I still listen to every show, It still gives me the kid at the candy store feel still.

The "snowball effect" is one of my least favorite traits of the live PJ community. People piggyback on what's good or what's bad without actually coming to conclusions on their own (I.e. Atlanta 94 best ever, any popular show from the last 10 years sux). Again, shows and songs aren't nearly as good or bad as the internet make them out to be.

If you aren't overly critical about something you tend to enjoy it more.

Every time I take someone to their first pj show they think it's one of the best concerts they've been to, and this is just in the last few years. I think fanatics like us get jaded and sometimes we worry too much about missed notes in cropduster and stuff like that.

What's that list look like? How many mistakes do they have to make before you don't consider a song played "WELL?"

Every time? Have't you only seen Pearl Jam like twice yourself?

3 times, and I went with different people each time. In the non-deranged fanatic world, 3 times is a lot of times to see one band.

It's more than just making a simple mistake. There were moments over the past couple of years, and which I personally witnessed during the Philly run, where half of the band doesn't even know what's going on half the time during any given song. If there isn't an outright trainwreck, which happens a lot more than people think, then they just play poorly, as if there is zero communication going on. There are several songs from the Philly run that are contenders for "worst performance of all time" and those are supposed to be their best ever shows? Fuck, the lame alternative cover band playing on the street outside the Spectrum was better than anything I saw inside the venue. There are Pearl Jam cover bands that sound better than Pearl Jam do now. I think that's when it's time to start thinking about hanging up the fucking hat.

those shows were 5 years ago. are you one of those people that rips them live w/o listening to new live stuff?

I would love to see this list. It would be a whole 1 or 2 songs. Come Back I'll give you. Name another.

'whip it' was both the best and worst performance of that song

Every time I take someone to their first pj show they think it's one of the best concerts they've been to, and this is just in the last few years. I think fanatics like us get jaded and sometimes we worry too much about missed notes in cropduster and stuff like that.

I'd like to see them mix up the arrangements more, especially on their well known material. Slow Lukin and alt Jeremy come to mind. It would be great to hear some well rehearsed alternative arrangements of their "hits." I think the fanboys and the newbies could both appreciate that because everyone knows the songs by heart. They could easily rehearse a dozen or so of these per tour and pepper the shows with a few of them. No sloppiness + mixing things up a bit = happier fans all around, methinks.

While I thought the Lightning Bolt tour was very good, my primary complaint is the same hits seem to be played. I understand if Alive is played at every show since it's the single song that best defines PJ. I also understand the band tried to play a rarity at each show. I'm trying to say that I would prefer if the "higher hits" were played less often and the "lower hits" were played more often.


Lightning Bolt Tour had 25 tour dates.
• Once 7
• Alive 25
• Even Flow 19
• Jeremy 9
• State Of Love And Trust 12
• Animal 6
• Go 10
• Dissident 3
• Rearviewmirror 15
• Spin the Black Circle 9
• Corduroy 18
• Not for You 5
• I Got ID 4
• Hail Hail 4
• Do the Evolution 22
• Save You 4
• Black 14
• Breath 4
• Daughter 14
• Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town 15
• Immortality 6
• Better Man 16
• Nothingman 9
• Who You Are 0
• Off He Goes 3
• Given To Fly 22
• Wishlist 7
• Last Kiss 5
• Nothing As It Seems 2
• Light Years 1
• I Am Mine 4
• Man of the Hour 3
• Yellow Ledbetter 10

The "Hits" from Avacado
World Wide Suicide 2
Life Wasted 3
Severed Hand 4

The "Hits" from Backspacer
The Fixer 1
Got Some 10
Just Breathe 7
Unthought Known 15

It also seems the "rocker" from the past 3 albums are disposable - Save You, Worldwide Suicide and The Fixer all got no love. I believe all 3 were the most common song from their respective tour.

Given how set-list-diverse the band tries to be, they could do a better job juggling hits.