Disco de Pearl Jam: “23/2/03: Perth, Australia [Limited]”

Thanks to iTunes, I have been able to procure most of the 2003 bootlegs. Unfortunately, Neil Young's 'Rockin' in the Free World' is never available, which kinda makes a lot of shows incomplete. But regardless. This is definitely the best of the Australian leg bootlegs. Being that this is only the tenth show, there are still some mistakes. The worst of which is at the beginning of 'Gods' Dice' where Eddie starts way late. Also, another thing that's damaging to the concert is a rather quiet crowd, which fails Eddie in not singing at the end of 'Jeremy'. Not to knock the Australians at all, but one could just imagine Eddie's face showing a little disappointment in the crowd at that point.

I think the highlight of the whole show is actually the opener, 'Long Road'. All other versions I've heard have a strange twang on them that wasn't there during the 2000 Binaural tour, and this is definitely due to Eddie Vedder switching his guitar from the Fender Telecaster to the Gibson SG with its P90 pickups. But here, something is different, and the opening is much darker with the higher strings not really registering. Mike McCready's guitar is also unusually loud on this one, which is actually really great to hear. 'Save You' also sounds good here. A lot of feedback and such in the beginning, with Mike then hitting the intro, which is quite uncommon in any Pearl Jam song, with that job usually being taken by Stone Gossard. 'Get Right', a great song written by Matt Cameron also sounds quite good, and moves well into yet another good Riot Act song, 'Cropduster'. Eddie's vocals on 'Habit' actually sound much better here than most other parts of the entire tour, making this a good closer of the first disc. Ironically, the band seems to do best on their newest songs in this concert, with a great take on the trippy 'You Are' and '1/2 Full'. Now here's where I'm really conflicted. The songs that follow are rather mediocre, which can easily blamed on the fact that it's still early in the tour. But the last few songs of this show are actually some of the best versions of the tour. Eddie's duet with Mark Seymour on 'Throw Your Arms Around Me' is absolutely beautiful, which goes into a rather short rendition of 'Alive'. But surprisingly, this isn't the closer. Instead it is the classic CCR tune 'Fortunate Son' that salutes farewell to Australia, with a rather cool sounding intro from Johnny Mar and the Healers, and a very long goodbye to the continent.

While definitely not being one of the best of the whole tour, this concert definitely has a couple memorable songs, and is a definite buy for any real fans of Pearl Jam. But if someone were looking to buy something to give them a good look at the band performing the hell out of a place, one should definitely try the second New York show, or the mammoth State College bootleg.

I own all the mass-produced 2003 bootlegs, in addition to the show I attended in Chicago, and a dozen of the 2000 bootlegs. I listen to this one more than any of the other 2003 sets, and more than a lot of the 2000's. The opener, "Long Road", is nothing short of stunning. After that, they rock hard through the next 8 songs, including good takes on Evenflow and Jeremy, obvious crowd favorites. The 20-song main set does flag a bit by the end: Insignificance and Go are two of my personal favorites, and I don't feel the band does either one justice here. They redeem themselves with an excellent encore, though, and the "Throw Your Arms Around Me" performance with Mark Seymour is wonderful. They included as an extra on the tour DVD and it's probably the best thing on it.

First off, the set list:

Long Road, Save You, Gods' Dice, Corduroy, Given To Fly, Even Flow, Get Right, Cropduster, Jeremy, Small Town, I Am Mine, Love Boat Captain, MFC, Improv, Habit, You Are, Wish List, 1/2 Full, Insignificance, Go;

1st encore: Do The Evolution, Better Man, Daughter, Crazy Mary;

2nd encore: Throw your Arms Around Me [w/Mark Seymour], Alive, Fortunate Son [w/Johnny Marr](by Creedence Clearwater Revival)

As you can see, this boot is full with a lot of old favorites, (Alive, GO, Even Flow, Jeremy, Small Town, Daughter, Betterman)

This show is great for the everyday Pearl Jam consumer to get a taste of this leg. However, shows played in the USA this tour have been generally better and longer. Buying this show will hopefully encourage potential buyers to goto PJ's site and buy other boots. BUY THIS BOOTLEG!

This set from Perth, Australia finds Pearl Jam in good spirits and good voice. They perform some of their most well-known songs such as 'Jeremy' and 'Daughter' as well as some material from the new album, 'Riot Act'. At times, the material from 'Riot Act' sounds more interesting and energetic than it did on the album!

Basically, fans can get a good idea of where the band is at this point in time, with some older songs thrown in for nostalgic purposes. There are even some interesting covers thrown in for fun and a guest appearance from Hunters and Collectors front man Mark Seymour thrown in. Even though the set gets a bit lacklustre at times, it's still an interesting listen and well worth a look. Besides, the band seems to be having a good time!

I was at the Perth, Western Australia concert and it was fantastic. If you werent there then this album is obviously the next best thing. Great vibes (and a great city!)