Live Concert Post #5: Juliana Hatfield 09-17-93

Those that know me know that I'm an obsessive fan of Juliana Hatfield. I've seen her live a ridiculous amount of times and think she is one of the most talented musicians around. So it will come as no surprise that I'm posting a live show of hers here. This was one of the first live recordings of her that I'd ever heard. She was touring with a 3-piece outfit to support Become What You Are, her second post-Blake Babies release. Someone at the Backstage Tavern in Ballard, WA made a recording of this show, and it became one of the most widely circulated Juliana boots from that tour. The set is notable for the b-sides she plays, as well as for the teetering-on-the-edge-of-chaos version of Lesley Gore's "You Don't Own Me" that closes the show.

Juliana has serious vocal and guitar chops. In fact, her chord fingerings are a little out there sometimes. I love that a graduate of Berklee School of Music who studied voice sings live with such wild, unpolished abandon. Also, she plays her guitar just sloppy enough on stage to totally rock out without losing control completely. The Ballard show is evidence of both of these traits. She's since fine-tuned her live vocals a bit, but even now, 13 years later, she still lets herself go a little crazy vocally when she performs with a band.

All tracks are MP3s. Enjoy.

Addicted
Hello My Name Is Baby
For The Birds
Spin The Bottle
Everybody Loves Me But You
Here Comes The Pain
Rider
President Garfield
This Is The Sound
My Sister
Supermodel
The Lights
Feelin' Massachusetts
Little Pieces
A Dame With A Rod
I Got No Idols
Nirvana
You Don't Own Me

Visit Juliana's website and buy her records.

Golden State: Paloalto's New Incarnation

I am a big fan of California's now defunct Paloalto, the musical brainchild of songwriter James Grundler. I came across them as the opening act for Nina Gordon when she played The Paradise in Boston a few years back. The group had an epic pop sound, borrowing heavily from early Radiohead and U2. Despite production from hit maker Rick Rubin and considerable critical acclaim, Paloalto's two American Recordings releases never took off commercially.

After some time off, James Grundler is back with a new outfit - Golden State. They are not yet signed to a label, but you can download four songs from their Splinters Out EP on their MySpace page. It seems that they're only performing locally in California, so if you live out there you should try to catch a show. If you like Radiohead's The Bends or U2's Joshua Tree you might want to investigate Paloalto and keep an eye on Golden State.

Here are the tracks that are up for download on Golden State's MySpace page.

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Rain (mp3)
How Long (mp3)
The Lunatick (mp3)
Splinters Out (mp3)

You can buy Paloalto's albums here. Golden State's EP is available exclusively through the store on the band's official website.

Odds And Sods From The Blog World

Heather at I Am Fuel, You Are Friends posted 19 "live and unreleased" Ray LaMontagne tracks as a teaser for his forthcoming new album. She also recently put up two new Black Crowes songs from the brothers Robinson's acoustic mini-tour. You can find "I Got The Late Nights Again" and "Cut From The Shadow" here.

Cable and Tweed has a great set of pre-Boy U2 demos posted, called "Contract Demos '78-'80". Don't know if all the uber-fans already have that stuff but it seems like a gold mine.

My Ex Best Friend has some Coldplay rarities up. "Ladder To The Sun" is a full track, and there are also snippets of the boys covering Aqua's "Barbie Girl" and Nelly/Kelly Rowland's "Dilemma".

Also posted at My Ex Best Friend is an MP3 of Radiohead covering Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" that can be found here. I did a little research and it's actually Sparklehorse with Thom Yorke singing some of the vocals. Apparently he called in his vocal part over the phone and you can hear his TV on in the background.

Speaking of Radiohead, Hello Gina posted a version of "Creep" as covered by Damien Rice on Today FM in Ireland on 06-22-05.

Ear Farm has a fantastic series of live concert posts updated every weekend. Live sets from Sublime, Spoon, Ween, The Unicorns, My Bloody Valentine, New Order, Sufjan Stevens, Neutral Milk Hotel, Sonic Youth, Explosions in the Sky, The Smiths, Morphine, Talking Heads, The Stone Roses, The Cure, PJ Harvey, Pulp, The Decemberists, Blur, Nine Inch Nails, Johnny Cash, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Led Zeppelin, Islands, Echo and the Bunnymen, Morrissey, and The Durutti Column are available.

Muzzle Of Bees has an acoustic set from Ben Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie that aired in 2003 on KEXP.

Ben Gibbard appears again at You Ain't No Picasso covering Michael Jackson's "Thriller". Belle And Sebastian cover "Billie Jean" as well.

Snow Patrol BBC Tracks

...Good Weather For Airstrikes posted some awesome Snow Patrol live tracks - 4 versions of new songs played on the BBC and two covers, Bright Eyes' "You Will. You? Will..." and Damien Rice's "The Blower's Daughter".

BRMC Filter Sessions

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club posted 10 videos of an exclusive acoustic session in the members area of their official website. It's free to become a member, so if you'd like to see the videos you should check it out. My capture of the audio is below.

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BRMC Filter Sessions:

Ain't No Easy Way
Complicated Situation
Devil's Waitin'
Fault Line
Gospel Song
Love Burns
Restless Sinner
Still Suspicion Holds You Tight
Sympathetic Noose
Weight Of The World

Live Concert Post #4: Radiohead 12-19-97

As I eagerly (read: "desperately") await an official confirmation of the rumor that Radiohead will be playing the Tower Theater, a very small venue for a band of Radiohead's clout, in June, I thought I'd upload one of my favorite Radiohead live gigs.

This show is the famous "Live At The Ten Spot" performance that aired, incomplete, on MTV. At the time, the band was in the middle of touring in support of the critically and popularly acclaimed album, OK Computer. I believe the version of the show that I have is from a digital cable feed - no commercials and all of the songs, including the ones that never originally aired.

The set serves as a snapshot of Radiohead in the midst of their catapult to the top of the rock world of the late 90's. They cemented themselves as one of the most impressive live acts around on this tour, a complement to their considerable songwriting and studio prowess. Though this tour would almost drive singer Thom Yorke off the deep end, as documented in the film Meeting People Is Easy, it represents my favorite Radiohead era thus far.

That night at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom, they tore through almost all of The Bends and OK Computer, along with the b-side "Talk Show Host", which appears on the soundtrack to the 1996 film version of Romeo and Juliet as well as on one of the "Street Spirit" singles.

Enjoy this phenomenal show. All files are MP3s.

Fitter Happier
Airbag
Karma Police
The Bends
Exit Music (For A Film)
Talk Show Host
Subterranean Homesick Alien
My Iron Lung
Climbing Up The Walls
Lucky
Planet Telex
Bulletproof...I Wish I Was
No Surprises
Bones
Just
Paranoid Android
Fake Plastic Trees
Let Down
Street Spirit (Fade Out)
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Electioneering
(Nice Dream)
The Tourist

I finally did get to see Radiohead for the first time later on this tour, in April of 1998 at Radio City Music Hall in New York. Still can feel the chills I got from hearing "Exit Music" that night.

If this show makes you jones for some more live Radiohead, I heartily recommend picking up their only official live album, I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings, and the recently released in the US DVD, Live At The Astoria.

Rainer Maria

Rainer Maria has been around for a while, since 1995 as a matter of fact, but as usual I'm way behind all the people in the know. To me they're a new band, and I'm gonna spread the word appropriately.

A colleague read about the band in the New York Times and thought I'd like them, so I checked out the single from their new record, Catastrophe Keeps Us Together, which is streaming on their website. "Catastrophe" is driving, atmospheric pop rock at its best, and I was hooked right away.

I checked out their tour dates and saw that they'd be in Philadelphia on May 21st, and when I went to the production company's website to buy tickets, I found that they'd posted MP3s of the aforementioned "Catastrophe" and another track, "Already Lost". Here they are for your listening pleasure.

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Catastrophe (mp3)
Already Lost (mp3)

Here are Rainer Maria's tour dates so you can catch them live.

April 2006
4 Tue South Hadley, MA Mount Holyoke College
20 Thu Washington, DC Black Cat
21 Fri Williamsburg, VA College of William and Mary
22 Sat Carrboro, NC Wetlands
23 Sun Atlanta, GA Eardrum
25 Tue Orlando, FL The Social
26 Wed Gainesville, FL Common Grounds
27 Thu Baton Rouge, LA Red Star Bar
28 Fri Houston, TX Walters on Washington
29 Sat Denton, TX Dan Silverleaf
30 Sun Austin, TX Emo's

May 2006
2 Tue Phoenix, AZ Modified
3 Wed Los Angeles, CA Troubadour
4 Thu San Francisco, CA Bottom of the Hill
5 Fri Portland, OR Doug Fir
6 Sat Seattle, WA Paradox
7 Sun Vancouver, BC TBA
10 Wed Minneapolis, MN Triple Rock
11 Thu Chicago, IL Beat Kitchen
12 Fri Chicago, IL Beat Kitchen
13 Sat Cleveland, OH Grog Shop
14 Sun Ann Arbor, MI Blind Pig
15 Mon Toronto, ONT HorseShoe
16 Tue Montreal, QUE El Salon
20 Sat New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
21 Sun Philadelphia, PA First Unitarian Church

Pearl Jam - Live at Easy Street + SNL

Awarestore is taking pre-orders for Live at East Street, a recording of a special performance by Pearl Jam at Easy Street Records in Seattle. The set features three never before released cover songs. Here's the tracklist:

01. Half Full
02. Lukin
03. American In Me
04. Save You
05. Bleed For Me
06. New World (featuring John Doe)
07. Porch

You can preorder the CD here.

Also on the PJ front, I Am Fuel, You Are Friends posted a 5 minute promo interview video of the band for their forthcoming new album.

Thanks to Culture Bully, here are the two songs PJ performed on SNL last night:

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World Wide Suicide (live on SNL 04-15-06)
Severed Hand (live on SNL 04-15-06)

Nina Gordon Resurfaces

Nina Gordon, former singer/guitarist/songwriter from the 90’s pop-rock band Veruca Salt, announced on her website that she will release a new solo album on July 18th. Bleeding Heart Graffiti is the follow up to 2000’s Tonight And The Rest Of My Life, and again will be produced by Bob Rock. Rock also produced Veruca Salt’s outstanding Eight Arms To Hold You, one of my favorite records of the 90’s. Though Gordon’s solo material is touch-and-go for me, I absolutely love her voice. Her work with Louise Post in Veruca Salt will probably end up being the strongest of her career, but I’ll still buy the new album on release day.

The blogs were a-buzz with Nina news last year when she recorded an acoustic version of the NWA song “Straight Outta Compton”. I missed it then but found it recently, along with acoustic renditions of Skid Row’s “18 And Life” and Cinderella’s “Nobody’s Fool”. Enjoy.

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Straight Outta Compton (mp3)
18 And Life (mp3)
Nobody’s Fool (mp3)

For a taste of her solo material, here’s “Tonight And The Rest Of My Life” from her appearance on The Tonight Show.

Tonight And The Rest Of My Life (Live on Leno) (mp3)

While I’m talking about Nina Gordon I can’t help but reminisce about Veruca Salt. Their songs were rocking and loaded with hooks, and the Gordon-Post harmonies really set them apart from bands writing music similar to theirs. I recorded this acoustic set off the now defunct Philly radio station Y-100 when they used to air live performances from Sonic Recording Studios downtown. It would’ve been so cool to be in the studio up close to the band during this performance. The place could only hold about 30 audience members.

Straight (acoustic) (mp3)
Forsythia (acoustic) (mp3)
Lonliness Is Worse (acoustic) (mp3)
Shimmer Like A Girl (acoustic) (mp3)
Shutterbug (acoustic) (mp3)
Seether (acoustic) (mp3)

Veruca Salt doing a slinky cover of The Knack's "My Sharona":

My Sharona (mp3)

If you don’t already have it you should run out (or surf out) and buy Eight Arms To Hold You. It’s a record any rock fan should have in their collection.

Wilco, Juliana, Idlewild & Co. Do Big Star

Found this on The LoperCo. Post:

In 1998, a tribute record to the highly influential Big Star entitled “Big Star, Small World” was recorded. The album was to be released by Ignition Records, and featured contributions from artists like The Afghan Whigs, Wilco, Whiskeytown, Matthew Sweet, and Juliana Hatfield. For reasons unknown, the record was shelved and never released.

But now, according to summerskiss.com, the album has been picked up by Koch Records, and been given a release date of May 23.

It should be noted that no other official announcement from Koch Records has been made, but a track list has been made available:

1. Nightime - Afghan Whigs
2. Ballad Of El Goodo - Matthew Sweet
3. Back Of A Car - Gin Blossoms
4. Jesus Christ - Teenage Fanclub
5. Hot Thing - Big Star
6. Thirteen - Wilco
7. What’s Going On? - The Posies
8. Don’t Lie To Me - Juliana Hatfield
9. Give Me Another Chance - Whiskeytown
10. When My Baby’s Beside Me - Kelly Willis
11. You Get What You Deserve - Idlewild

Gomez Preorder Treat

If you preorder the forthcoming May 2nd Gomez release How We Operate from ATO Records you'll receive a bonus live CD containing five tracks from Ben, Ian and Tom's recent acoustic tour. If you need something else to whet your appetite, here's a track from the new album thanks to Aquarium Drunkard.

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Chasing Ghosts With Alcohol (mpeg)

Neko Case Brings The Flood To The Troc

Neko Case came to town Saturday night to play The Trocodero while promoting her latest, Fox Confessor Brings The Flood, and put on a stellar performance. She is amazing live, as I figured she might be after hearing her live album, The Tigers Have Spoken. What a voice! Her band was top notch, particularly her backup singer, Kathy, who's harmonies added to the otherworldly, ethereal sound that Neko conjures with her music. If you haven't checked Neko out I would recommend Furnace Room Lullaby as a primer.

Opener Martha Wainwright impressed me enough that I picked up her self-titled full length at the merch table. She, too, has a beautiful voice, and some of her original tunes reminded me of a combo of Kasey Chambers and Catatonia.

For you Neko lovers out there, here is a live version of "Set Out Running" courtesy of the good people at Green Clothes.

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Set Out Running (live)

Also, YouTube has this video of Neko performing "Hold On, Hold On" on The Tonight Show.

Coldplay 04-06-06

I saw Coldplay on Thursday night at The Wachovia Center in Philadelphia. Not a bad show by any stretch, but the sound in big venues like this one generally stinks. It stunk Thursday night - all kick drum & bass with a wash of everything else mixing with the crowd noise.

I still maintain that Coldplay's tunes from A Rush Of Blood To The Head represent by far their best work to date. Those songs certainly stood out as far superior to the rest of their catalogue at the show. "Politik", "Clocks" and "The Scientist" were great live - majestic and uplifting in all the ways that good British pop rock should be when it's done well. Of the new songs, "Fix You" seemed to hang best with the band's strongest material.

The guys worked the large venue with confidence, and Chris Martin did a nice job singing in spite of his apparently serious throat problems. Good thing the show was the last of the US tour.

Opener Richard Ashcroft was met with somewhat polite ambivalence by the Coldpay faithful. I was psyched that he opened with "Lucky Man" from his former band, The Verve. He closed his set with "Bittersweet Symphony", which seemed to get the crowd going more than his solo material, most of which was from his latest, Keys To The World. I was hoping he'd give us a little "Money To Burn" from his first solo album, Alone With Everybody. No such luck for me, but in case you're unfamiliar with the track, I think it holds up with his finest work with The Verve.

Money To Burn (mp3)

Most of you probably got to see Mr. Ashcroft rock out on "Bittersweet Symphony" with Coldplay at the Live 8 show, but in case you missed it here's a link to a video of the performance.

Bittersweet Symphony (Coldplay with Richard Ashcroft) - video

One advantage to having XM Satellite Radio is the exclusive live concerts they broadcast. Here is Coldplay's acoustic XM Session from 2005.

A Message (XM Artist Confidential)
Kingdom Come (XM Artist Confidential)
Clocks (XM Artist Confidential)
In My Place (XM Artist Confidential)

Here's an acoustic version of the b-side "Moses" performed live on KROC. Can't remember where I got this, so I'm sorry I can't give credit to the blogger who hooked me up.

Moses (acoustic on KROC)

AIC + Tool = Sweet

I found these files on The Tool Page. Though Alice In Chains will be touring this summer with Comes With The Fall's singer William DuVall, these live tracks with Tool's Maynard James Keenan on vocals give a taste of what might have been. The sound quality on these isn't great, but it's still a worthwhile listen.

Them Bones 2-18-05(Alice In Chains w/ Maynard James Keenan on vocals)
Man In A Box 2-18-05 (Alice In Chains w/ Maynard James Keenan on vocals)

Also on The Tool Page is this MP3 of Maynard singing a duet with Tori Amos on her "Muhammad My Friend" at Madison Square Garden on 01-23-97 .

Muhammad My Friend (Tori Amos with Maynard Keenan)

Video of the same performance can be found here.

Live Concert Post #3: Matt Nathanson 10-11-02

I got a great response when I posted a couple of tracks from this gig after seeing Matt Nathanson play here in Philadelphia on Tuesday, so I thought I'd upload the whole performance. This show took place at my high school, the one where I work, that is, back in 2002. Here's the backstory.

Matt had been doing his thing for quite a while at that point (his first album, Please, was released in 1993) but I must confess I'd never heard of him then. Beth, a student at school who was really into music, had just started a music magazine and club, and she wanted to bring an emerging talent to school to play a show. She thought Matt would be a great choice because of his fantastic live vibe and because he was still obscure enough that we could afford him on our very modest budget.

As an aside, Beth has since graduated, works for her college radio station and has her own music blog. Check it out here: Guilty Pleasure.

So we contacted Matt's people and after a slew of emails booked the show. Back then Matt was touring on his own, driving his car from town to town. So on the day of the show I got a phone call on my cell from none other than Matt himself, making sure he knew how to get to our school, which is kinda out in the middle of nowhere outside of Philly. The students helping organize the show couldn't believe it when he pulled into the driveway all by himself asking for some help carrying his guitars into the theater - what an amazing chance to meet one of their favorite artists.

I was doing sound for the show, so I got the chance to help Matt set up his minimal gear and work through sound check with him. As one might expect, he loves his monitors to be really loud so it feels like he's "playing a stadium rock show".

The show itself went really well, and Matt kicked ass on our little stage. After the performance he took a couple of minutes to towel off and then spent over an hour chatting with students, signing autographs and taking pictures with fans. It's no wonder his fanbase is so rabid. Very few artists take that much time to let their fans have a personal interaction with them.

Finally, things wound down and Matt retired backstage to have a bite to eat. Beth and I joined him so she could interview him for our music magazine. The three of us ended up shooting the breeze for a few hours about music, TV shows, teaching (Matt said he'd considered going into teaching and thought he might still try it out if his music career didn't pan out. Funny thing to think about now b/c he's doing so well...), and making a career in the music business. Turns out he loved The X-Files and Buffy The Vampire Slayer, two of my favorite TV shows of all time. It was a real treat to spend so much time with such a talented guy, and I wish I'd been more familiar with his music before I got to meet him.

Matt Nathanson: 10-11-02

01 - Intro
02 - Miracles
03 - (stories)
04 - Wings
05 - Pretty The World
06 - (tough being a rockstar)
07 - I Saw
08 - All Been Said Before
09 - Lucky Boy
10 - Loud
11 - Starfish And Coffee* -> Stayin' Alive% -> Jesse's Girl#
12 - Prove To Me -> (moment in New York)
13 - Church Clothes
14 - (chickentastic) -> Sad Songs
15 - Weight Of It All
16 - Answering Machine
17 - Living On A Prayer**
18 - Intro (positive song) ->
19 - America*** -> Little Victories

* = Prince cover
% = Bee Gees cover
# = Rick Springfield cover
** = Bon Jovi cover
*** = Paul Simon cover

PS Slapchar's Journal has some video of Matt playing at Jammin' Java in VA 04-03-06, including a full version of the new song "Car Crash", which threatens to be one of his best tunes yet.

PPS Unfortunately, the photos above weren't taken in 2002. I can't seem to find my pictures from that show, so these are from Matt's return to my school this past fall for a Katrina Relief concert we held there.

Matt Nathanson Rocks Philly

Matt Nathanson played at World Cafe Live last night in Philly and put on his usual dynamic performance. More about the show in a second, but first a couple of details. Yesterday was the release date for Matt's new live album, At The Point, which was recorded over a four night, sold out stand at The Point, a now closed acoustic music venue just outside the city. Last night's show was broadcast on the radio by WXPN, a station that's given Matt a lot of support over the course of his career.

So the stage was set for a special show, and Matt didn't disappoint the sold out audience. He regularly turns solo-acoustic shows, which can often be fairly subdued affairs, into full-on rock shows. It's hard to describe how he does this, but it has something to do with the combination of his physical guitar playing/singing style, his hilarious on-stage banter and his penchant for theatrical, over-the-top covers of monster rock hits. The latter are always a trip, and he seems to have an endless knowledge of pop and rock songs, both classic and current. He needs to be seen to be fully appreciated, and even if Matt's music doesn't seem like your cup of tea his shows are so entertaining that you'll have a great time anyway.

Though he left the pyro at home this time, Matt still smoked the expansive stage at WCL and had the adoring crowd in the palm of his hand from the moment he walked on stage. He treated us to a lot of his stellar original material (including a preview of new material from his forthcoming studio release) and a couple of covers. He even invited a zealous fan wearing a shaggy, blonde mullet wig to join him on stage for a Journey cover.

Go buy Matt's new live album and see for yourself how he rocks the acoustic guitar like no one else.



Here a little video I took during the show.
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Setlist:

What You Need
Bare
More Than This
Princess
Car Crash
Bent
Lost Myself in Search of You
Laid
Church Clothes
Detroit Waves
Angel >
I Saw
Answering Machine
Suspended
Wide Eyed and Full

Back in 2002, Matt did a solo show at the high school where I work. Here are some audio files from that show.

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Pretty The World (live 10-11-02)
Starfish And Coffee (live 10-11-02)
Living On A Prayer (live 10-11-02)

South (UK) Release New Album

South released a new full-length, Adventures In The Underground Journey To The Stars, today. You can buy it here:



Somehow I missed that they released the Speed Up/Slow Down EP last October. Anyway, they are streaming two tracks from the new album on their MySpace page. Also, they've made two tracks available for free download, so I've provided MP3s for your consumption.

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Paint The Silence
This one is a studio track taken from their debut album of the same name.

I Know What You're Like (live)
A live version of another track from their debut album.

South did a great XFM Session for their 2nd record, With The Tides, that you can listen to here.

Boston Legal Gets It Right...

...while the Democrats fiddle about trying to "separate" themselves from the Republicans by copping all of their positions on important issues. I don't watch Boston Legal, but my good buddy Pete sent me a link to James Spader's closing arguments from the recent episode "Stick It". The episode was nominated for the BuzzFlash "Wings Of Justice" Award (www.wingsofjustice.com) a couple of weeks ago. After watching the clip, it's obvious why it won. Now, if only someone in the Democratic party would have the guts to say something like Spader did on the show. Sad when things get to a point where the only source for our political inspiration is fictional TV characters, no? The picture below is a link to the page that hosts the video clip.

V For Vendetta - Scariest Movie Ever?

I just got back from seeing V For Vendetta, which I thoroughly enjoyed but which scared the crap out of me. The poster below is a link to a trailer.



The eerie familiarity of some of the government propaganda in the film left me with a bit of a pit in my stomach. Then I got home and found this article, America's War On The Web, in Scotland's Sunday Herald. Now I'm seriously freaked. An excerpt:

IMAGINE a world where wars are fought over the internet; where TV broadcasts and newspaper reports are designed by the military to confuse the population; and where a foreign armed power can shut down your computer, phone, radio or TV at will.

In 2006, we are just about to enter such a world. This is the age of information warfare, and details of how this new military doctrine will affect everyone on the planet are contained in a report, entitled The Information Operations Roadmap, commissioned and approved by US secretary of defence Donald Rumsfeld and seen by the Sunday Herald.

The article goes on to describe three major initiatives outlined in the Roadmap. Two involve dominating the internet and controlling the earth's electromagnetic spectrum. All communication would be under US control. The other initiative is even more chilling, especially after seeing V For Vendetta.

After electronic warfare, the US war planners turn their attention to psychological operations: “Military forces must be better prepared to use psyops in support of military operations.” The State Department, which carries out US diplomatic functions, is known to be worried that the rise of such operations could undermine American diplomacy if uncovered by foreign states. Other examples of information war listed in the report include the creation of “Truth Squads” to provide public information when negative publicity, such as the Abu Ghraib torture scandal, hits US operations, and the establishment of “Humanitarian Road Shows”, which will talk up American support for democracy and freedom.

Frack me.

Live Concert Post #2: Pearl Jam 04-03-94

Pearl Jam 04-03-94 Atlanta, GA

I still remember when I first heard this show. I was a sophomore in college and Pearl Jam was one of my favorite bands. Little did I know that they'd still be one of my favorites over ten years later.

Anyway, Vs. was released in the fall before I heard this show, and my friends and I ate it up. Some part of the record was probably played by me or one of my four roommates at least once a day that year. My friend, Bob (the drummer in my first band, actually), and I went out a week before Vs. was released on CD and bought the vinyl version even though neither of us owned a record player. We couldn't wait a week for the CD release date, and it was quite an adventure going around to random dorm rooms trying to find someone who had a record player and who would also let two strangers, psycho PJ fans, tape a copy of the album off of our vinyl version in their room...

I'd never had the chance to see PJ live, because they'd only played Philadelphia twice before ('91 and '92), both when I was in high school and, actually, before I started going out to see live shows regularly. I had acquired one sweet, sweet PJ bootleg at the time, a CD with 6 tracks from their MTV Unplugged performance in 1992. The version of "Black" from the Unplugged show still feels like the definitive performance of the song, and I was blown away by the way the young band rocked "Porch" acoustic.

Black (from MTV Unplugged 03-16-92)
Porch (from MTV Unplugged 03-16-92)

I was about to be introduced to the definitive version of "Porch", though, when the Atlanta show aired. Oh, I forgot to mention, I didn't actually attend this show. It was broadcast on the radio across the nation. All day long before the show aired I was getting prepared for the broadcast - I went out and bought cassettes to record it and got some snacks and drinks for my friends and I to enjoy while we listened.

The excitement was palpable in the room when the usual radio broadcast changed over to the show and we heard the sounds of the waiting Atlanta crowd over the airwaves. When the crowd noise swelled, my friends and I knew Pearl Jam had taken the stage, and when "Release" started we were all wearing shit-eating grins on our faces. I was so psyched to hear tunes like "Whipping", "Betterman" and "Satan's Bed", all of which I'd never heard before. The long, rocked-out version of "Porch" blew me away. I couldn't believe they'd topped the Unplugged version!

Needless to say, the show was outstanding. My friends and I wore out the tapes we'd made of the show over the next few years, and I finally had to suck it up and buy the import 3CD "Dissident" single set to have a copy of the show. Though it was great to have an "official" version of the show on CD, I must say that I am still miffed that the single is missing four of the songs from the show.

Now all these years later, it seems like everyone has a pre-FM soundboard copy of this show. It's one of the most common Pearl Jam live shows for fans to have. I've always felt that this was true, other than for the obvious reason that the show aired nationwide on the radio, because of the quality of the band's performance that night. Though they were already well on the way toward being a worldwide phenomenon, the fact that this show aired on the radio served as a kind of formal announcement of their ascendance to the top of the alternative rock world of the 90's. Though that may be a bit over-the-top and open to debate, one thing I do know for sure that this show cemented Pearl Jam's importance in my life.

Enough pontificating, here's the show in MP3 format. Enjoy.

Release
Rearviewmirror
Whipping
Even Flow
Dissident
Why Go
Deep
Jeremy
Glorified G
Daughter /(Another Brick In The Wall)
Go
Animal
Garden
State Of Love And Trust
Black
Alive
Blood
W.M.A.
Better Man
Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town
Rats
Satan's Bed
Once
Sonic Reducer
Porch
Indifference

APC War Posters

I stumbled across these on A Perfect Circle's website.