Episode 265: Camden, NJ – 9/1/2000

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.


Episode 244: Saratoga Springs, NY – 8/27/2000

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.

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Episode 225: Pittsburgh, PA – 9/5/2000

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.

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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!

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Episode 219: Wembley Arena – 5/30/2000

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.

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Episode 216: Toronto, ONT, CA – 10/5/2000

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.

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Pearl Jam Late Night Series: Ep. 8 – Letterman 2000

Ladies and gentlemen, here’s another late night episode for you! We’re fresh out of 90’s performances for you so let’s start to dip into the yeaaaar twoooo thouuuusand! A month ahead of the Binaural record release, Pearl Jam joined their favorite late night host and hall of fame inductor for the third time to debut a brand new song called Grievance. Since Nothing As It Seems was the first single that, just like Who You Are, drew away the casual radio listeners, just like their 1996 performance on the show introducing Hail Hail, they make an attempt to featured something that feels more like Pearl Jam. We’ll talk about the change of guard in the era and how Nu-Metal meant that Pearl Jam was completely off everyone’s radar, and we’ll always get into how Mike is starting to fully become himself and take ownership of that stage! Next month – two for the price of one. Save You and I Am Mine… cuff me…


Episode 187: Boise, ID – 11/3/2000

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!

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Episode 179: Mt. Baker Theatre – 5/10/2000

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!

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Episode 176: Phoenix, AZ – 10/21/2000

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!

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Episode 174: Katowice, POL – 6/16/2000

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.

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Episode 142: Seattle, WA – 11/6/2000

This hometown show is the culmination of a turbulent year for the band where after the Roskilde tragedy, they had to find ways to grieve whilst touring from city to city for 47 dates in the matter of 3 months. During this timeframe they held off on playing Alive, one of the most crucial songs in the band’s catalog, due to it not being appropriate following the incident at hand. On this night in Seattle, to the surprise of many Alive makes it’s triumphant return as part of the healing process. In this episode, we’ll talk about how much weight this performance had and how important it was for them to play in order to move on to the next chapter.

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Episode 131: Montreal, QC, CA – 10/4/2000

One of our promises for 2021 was more Canadian shows for the listeners up north and this episode stays true to that. We continue to dig into the Deep streaming catalog tour years featuring this Montreal show that kicked off the final leg of the 2000 tour.
In this episode, we’ll talk a little bit about how important the retail released bootlegs from the 2000 tour were to the fandom expanding and growing and their live act getting some more recognition. The bootlegs from the European tour were released only a week before this leg began. We’ll discuss whether or not the bootlegs had anything to do with bringing back some of the older, more rare songs from Ten and Vs. that were played in the years following this tour. We’ll also get into a discussion about whether or not the popularity of Last Kiss led for a change up in how the Binaural record was produced and written. As for the show, while dealing with some first night technical difficulties, the band came through with some big performances at this show including a Corduroy with a riveting solo similar to ones you hear on Even Flow. The show really kicks in toward the middle of the set as a nasty Do The Evolution sets the tone for a hard rocking section with MFC, an improv and Habit. Other highlights from this show are Porch, Off He Goes, Of The Girl and Leaving Here.

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Episode 114: Alpine Valley, WI (The Ice Bowl) – 10/8/2000

Bundle up and put on your Bernie mittens because this episode will leave you freezing your ass off! This one covers the infamous Ice Bowl show from Alpine Valley on the 2000 tour. On an October night where temperatures dipped down to 28 degrees, the band took the stage and ripped through a 26 song setlist as if they were inside an arena. Joining us to share his stories is our Patron, Kirk Walton, who was there that night to witness all of it! After you see the band take the stage wearing jackets and blowing on their hands to keep warm, they burst through Of The Girl and Hail Hail before Ed greeted the crowd by welcoming them to the Ice Bowl. The nickname given to an infamous Packers/Cowboys game at Lambeau Field in 1967 where they played in -15 degree temperature conditions. From there on out, the band zipped through the set playing familiar songs in order to keep the crowd warm. From all this information shared, you’d assume the band would’ve struggled throughout this set, but quite the opposite! If you listen to the boot, there are small instances where you can tell what the conditions are (Ed singing “it’s too fucking cold to sing” during Corduroy) but aside from that, if you replaced this with an arena show bootleg you would barely be able to tell the difference. The band jammed through great versions of Insignificance, Dissident, Black, Porch and Smile to help make this memorable night unforgettable.

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Episode 102: Las Vegas, NV – 10/22/2000

On October, 22 1990, Pearl Jam played their first show as Mookie Blaylock at Seattle’s Off Ramp venue. To celebrate the monumental occasion, we’re going back two decades to the band’s ten year anniversary that took place in Vegas on the Binaural tour. Joining us for this episode for some crossover love is Branden Palomo from the Better Band Podcast. While the band came out to celebrate the moment, Ed did his best to try to downplay the situation (even after he thanked Stone and Jeff for “recognizing his great talent”) by telling stories of that first night at the Off Ramp and not even being able dream that they could be in the position they were in. The fans brought balloons to shower them with during the encore, but there is one moment that gets discussed from this show that holds precedent above all… This was the first moment that Pearl Jam ever played a song written by Mother Love Bone and they chose Crown of Thorns. While the death of Andy Wood had always been a part of their history, it was something that was never quite addressed publicly. It’s an important moment in their history for so many reasons in which we’ll discuss in full detail in the episode, but this was a major part of their healing process after the Roskilde tragedy. When Ed gave Jeff and Stone a hug, it was the bonding between two entities that were so intertwined, yet had never met until that moment. Mother Love Bone and the life of Andy Wood forever became part of Pearl Jam’s story.

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Episode 85: Verona, ITA – 6/20/2000

Ciao! This Episode our Around The World series takes us to Verona, Italy where Pearl Jam performs in the historic Roman amphitheater the Verona Arena – a Coliseum that was built way back in 30 AD. We all remember the Immagine en Cornice DVD that documented all of the amazing scenery and culture of Italy, but it was actually back in 2000 where they played this incredible building for the first time. At a time where, unbeknownst to the band, they were about to hit a major career and life changing transition due to the Roskilde tragedy, this is a rare time in the Binaural era where they are feeling pretty upbeat and positive on stage. The Binaural tracks were continuing to hit their stride – Grievance and Insignificance being two that the allowed Ed to tap into something that brought the anger out of him, and Nothing As It Seems being played with Mike’s original pedal brings a special kind of sound that makes the song feel like it’s lifted into the atmosphere. This show had other great moments such as a ‘f it’ moment during Habit where a light was blinding Ed and they’d finish the song with a fury. The band was also doing something uncommon for the time in playing a full 31-song set, but the gap between the stage and the crowd left a little bit of the interaction feeling a bit empty.

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Episode 83: Pinkpop Festival – 6/12/2000

This episode we take a look back at one of the most popular and recognizable shows of the Binaural era, the 2000 Pinkpop Festival. It had been 8 years since the memorable 1992 Pinkpop show, so the band knew the stakes were high to please 60,000+ fans in attendance. They channeled some of that raw energy from the height of the grunge era mixed in with the mature sound they developed after 6 albums produced and the outcome, as per usual, was pure grit and passion. In the 90-minute set, they bulldoze through 18 songs mixed with a variety of hits, rarities, new tracks as well as a decent sample size from the five prior albums. We’ll talk about how Corduroy kick starting the show set the tone for the night introducing a set that had absolutely no lulls or dead spots. The Binaural songs were also played to perfection with the vigor and force that stemmed from the era. We get renditions of Rival and Insignificance that fueled political anger and a Light Years digging into the deepest of emotions.

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Episode 79: Prague, CZ – 6/14/2000

On the heels of the 20th anniversary of the release of the Binaural record, we take our Around The World series to a fun Prague show from the middle of that tour. In the episode, we’ll get to look back on how Binaural was kind of the oddball of Pearl Jam records and why it doesn’t connect as well with the casual fan base. Considering there aren’t many songs from this album that get consistently played live nowadays, it was a nice change going back and reliving some of the tracks when they were brand new. Speaking of Binaural songs from this show, there were only 5 played which could be considered a low total for a promotion tour. This show featured the live debut of Sleight Of Hand, a nasty Mike McCready opening the show on fire with Of The Girl, Grievance, Insignificance and Light Years. Aside from that, the set list was quite balanced with all 6 albums getting more than one song played. The reason to listen to this show was Mike McCready and how untouchable he was this night. He shined best on tracks like Animal, Red Mosquito, Even Flow and Black – all which are featured within this episode.

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Episode 45: Glasgow, UK – 6/3/2000

We’re happy to have on Colin Rodger and Martin Higgins, who have put together this year’s PJ Con – a show featuring tribute band Lost Dogs in Glasgow, Scotland where all of the benefits go toward supporting Diabetes UK. Pearl Jam has only been to Scotland twice, the last time being 19 years ago. Colin and Marty spend this episode reliving their only hometown show and the memories of being in the crowd, feeling the energy of the show and coming back with a little mud on their faces. High points include Sometimes, Present Tense and Given To Fly , but there’s also a glaring omission in this show that Randy takes issue with.

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Episode 40: St. Louis, MO – 10/11/2000

This episode we’ll talk about the St. Louis show that occurred during the time of filming for the Touring Band 2000 DVD and what most people remember from that compilation is a moment that came from this show. Eddie sees a woman named Kimberly Rae Schaefer interpreting sign language on the side of the stage and decides to invite her up to do a song so the entire crowd can see her sign during a performance of Given To Fly. It’s one of the more heartwarming moments in the band’s history that’s remembered fondly to this day. We’ll also tap into Matt Cameron channeling his inner Jack Irons as he was still transitioning a bit style-wise at the time. Versions of Hail, Hail and In My Tree sound as they were originally intended to, but his performance on Parting Ways ends up being what steals the show.

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