Live: 10-22-03 Benaroya Hall

RELEASE
July 26, 2004
LABEL
RCA
GENRES
Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock, Alternative Pop/Rock, Grunge, Hard Rock

Album Review

Of the many, many live albums Pearl Jam publicly released, their October 23, 2003, show at Benaroya Hall is one of the more novel ones. The show itself is a charity event for the YouthCare organization, and it's a mainly acoustic affair featuring an atypical set list that's heavy on obscurities. In particular, covers of Bob Dylan's "Masters of War," Shel Silverstein's "25 Minutes to Go" (immortalized by Johnny Cash on his At Folsom Prison live album), and Victoria Williams' "Crazy Mary" are high points, as are non-album tracks like "Fatal," "Man of the Hour," "Down," and "Dead Man" and live rarities like "Around the Bend," "Can't Keep," and "I Believe in Miracles." Yes, there are some well-worn live favorites -- "Immortality," "Lukin," "Black," "Daughter," and the set-closing, very electric "Yellow Ledbetter" -- but these are the exceptions to the norm here. Such novelty, of course, doesn't make Benaroya Hall an especially excellent set (in fact, it feels a little one-dimensional and subdued because of the acoustic instrumentation), though it is one of the more unique and interesting of the many, many shows Pearl Jam released publicly over the years.
Jason Birchmeier, Rovi

Track Listing

  1. Of the Girl
  2. Low Light
  3. Thumbing My Way
  4. Thin Air
  5. Fatal
  6. Nothing as It Seems
  7. Man of the Hour
  8. Immortality
  9. Off He Goes
  10. Around the Bend
  11. I Believe in Miracles
  12. Sleight of Hand
  13. All or None
  14. Lukin
  15. Parting Ways
  16. Down
  17. Encore Break
  18. Can't Keep
  19. Dead Man
  20. Masters of War
  21. Black
  22. Crazy Mary
  23. 25 Minutes to Go
  24. Daughter
  25. Encore Break
  26. Yellow Ledbetter