Radiohead Is Cruel

Ok, now they've made me really mad. Radiohead singer Thom Yorke started teasing fans with a bit of "True Love Waits" as an intro to set staple "Everything In Its Right Place" a couple of shows ago. Last night in LA he teased with about a minute and a half of "Follow Me Around". You're a mean one, Mr. Yorke. Record the damn thing and release it already!

Fans got a glimpse of "Follow Me Around" in the OK Computer tour documentary Meeting People Is Easy (photo at left). The full-band live version in the film was incomplete, cut in the middle by interview footage. The song, however, was awesome. I mean, so good that I remember being furious the first time I saw it when the footage of the performance cut away to the interview.

Thom would later play acoustic renditions of the song at various radio stations during the band's promo for Hail To The Thief and, very rarely, during the occasional concert. I don't believe anyone has heard a full-band version of the song besides the cut-up one from the doc.

Here's the edited rendition from Meeting People Is Easy, an acoustic version recorded for the BBC in 2003, and the teaser just recently performed in LA on 06-29-2006.

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Follow Me Around Meeting People Is Easy version
Follow Me Around BBC Radio version
Follow Me Around 06/29/06 Los Angeles

Black Crowes: 2006 Tour Song Debuts

I got to see the Crowes in Pittsburgh at the Chevrolet Amphitheater on Sunday night, and though the set wasn't particularly extraordinary, the show was awesome as usual. During the course of their seemingly endless current tour, the Crowes recently played “Dirty Hair Halo”, a track from the forthcoming release, The Lost Crowes, for the first time ever. Along with that song, they played the Shake Your Money Maker-era b-side “Waiting Guilty” for the first time since 1996. Good stuff for Crowes fans.

During the brothers Robinson's acoustic tour in April, a few new songs(!) and a few more tracks from The Lost Crowes were performed. I've included them below with the aforementioned tracks, as well as an acoustic rendition of the The Southern Harmony And Musical Companion-era b-side "Darling Of The Underground Press".

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Waiting Guilty 05-27-2006
Dirty Hair Halo 05-26-2006
My Heart's Killing Me 04-15-2006
Darling Of The Underground Press 04-15-2006
Late Nights Again 04-14-2006
Cut From The Shadow 04-14-2006
Wyoming & Me 04-14-2006
Thunderstorm 6:54 04-14-2006

Recordings have only surfaced for two of the Brothers Of A Feather acoustic shows, and it'd be fantastic to hear some others. The Robinsons played new tunes "Cold Boy Smile" and "Magic Rooster Blues" along with b-sides "Peace Anyway" and "Smile" in other sets. Anyone out there have recordings of these from the acoustic shows?

The Crowes are selling excellent quality live recordings from most of their recent and upcoming tour dates through Instant Live. I'd recommend the 06-16-2006 set from Las Vegas. It includes both "Waiting Guilty" and "Dirty Hair Halo" in pristine quality.

Radiohead 2006 Tour Update

They played a deconstructed version of "True Love Waits" in Berkley on 6/24 as an intro to "Everything In Its Right Place." Thom was on keyboard and someone, likely Jonny, was messing with his vocals in a similar way to what they do on the outro of "Everything In Its Right Place." Its not a full version of the song, but for the completists out there, here it is.

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True Love Waits 06-24 Berkley

Also, you can download a recording of the entire Bonnaroo performance here.

Live Concert Post #10: Steve Earle 04-10-1998

I've had the pleasure of seeing Steve Earle perform live a number of times, and I think my favorite tour was when he brought Buddy Miller out with him on guitar to support El Corazon. This show is from a date in Australia on that very tour.

Steve Earle: 04-10-1998
Byron Bay, Australia

Here I Am
Taney Town
Last Of The Hardcore Troubadours
My Old Friend The Blues
Someday
If You Fall In Love
Mystery Train Pt 2
You Know The Rest
Copperhead Road
Telephone Road
More Than You Can Do
Fort Worth Blues
I Feel Alright
The Other Side Of Town
Somewhere Out There
Billy Austin
Devil's Right Hand
Goodbye
NYC
Someone's Got To Do It
Guitar Town

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Radiohead: Another New One

Those wascally wabbits are at it again. They performed "All I Need" in Chicago on June 20th. Here's a recording:

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"All I Need" 06/20 Chicago

Also, the complete MSG shows from 6/13 and 6/14 are up at the Radiohead live site.

Radiohead's Setlist Alchemy

And the Radiohead obsession continues... with this article in New York Magazine in which guitarist Ed O'Brien explains how the band comes up with their set list for each show. Total geek heaven!

Live Concert Post #9: Jeff Buckley 06-24-1995

This is a pre-FM soundboard recording of Jeff Buckley's Glastonbury performance in 1995. I've heard it claimed that this set is better than any officially released live performance of Buckley's. Though I won't weigh in here on that claim, I will say that this is an excellent show.

Jeff Buckley: 06-24-1995 Glastonbury

Intro/Applause
Dream Brother
Lover, You Should've Come Over
So Real
Last Goodbye
What Will You Say
Mojo Pin
Eternal Life
Kick Out The Jams
Grace

Melissa Etheridge: Unplugged 02-15-1995

This will be the last in my Unplugged series. Lots of other ones are commercially available - Alice In Chains, Nirvana, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, etc... - so they won't be posted here.

I used to love Melissa Etheridge's voice. I suppose I still do, but I don't really listen to her music anymore. It's no surprise, though, that I fancy Brandi Carlile because she's got the same rough-edged, soulful vocal chops that appealed to me when I heard Etheridge the first time. The latter's Unplugged set was performed solo, with special guest Bruce Springsteen joining her for a cover of "Thunder Road". I don't have the entire set that she played, only the songs that aired on TV.

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Melissa Etheridge: 02-15-1995 Unplugged

Come To My Window
Ain't It Heavy
Occasionally
If I Wanted To
You Can Sleep While I Drive
Maggie May (Rod Stewart cover)
All The Way To Heaven
Yes I Am
Bring Me Some Water
Thunder Road (with Bruce Springsteen)
I'm The Only One
Like The Way I Do

Sheryl Crow: Unplugged 02-15-1995

I used to love Sheryl Crow's music, but something happened after The Globe Sessions and I've been unable to stomach her music ever since. This is the part of her Unplugged set that aired on MTV, obviously a bunch of songs she performed are missing. I've never been able to track down the complete set, but, honestly, I haven't really tried that hard. I'll post a much better Sheryl Crow acoustic set at a later date. This one is ok, particularly the novelty version of "All I Wanna Do", but there are better performances of hers from the early days out there. Again, this was dubbed from a cassette tape and the sound quality is a little suspect.

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Sheryl Crow: 02-15-1995 Unplugged

Can't Cry Anymore
Leaving Las Vegas
I'm Gonna Be a Wheel Someday (Fats Domino cover)/ The Na-Na Song
Strong Enough
Love is a Good Thing
Run Baby Run
All I Wanna Do
I Shall Believe
D'yer Maker (Led Zeppelin cover)

The Cranberries: Unplugged 02-14-1994

I like The Cranberries in small doses, and this set is a nice little sampling of their music. Again, it was dubbed from a cassette tape.

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The Cranberries: 02-14-1994 Unplugged

Dreaming My Dreams
Ode To My Family
Linger
Free To Decide
I'm Still Remembering
Empty
Zombie
Yesterday's Gone
No Need To Argue

Live: Unplugged 02-15-1995

Apparently, the folks at MTV thought that booking Live for Unplugged was a bit of a risk at the time. Throwing Copper hadn't yet exploded, but the booking provided MTV with an opportunity to pat themselves on the back after the fact for "predicting" that Live would break big. Though I'm not a huge fan, this set is an enjoyable listen. This show was dubbed from the cassette tape(!) that I traded for when I was in college, so my apologies if the sound quality isn't as good as usual.

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Live: 02-15-1995 Unplugged

Operation Spirit
Selling the Drama
All Over You
The Beauty of Gray
T.B.D.
I Alone
Supernatural (Vic Chestnut cover)
Lightning Crashes
White Discussion

Stone Temple Pilots: Unplugged 11-17-1993

Ah, STP. I'm sure there are plenty of folks out there ready to criticize these guys for similarity to their more-talented contemporaries or for a derivative sound. One way or another, who cares? They wrote some very good songs and their second album, Purple, is one of the better pop-rock records of the 90s. This Unplugged set took place after their first album blew up, perhaps a bit too soon in their careers for some (early big fame = lots of cries of "sellout!"), but it is still indicative of the group's considerable musicianship. Bassist Robert DeLeo may be one of the most underrated rock bassists of the 90s. I found it interesting that they chose to try different versions of some of their songs, notably "Wicked Garden" and "Sex Type Thing".

Officially, the band did record the song "Sin" at the performance. However, according to this site:

...we got in contact with a reliable source who worked for MTV and had access to the archives. But guess what? Sin wasn't on the tapes there. Big Empty was there, so was Andy Warhol, the other song edited from the original broadcast.

After some more research we were told that there were DAT errors with the audio recording of Sin. This was only discovered after the show, and so the band didn't do a second take or something like that.

Here's the full set, minus "Sin", along with a bonus acoustic version of "Pretty Penny" which was included in the ZIP file I obtained of the set.

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Stone Temple Pilots: Unplugged 11-17-1993
Sony Music Studios, New York

Crackerman
Creep
Andy Warhol (David Bowie cover)
Plush
Big Empty
No Memory/Sin
Wicked Garden
Sex Type Thing

Bonus: Pretty Penny

PS Most of you know about STP singer Scott Weiland's current exploits in Velvet Revolver, but you may not have heard about the brothers DeLeo's new outfit, Army Of Anyone, with Filter singer Richard Patrick.

Pearl Jam: Unplugged 03-16-1992

This Unplugged show was a defining performance for Pearl Jam early in their career. Highlights included Eddie Vedder surfing on his stool and later writing a pro-choice message on his arm during "Porch". The version of "Black" from this show is my favorite rendition, and it includes the now famous (at least in PJ fan circles) tag line "we belong together!" sung over the outro of the tune. The version of "Jeremy" is solid too, but the one below is my fave from the early days.

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Pearl Jam: 03-16-1992 Unplugged

Intro
Oceans
State Of Love And Trust
Alive
Black
Angie/Improv
Jeremy
Porch
Even Flow
Rockin' In the Free World

Aerosmith: Unplugged 08-11-1990

I remember seeing a song or two from this performance when it aired, particularly "Hangman Jury", and absolutely loving it. It would be a number of years before I tracked down a bootleg of the full set, which serves as a snapshot of the band on the brink of their huge commercial comeback. The version of "Dream On" still gives me chills.

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Aerosmith: 08-11-1990 Unplugged

Hangman Jury
Monkey On My Back
Love Me Two Times
Seasons Of Wither
Big Ten Inch Record
One Way Street
Smokestack Lightning
Dream On
Milk Cow Blues
Toys In The Attic
Walkin' The Dog
Train Kept A-Rollin' (fast)
Last Child
Train Kept A-Rollin' (slow)

Stevie Ray Vaughn: Unplugged 01-30-1990

I've decided to post a series of MTV Unplugged performances. This scorching set by Stevie Ray Vaughn was part of his joint show with Steve Vai. Turns out Vai and Vaughn were supposed to close the set with a song together but Vaughn had to leave early for some other engagement. Below the MP3s are links to YouTube videos of the set.

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Stevie Ray Vaughn: 01-30-1990 Unplugged

Rude Mood
Pride And Joy
Testify

Video:

Rude Mood
Pride And Joy
Testify

Oasis: Unplugged 08-23-1996

I stumbled across this, the (in)famous MTV Unplugged performance from 1996 at Royal Festival Hall, while sorting some of my CDs. Liam was unable to perform due to supposed throat issues so Noel sang the whole set by himself. The band was backed with strings and horns, and Liam was sipping champagne and heckling his brother the whole time from the balcony above the stage. Here's a video of a piece MTV aired about Liam's absence.

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Oasis: 08-23-1996 Unplugged

Hello
Some Might Say
Live Forever
Listen Up
The Masterplan
Don't Look Back In Anger
Talk Tonight
Morning Glory
Round Are Way/Up In The Sky
Cast No Shadow
Whatever
Wonderwall

Music Blog Happenings

Kwaya Na Kisser is a fantastic site with all kinds of interesting stuff. It has live sets from The Raconteurs and Sigor Ros. There's also a sweet Oasis concert featuring Noel Gallagher on lead vocals. But wait, there's more... two sets of early Radiohead demos: 1st Set, 2nd Set and Gillian Welch demos.

I Am Fuel, You Are Friends has a set of Mazzy Star demos along with some cool info about singer Hope Sandoval.

Speaking of Mazzy Star, there's a live show of theirs up as part of Earfarm's Weekend Live Music series, the latest of which features Pink Floyd.

Cable And Tweed has Eddie Vedder singing "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" three different times.

Radiohead 2006 Tour Recordings Update

As of today, the best audience recording of the tour to date is posted here in MP3 format. As one comment on DimeADozen stated:

The vocals are the clearest of ANY audience Radiohead recording Ive heard. All the subtle nuances of the performances are crisply intact. You can hear Ed's backing vocals clearly. Cymbals sound crisp. The flange effect on the heavy bass in CUTW is superb. Its all here! It really sounds like a soundboard. Almost no audience interference whatsoever.

If anything, it's almost too crispy. I turned the highs down and the lows up and came up with what might be the best RH audience tape to date. I really mean that!

Here's the link to the torrent if you want a FLAC version.

Radiohead: 2006 Tour Compilation

I’ve been trolling the net, obsessively trying to collect all the Radiohead live material I can find from their current theater tour. I believe I’ve found a version of every song they played on the tour thus far. These are all audience recordings, so volume and recording quality will vary from track to track. There’s a bunch of info, including setlists and some complete shows to download here at the Radiohead live site. I was especially psyched to see that someone had posted a recording of the June 1st show that I saw at the Tower Theatre in Philly. As I find better quality versions of these tunes I will update the post. If you know of better versions and want to share please let me know.

Also, there's an interview with Thom Yorke from the latest issue of Rolling Stone posted here in which he talks about their current tour and his forthcoming album, The Eraser.

These tracks are sorted by the album on which they appear. Many thanks to all the folks taping and sharing the shows represented below. Special thanks to the webmaster of the Radiohead live site. That place got me started on this little project.

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No tracks performed from this record








Planet Telex (06-05 Boston)
The Bends (05-06 Copenhagen)
Fake Plastic Trees (06-05 Boston)
Bones (05-15 Wolverhampton)
Just (06-05 Boston)
My Iron Lung (06-04 Boston)
Black Star (05-06 Copenhagen)
Street Spirit (Fade Out) (06-07 Toronto)


Airbag (06-04 Boston)
Paranoid Android (06-04 Boston)
Exit Music (For A Film) (06-07 Toronto)
Let Down (05-06 Copenhagen)
Karma Police (06-04 Boston)
Climbing Up The Walls (06-05 Boston)
No Surprises (06-05 Boston)
Lucky (06-07 Toronto)
The Tourist (06-05 Boston)



Everything In Its Right Place (06-07 Toronto)
Kid A (06-04 Boston)
The National Anthem (06-04 Boston)
How To Disappear Completely (06-04 Boston)
Idioteque (06-05 Boston)
Morning Bell (06-07 Toronto)





Pyramid Song (06-07 Toronto)
You And Whose Army? (06-07 Toronto)
I Might Be Wrong (05-15 Wolverhampton)
Knives Out (06-05 Boston)
Dollars And Cents (06-04 Boston)
Like Spinning Plates (06-05 Boston)




2+2=5 (06-04 Boston)
Sail To The Moon (05-15 Wolverhampton)
Where I End And You Begin (06-05 Boston)
The Gloaming (06-07 Toronto)
There There (06-07 Toronto)
Myxomatosis (06-07 Toronto)
A Wolf At The Door (05-06 Copenhagen)


New/Unreleased/Other Songs

15 Step (06-07 Toronto)
4 Minute Warning (06-04 Boston)
Arpeggi (06-04 Boston)
Bangers And Mash (06-07 Toronto)
Bodysnatchers (06-07 Toronto)
Cymbal Rush (05-01 Koko)
Down Is The New Up (06-08 Toronto)
Gagging Order (05-01 Koko)
Go Slowly (05-13 Blackpool)
House Of Cards (06-05 Boston)
I Want None Of This (05-13 Blackpool)
Nude (06-04 Boston)
Open Pick (06-07 Toronto)
Spooks (06-05 Boston)
Videotape (06-04 Boston)

Live Concert Post #8: Gemma Hayes 06-15-2002

I first saw Gemma Hayes live when she toured the US in support of 2003’s Night On My Side. The talented Irish songwriter played a set at the Khyber, a tiny little club in Old City, and she and her band kicked the audience’s ass. During the set she played a b-side called “Stop The Wheel”, which had a long, drawn-out rocking ending that followed a 2+ minute quiet part. I tracked down the import single that had “Stop The Wheel” on it and when I listened to the studio track I was horrified to hear that the song faded out just as the rocking part kicked in! So it became my mission to find a quality recording of her band performing the entire version of “Stop The Wheel”. I eventually obtained this short set which, thankfully, contains the full-blown rocking ending of said tune.

Gemma Hayes: 06-15-2002 Norwegian Woods Festival

Making Waves
Ran For Miles
Work To A Calm
Hanging Around
Stop The Wheel

Massive Attack: Maida Vale Session

Massive Attack recently recorded a set for BBC Radio 1 at Maida Vale Studios in London which was broadcast on May 27, 2006.

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1. Unfinished Symphony (w/ Shara Nelson)
2. Live With Me
3. Interview
4. Teardrop (w/ Liz Fraser)
5. Inertia Creeps

If you aren’t already familiar with Massive Attack, they recently released Collected, a best-of compilation that some fans recommend as a good introduction to the band. Though I don’t love everything Massive Attack does, I would personally recommend 1998’s Mezzanine, which I consider to be one of the best albums released in the last 20 years.

Radiohead Melts Tower Theatre

I managed to get tickets to see Radiohead's first night at the Tower Theatre Thursday night. Hard to believe I got to see them in such a small venue at this point in their career. They were, as always, fantastic, in spite of the opressive heat and humidity in the venue. During the beginning of "Exit Music" you could hear a pin drop. I've never been at a show where the place was completely hushed like that, hanging on every note in awed silence. "The National Anthem" completely kicked my ass. Of the many new tunes, "4 Minute Warning" was my favorite - the melody is insanely good. The setlist:

01 You And Whose Army
02 The National Anthem
03 2+2=5
04 Open Pick
05 15 Step
06 Exit Music
07 Kid A
08 Nude
09 Arpeggi
10 Street Spirit
11 Pyramid Song
12 Myxomatosis
13 House of Cards
14 Spooks
15 Idioteque
16 Bangers N Mash
17 There There

First Encore
18 Airbag
19 No Surprises
20 Bodysnatchers
21 Everything in its right place

Second Encore
22 4 Minute Warning
23 Karma Police

Obviously I don't have a recording of the Tower Theatre show to post yet (actually, I just found one today 06-10-06 here), so here's another Radiohead gig I had the pleasure of attending. This one took place at the Tweeter Center in Mansfield, MA on 08-13-03. The show was broadcast on the radio and now it's here for your downloading pleasure.

Radiohead: Mansfield, MA 08-13-03

Intro
2+2=5
Sit Down. Stand Up.
Paranoid Android
Kid A
Backdrifts
Morning Bell
My Iron Lung
Where I End and You Begin
Sail To The Moon
The Gloaming
Climbing Up The Walls
Creep
Like Spinning Plates
Go To Sleep
Scatterbrain
The National Anthem
There There
encore break #1
Lucky
A Punchup At A Wedding
Airbag
Everything In Its Right Place
encore break #2
No Surprises
Idioteque
Outro

Download the show here.

Black Crowes Open The Vaults

From the official Black Crowes website comes this press release:

Twice The Black Crowes have recorded albums that were never officially released: Tall in 1993 and Band in 1997. While a few songs from these lost albums were rerecorded and released on studio albums, many have emerged only through the band’s legendary live shows. The Black Crowes recently went into the vault, collecting the best moments from those abandoned sessions for a special treat for their longtime fans. Titled THE LOST CROWES, it is a two-disc set of unreleased music that has been remixed for its public debut on Rhino. The compilation will be available August 29 at all retail outlets and at www.rhino.com for a suggested retail price of $24.98. The same day, the band’s 1992 home video, WHO KILLED THAT BIRD OUT ON YOUR WINDOW SILL, will make its DVD debut on Rhino Home Video for a suggested retail price of $14.99.

In fall of 1993 vocalist Chris Robinson, guitarists Rich Robinson and Marc Ford, drummer Steve Gorman, bassist Johnny Colt, and keyboardist Ed Harsch recorded more than 30 songs at Conway Studios in Los Angeles. Working on the follow-up to Southern Harmony And Musical Companion, the band descended into an emotional, startlingly heavy creative patch that became a stepping-stone to the 1994 album, amorica.

Named after an old jazz term for getting high, the Tall sessions contain a total of 16 unreleased tracks that offer an unflinching glimpse into rough and beautiful music born from turmoil and tension. THE LOST CROWES includes early versions of seven amorica songs such as “A Conspiracy,” “Descending,” “Wiser Time” and “Cursed Diamond.” The collection also features the undiscovered classics “Tied Up And Swallowed,” “Feathers,” “Thunderstorm 654” and “Lowdown,” a sad lost anthem that became “Ballad In Urgency.”

Four years later, the band came off the road after headlining the Furthur Festival and went into a Nashville studio to record songs for a planned follow-up to 1996’s acclaimed Three Snakes & One Charm. Where Tall thrives on the mayhem of their young Los Angeles days, Band confidently probes some of The Black Crowes’ most mature, thoughtful work.

The Band sessions contain 10 songs including a different version of the B-side “Peace Anyway,” plus “If It Ever Stops Raining,” a song that would become the title-track to the 1999 album By Your Side. The compilation also spotlights the taut riff rock of “Paint An 8,” the windblown ache of “Wyoming & Me” along with the freaky-longhaired-Mother Earth grooves of “Another Roadside Tragedy,” “Grinnin” and “Life Vest.”

Paul Stacey has remixed all of the music on THE LOST CROWES, which also includes liner notes spotlighting the stories behind these legendary lost sessions as told by the Robinsons.

The Black Crowes released its first home video, WHO KILLED THAT BIRD OUT ON YOUR WINDOW SILL, in 1992 while touring for the band’s sophomore album. Rhino Home Video will release a remastered and expanded version of the video on DVD that features live performances, interviews, backstage and studio footage, videos from the group’s first two albums, and additional bonus features.

THE LOST CROWES

Track Listing
Disc 1: The Band Sessions

1. “Paint An 8”
2. “Grinnin”
3. “If It Ever Stops Raining”
4. “Wyoming & Me”
5. “Predictable”
6. “Never Forget This Song”
7. “Life Vest”
8. “Another Roadside Tragedy”
9. “My Heart’s Killing Me”
10. “Peace Anyway”

Disc 2: The Tall Sessions

1. “A Conspiracy”
2. “Evil Eye”
3. “Cursed Diamond”
4. “London P25”
5. “Dirty Hair Halo”
6. “Hi-Head Blues”
7. “Feathers”
8. “Nonfiction”
9. “Tied Up And Swallowed”
10. “Wiser Time”
11. “Sunday Buttermilk Waltz”
12. “Descending”
13. “Lowdown”
14. “Tornado”
15. “Songs Of The Flesh”
16. “Thunderstorm 6:54”

Pearl Jam: Maida Vale Set

Saw Pearl Jam twice last weekend at the Tweeter Center in Camden. I've loved them for so long that it's impossible to comment objectively on their music, but I think it's fair to say that they are a kick-ass live band. The two nights were perfect compliments - only about 6 or 7 songs common to both sets. Plus, they played "Leash" both nights. The setlists are here. Also, it's so great that they sell a soundboard recording of every show, complete with artwork and photos from the gig, on their website. Now if only the Black Crowes would do the same...

This Pearl Jam set was recorded for BBC1 at Maida Vale Studios in London on May 3, 2006. Notable is the new arrangement of "Garden". Very cool.

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Intro
Interview Part I
Severed Hand
Interview Part II
Why Go
Interview Part III
World Wide Suicide
Interview Part IV
Garden