is today. The band took it upon themselves to give this crowd something they’d never forget, and it wasn’t just for the fact that these songs appeared, they all blew the doors down. From Immortality as a closer, to a unique usage of Save It For Later as the Better Man tag, the kitchen sink was thrown because the kitchen sink was lit ablaze.

We’ll dig into heavy discussion on all of the best performances from this show mentioned above, as well as Do The Evolution, Rearviewmirror, Black and the rare Binaural tracks for the era!

This episode covers night two from Pearl Jam’s three night stay at Jones Beach Amphitheater in 2000. This show will forever be known for a moment that’s considered to be one of the most emotionally impactful in their history. The first North American leg of the Binaural tour was coming off the heels of one of the worst tragedies in music history when nine fans were killed during their set at the Roskilde Festival. Having decided to stick with the tour plans as scheduled, there was no time for the band to fully enter the grieving process, which meant that a lot of it needed to be done on the road or during their shows. One of the songs that was added to the live repertoire was from a band named Dead Moon called It’s OK. This was the song that helped the band heal during this challenging time period.

We’ll dig into a lot of what this version meant for both the band and fans alike. Featured on the Touring Band 2000 compilation, the majority of the fanbase have been able to relive this moment over and over again throughout the years. The warmth of a song like It’s OK and it’s lyrics provided a message of hope. When things may appear to be at their worst, there is always a way to pick yourself up. This is how the band was feeling at the time, and this is how many of Pearl Jam fans have felt when they needed this song the most. We’ll discuss this rendition being the hurdle that needed to be crossed in order to move forward and continue a life on stage post tragedy.

Stay tuned for night three next week!

In August of 2000, Pearl Jam was going through a period of growth following the aftermath of the tragedy at Roskilde. As they toured throughout North America, every stop was a chance to heal from that moment. As they hit close to the end of the month, they prepared for three massive shows at Jones Beach Amphitheater located on Long Island in the shadow of New York City. There was a sense that they needed to deliver, and they exceeded every expectation.

Night 1’s show might not get the same praise as the two that precede it, but it was a great way to warm up this crowd and get things kicked off on the right note. In this episode, we’ll spend some time breaking down some classic Binaural performances such as Nothing As It Seems, God’s Dice and Sleight Of Hand while sharing our favorite order to hear the Man Trilogy and a superb Long Road open. We’ll also talk about this version of Daughter which sets the tone for the legendary Daughter and It’s OK tag performance the next night.

This is just part one! The next two episodes will cover the remaining Jones Beach shows from 2000, so stay tuned for our breakdown of those legendary nights!

On June 30th, 2000, Pearl Jam headlined the Roskilde Festival in Denmark while touring Europe for their Binaural album. About an hour after they took the stage, there was a sudden surge towards the front. Multiple fans lost their footing on the muddy terrain, and some were trampled. The outcome is one of the worst tragedies in live music history as the lives of nine fans were lost. This incident permanently changed the lives of each member of Pearl Jam, and everything from that point forward about their live show changed. From heightened security, to a renewed sense of empathy and compassion, their goal was to ensure that nothing like Roskilde would ever happen at one of their shows again. They’ve made good on that promise.

On the 25th anniversary, we look back and examine the stories and healing process that followed in the aftermath. Part two takes a look at the band’s return to Copenhagen for the first time since the tragedy, how general admission at shows would slowly be reinstated over time and powerful performances of Black and Love Boat Captain played at pivotal moments where they paid tribute to the families who lost loved ones. You’ll get to hear from our esteemed panel who will share their personal stories of how they reacted to the incident, and will discuss why sticking together was always the best and only option for the band.

Make sure you check out the part one episode of this series if you wish to hear this story told chronologically.

On June 30th, 2000, Pearl Jam headlined the Roskilde Festival in Denmark while touring Europe for their Binaural album. About an hour after they took the stage, there was a sudden surge towards the front. Multiple fans lost their footing on the muddy terrain, and some were trampled. The outcome is one of the worst tragedies in live music history as the lives of nine fans were lost. This incident permanently changed the lives of each member of Pearl Jam, and everything from that point forward about their live show changed. From heightened security, to a renewed sense of empathy and compassion, their goal was to ensure that nothing like Roskilde would ever happen at one of their shows again. They’ve made good on that promise.

On the 25th anniversary, we look back and examine the stories and healing process that followed in the aftermath. We’ll share powerful performances of songs from the 2000 tour and how Eddie’s song writing at that time was impacted by the incident. Joining us on this episode is author of the PJ20 book, Jonathan Cohen, to bring perspective to the story, and we invite Pearl Jam community members on to share their personal stories, including witnessing the band at their Virginia Beach show, and one of the nine live performances of Arc.

Please stay tuned for Part 2 which should be released shortly after the release of this episode.

With the 2025 tour up and running, we’re heading to our next destination – the home of the Braves in Atlanta, Georgia that hasn’t seen a Pearl Jam show in nearly 13 years. This episode will cover the last time that they played in the Phillips (now State Farm) Arena back in 2000 that they will be returning to this week. We’ll talk a little bit about the history of Atlanta shows that of course will mostly include one of the greatest Pearl Jam shows of all time in 1994.

This show was given the distinction of being an Ape/Man show, which means it was one of a few handpicked shows that the band recommended that fans give a chance to when the official bootlegs were all released in stores. A lot of our conversations will be us trying to determine if they made the right decision selecting this show. There are definitely performances that stand out. For Crazy Mary, it was the first time that they ever passed a bottle of wine around during the jam. It’s also the first appearance of the Romanza intro for Better Man that got played for the majority of 2000. We’ll also dig deep on Binaural era tracks Nothing As It Seems, Breakerfall and Rival that we almost never get to talk about.

Find out if we think that this one was worthy of the Ape/Man tag. Also to note, this episode was recorded prior to the start of the tour, so if you’re looking for in depth analysis, head on over to our Patreon to check out the instant reaction episodes for both Hollywood, Florida shows!

This our first of many episodes this year celebrating 25 years of Pearl Jam’s excellent Binaural tour from 2000. This was the first tour year that the band produced bootlegs of every show that could be easily attainable at any big box or local record store. You may have seen on some of these CD’s a little icon that features a silhouette of an ape and a human. These shows were a part of the Ape/Man collection, which were specific shows that the band selected as stand outs from this tour. Tampa is an Ape/Man show, and they were absolutely right to use the moniker for it.

This was the seventh show on a bit of a tumultuous first leg run in North America. Taking place shortly after the Roskilde tragedy, a few of the early shows had some unease and tension on stage, but for this night they were able to compartmentalize what happened to put on a phenomenal shows with boundless amounts of energy. Eight Binaural songs are played at this show, including a handful that are incredibly rare to hear today such as God’s Dice, Evacuation and Sleight Of Hand. We’ll talk about how this era sounded sonically where the band, specifically Mike, put heavy emphasis on utilizing pedalboards more than any tour year to that point. You’ll hear a lot of that come through in songs like Nothing As It Seems, the Daughter jam and Rearviewmirror.

This is a great show that should be on everyone’s list to listen to, and we hope to guide you in that direction! Also in this episode we’ll talk about the Last Exit mishap, hydraulic machines and one of the strangest things that Ed’s ever uttered at a Pearl Jam show, which will bring up a semi-obscure reference to a King Of The Hill episode.

It’s tour time! Pearl Jam is about to get back on the road for the first leg of their Dark Matter tour on the west coast, and we’re continuing to focus on past shows from the locations that they’ll be playing in May. This episode takes us to Portland, Oregon from the 2000 Binaural tour. The back half of the tour that year featured some of the best shows that Pearl Jam has ever played starting with their 10th anniversary show in Vegas and ending on an instant classic to end the tour in Seattle. This show in Portland checks every single box from what you want of that era – Matt Cameron’s absolute dominance of the drum kit, Ed’s fierce and ear shattering vocals and Mike McCready’s spacy, yet piercing solos from the left side.

The overall theme for this show was how the band started off on fire and almost never took the foot off the pedal. A six song kick off of Sometimes, Grievance, Corduroy, Go, Hail, Hail and Dissident made a statement and set the expectations immediately. We’ll get into other massive moments such as a phenomenal stretch featuring Untitled, MFC and Habit in a row, a different take on the Man Trilogy now featuring a feminine presence, but most importantly of all, we get an improv before closing out encore 1 with Rearviewmirror that is the absolute stand out from this show.

Javier is back and will break down Stone’s solo on MFC and a little bit of how Ed had a great show on the axe specifically highlighting a banger version of Habit. But most importantly, we take listener questions about the upcoming Dark Matter tour and some of your expectations and inquiries of how it will all go down!

Welcome to the unofficial sixth season of Live On 4 Legs Podcast! While 2024 is gearing up to be a massive year for Pearl Jam and we plan to be there covering it every step of the way, we’re still very excited to get you guys the weekly episodes covering all of your favorite shows throughout the history of this band. We’re going to kick off the new year with a great show from the Binaural tour in 2000 located in Camden, New Jersey. This show took place near the end of the first North American leg, which had it’s ups and downs due to it’s proximity to the date of the Roskilde tragedy. By this point, the band had kind of found their own way out of the funk and strung together some excellent shows down the home stretch.

This Camden show is a standout due to it’s remarkable run from the middle of the main set straight through to the end. It kicks off with an electrifying Given To Fly, features a version of Better Man which we’ll have tons of talking points about the tag, Present Tense’s “twinkle”, Spin The Black Circle’s sheer speed and Black’s ability to melt your soul. It was not the best show for Ed’s voice, but everyone powered through it and the band had his back in times which he struggled. Another storyline from this night was the contingent of fans who brought signs for Breath with them, very similar to the moment at MSG on the previous tour, and for the only time during this entire tour year the band makes a setlist adjustment in order to play it.

Also, what 80’s metal songs were tagged at the end of Yellow Ledbetter? Stay tuned, the answer may surprise you… or may not. You can pretty much look that up.

Toga! Toga! We’re heading to upstate New York to cover Pearl Jam’s last show to date at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, aka SPAC. It’s a widely popular venue, one in which jam bands such as Phish and Dave Matthews Band have frequented, and as Ed would mention in this show, it was an early Lollapalooza tour venue back in 1992 when they played alongside Soundgarden. Glad he kept the shirt.

This show comes right off the heels of a major turning point from the Binaural tour – The Jones Beach shows. The legendary Daughter performance with the It’s OK tag, forever enshrined on the Touring Band 2000 DVD, marked as a healing moment for the band during the toughest period in their history. This show getting off to a hot start was a sign that the band was starting to loosen up and learn how to have a little fun on stage again. Breakerfall, Whipping, Spin The Black Circle, Hail, Hail, Corduroy and In My Tree are the first six songs of the night, and they absolutely do not disappoint. Add in an experimental Rearviewmirror to close the main set and a combination of Black/Yellow Ledbetter to this night, there are a lot of signature moments that make this show stand out. Oh yeah, and the nudist lava lamp inventor… him too.

We’ll hear stories from our Patron, Andrew Famulare, as well as Patrick and Brian from Hallucinogenic Recipe who were both at this show in the same section, but didn’t know each other at the time. They’ll share their hilarious memory from this show from both perspectives. And our Gear Guru segments this week look into Stone’s Rickenbacker impact on Breakerfall, an interesting octave change in the Spin The Black Circle chorus, and why the combo of Black and Ledbetter worked so well, including love for the Nobody’s Fault But Mine Led Zepplin tag.

There are moments that happen on the Pearl Jam live stage where you understand that what’s happening before you is a once in a lifetime moment. They’ve created a plethora of these moments in their 30+ years of touring, but that’s what keeps the faithfull coming back. They come in all shapes and forms, but when a member of the crowd is invited on stage, you understand how big a deal it is. One of the earliest occasions of this happening was back in Pittsburgh in 2000. Ed noticed a woman with a white umbrella who had been following them from night to night, so he called her down to the stage to play her request for Wash that was written on the umbrella. We’re excited to be joined by Amy in this episode so she can share her amazing story with you all! From how it all happened that night, to how she was able to see 100 shows by this time, these stories are can’t miss!

But the show itself is important in it’s own right. It was the final show for the leg that occurred following the Roskilde tragedy. It was a bit of a tumultuous tour, but getting to play this show felt like a cathartic release for the band during this difficult time. The setlist is interesting for a couple of reasons. Due to a family emergency, opening band Sonic Youth couldn’t perform as a full band so the remaining members played in the pre-set. Including a collaboration with Ed on Binaural rarity Parting Ways, and obscure Who b-side Naked Eye. Outside of the request for Wash, which hadn’t been played in four years, the band pulled out another rarity in the encore with a version of I Got You by The Split Ends.

Also on the pod this week, we’ll read your answers for your favorite crowd interactive moments in the band’s history. And we’ll have three Gear Guru segments this week featuring thoughts on Sleight Of Hand, Rearviewmirror and Mankind.

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!

We’re heading across the pond to London for a show that had the honorable distinction of being dubbed an “ape/man” bootleg back on the Binaural tour. It was a two night stint at the Wembley Arena, and as the norm within the history of this band, night two shows are usually can’t miss. But this night two kind of planted an early seedling for what future shows of this nature would look like, playing an entirely different set than the previous night and adding in some rarities for the fans attending both nights to feel like they got two very distinct shows.

With only four brand new Binaural songs performed on this night compared to night one’s eight, and a limited amount of Ten songs, the band went into every corner of their catalog to impress this crowd. We’ll spend some time talking about a the more uncommon songs such as a monster performance of Habit, the second instance where Untitled/MFC were played consecutively, In Hiding being played for the first time in two years and a tremendous Off He Goes. But the story here will be found in Not For You. Played at a slower tempo perhaps similar to a Neil Young song, this version would end in utter chaos in which a certain front man would receive a nice battle wound to the skull.

Our question of the week that you answered is have you ever been to a two night stay in one location, and what show did you think was the better of the two? Plus, our Gear Guru Javier returns to discuss some of Mike’s effect pedals that created the era specific sound for songs like Grievance and Nothing As It Seems.

It’s been a while since we’ve revisited the Binaural tour, and now is as good a time as any to talk about it. We’re covering the Toronto show, the second show from the second leg of the North America run. While this one may get lost in the shuffle compared to other big shows from this leg such as Vegas and Seattle, there is a lot to talk about within the little pieces that made the songs sound the way they did in 2000. For the first time on the podcast, we’ll hear from our friend Javier Hervas, an expert on guitars and gear who’s studied all of the band’s different set ups throughout the year. I guess you can call him our Gear Guru! He’ll be helping us recognize moments in Sometimes and Brain Of J where both presented a distinct sound of the era, but he’ll let us know how that sound develops through pedals and distortion techniques.

That’s not the only guest we’ll hear from. This episode is a Patron request from Gaby Mockenhaupt who has come to appreciate this bootleg in recent years. We’ll tell her story about her intake of Pearl Jam living in Germany, and listening to this show on holiday. We’ll also invite to the show our friend Steve Bennett, the host of the Sports-Casters podcast, to discuss his story of traveling to multiple dates on this tour and giving us insight as to what was happening in the building on that night.

This episode is about promises. Promises broken, promises kept, and promises broken yet again. The band has had a bit of a rocky relationship with Idaho’s state capital, and while this episode will focus on all of the above, it will mainly be dedicated to the positive memories. If you go back to the beginning of their relationship, it began with disappointment as Pearl Jam had to cancel a date on the 1995 Vitalogy tour. They would finally set foot there in 2000 experiencing an unforgettable show that we’ll go into in full detail here. As Ed states multiple times during this show, it was an amazing crowd and one that he promised to return to. Alas, as sequel was initially planned for the Riot Act tour in 2003, but due to circumstances that we aren’t quite sure of, they had to cancel this show as well. The band has never been back to Idaho, and that’s why it’s a part of our OTOTO States Series!

This show was given the high honor of being an “apeman” bootleg, which meant it was one of 18 shows in 2000 that the band thought very highly of. It’s easy to tell why. The energy is palpable at this show, the band played extremely tight on a consistent high-tempo pace and the crowd ate it up the whole way. We’ll talk about great renditions of Go, Grievance, Small Town, Better Man with the Romanza intro, Daughter, Rearviewmirror and Parting Ways. How high will this one be rated? You may want to tune in to find out!

We’re opening up the Vault again for the second of four times in this series! This episode focuses on Vault release #4 that took place in the intimate Mt. Baker Theatre up in Bellingham, Washington. Coming two days before the record came out, this show that amassed no more than 1,500 fans was meant as a preview for the Binaural record with seven songs being played live for the first time. We’ll gets to talk about all of the song debuts – Of The Girl, Breakerfall, Light Years, God’s Dice, Evacuation, Insignificance and even a few from the record that had already been played in some capacity on television or a Bridge School show. How did these songs sound on first listen? Did we get a sense for what they’d become right away, or did they need time to figure out the right comfort zone for playing these songs? All that, and a story about how Binaural may have been considered a dirty word to some fans back in the early 2000s, specifically someone who may host a Pearl Jam podcast you’re currently listening to!

Continuing our preparation for the upcoming May tour dates, we’re looking back at a show from Phoenix during the Binaural era. The show is placed during a very strong stretch for the band as the following night would become an all-time classic – their 10th anniversary in Las Vegas. But Phoenix has been a rather quiet stop for Pearl Jam over the years. A lot of people remember the Open Road improv that they did back in 1995, but there were shows that happened there during every album tour from 1998 til 2003, although they’d wait 10 years before they showed up again during Lightning Bolt. Is Phoenix an undervalued Pearl Jam city? Should the shows from there be discussed more often. We do our best to answer those questions with the hope that this year’s show can change the impression of the city. A lot of great performances here including a few that were extremely rare during the Binaural era. Timeless Melody shows up in the middle of the main set, a song by the La’s that was covered thanks to Matt Cameron’s suggestion. We will also get the rarely heard Romanza intro heading into Better Man. Get ready for great versions of Grievance, State Of Love And Trust, Given To Fly, Insignificance, Do The Evolution and I Got Shit scattered throughout the episode!

Thanks to our wonderful listeners and followers on social media, after a grueling two months worth of polls to select this week’s episode, the people have spoken and selected the legendary Katowice II 2000 show as the winner! The people chose well. This show is considered the cream of the crop of the official bootlegs from the Binaural tour and was sealed with the elusive Apeman logo as a show that the band thought of fondly. This show is unique for its era, both in story and in setlist. After playing the same arena, Spodek, the night prior in front of a sold out crowd of 8,000, the original tour route was going to bring them to Budapest, Hungary. That show was canceled for unknown reasons, leading the band to play a second night in Spodek to a crowd less than half the size as the previous night. They came onto the stage with a setlist mapped out, but after taking one look into the crowd and seeing a completely different atmosphere, they decided to make up the setlist on the fly instead. This led to a 4-song slow burn opening, some rare songs for the time spread all throughout the set, and many Binaural songs in their prime. We’ll run down the entire set and gush over some of the extremely rare placement of some of their most common songs. We’ll also get into a discussion about the recent premium ticket sales for the upcoming 2022 North American leg, and how the average Pearl Jam fan is having an extremely difficult time being able to afford them at the prices offered.