The all-new rank your shows thread

[liebzz]

A friend and I drove out to Albany from Providence for the show the night before the Hartford '06 show. I had a wedding to go to Saturday night so we couldn't just swing to Hartford We did meet some (now former) RMers in Albany, though.

I was there, man.

[Norris]

Me too.

[mkay0]

God tier
Chicago 2 2006
PJ20 1 2011
PJ20 2 2011
Wrigley 2 2016
Safeco 2 2018

Great Tier
Chicago 1 2009
Chicago 2 2009
Philly 1 2013
Philly 2 2013
Lincoln 2014
Wrigley 1 2016
Chicago 1 2006

Good Tier
Council Bluffs 2003
Lolla 2007
KC 2010
St Louis 2010
St. Paul 2014
Wrigley 1 2018

Underwhelming Tier
Safeco 1 2018

Hard to quantify
Wrigley 2013
Moline 2014
Wrigley 2 2018

[Thurman Murman]

1. Montreal, Quebec (August 20, 1998) - Not sure anything can compete with that first show, but it was a great one to boot. First performance of Hard to Imagine since 94 i believe.
2. Ottawa, Ontario (September 16, 2005) - The two 2005 Canadian shows blend together in my memory a bit since i was running on fumes, but i just remember the band really just being so dialed in this tour.
3. Montreal, Quebec (September 15, 2005)
4. New York, New York (June 24, 2008) - Again two shows that kind of blend together in my memory, the venue and the atmosphere was incredible.
5. New York, New York (June 25, 2008)
6. Montreal, Quebec (June 29, 2003) - Killer show, probably one of the longest i've been to. I think they went 6 or 7 songs deep on the second encore.
7. Barrie, Ontario (August 22, 1998) - I mostly just remember the crazy outdoor venue....35,000 i believe. Also remember how cool it was to see the (i believe) recently released DTE video playing in the background when the band broke it out to finish the first encore.
8. Montreal, Quebec (October 04, 2000) - First show of the second (or third?) leg of the Binaural tour. I remember some technical problems but all in all one of those shows that was better in person than on paper.
9. Toronto, Ontario (August 21, 2009)
10. Toronto, Ontario (May 09, 2006)
11. Ottawa, Ontario (September 14, 2011)
12. Ottawa (May 08, 2016)

[Mr.x]

It’s getting more difficult to remember some of the less memorable ones;

1-State College 2003-First and still the best. Looking back it was sloppy but a marathon and the energy was insane.
2. Philadelphia 2005-From the set list to the amp blowing out, still sticks at the top of my memory.
3. Camden I 2006-Just remember enjoying the night, setlist doesn’t stick out. Crowd was awesome.
4. DC 2006-About the same as the Camden I show, fun night.
5. Camden II 2006-Remember less about this show than Camden I. Only thing I remember is that my brother and I were behind some girl who got in the fetal position on the ground during black. And we were not on the lawn, so she got down in between the seats.
6. Philadelphia II 2016-Ten show
7. Pittsburgh 2013-My wife and I went and it’s the worst seats I ever had(upper almost behind) but it was a fun night because of the first show of the tour and that baseball player who was blitzed ‘singing’ Whipping. He got traded the following season I think.
8. Austin 09-I had worked my way down close with the person I was with long before PJ went on. As Jack White was finishing up, she passed out so I had to carry her out and we rode the medical cart around to the tent. They didn’t believe we hadn’t taken anything. It was just hot and humid. We just hung out a mile away for the show.
9. Reading 2004-Nothing really memorable about the show other than it was hot as hell inside and loud. During tailgating the cops told us not to piss in the stairwell at the parking garage because apparently someone did.
10.DC 2008-Other than Evacuation being a fail and some kid playing the guitar during All Along the Watchtower I don’t remember much.
11. Philadelphia I 2016-I guess this should be higher. They are starting to run together at this point.
12. Baltimore 2013-Energy was high, only time I’ve heard Habit, just remember it being a run of the mill setlist otherwise.
13. Atlanta 2012-My wife and I flew down for a sort of trip deal so it was fun. We sat way back and messed with some people who were definitely high. I literally remember nothing about this show with respect to the music.

I feel like I’m forgetting at least one show. Saw Ed solo in Baltimore in 2009. That was fun.

[E.H. Ruddock]

13. Atlanta 2012-My wife and I flew down for a sort of trip deal so it was fun. We sat way back and messed with some people who were definitely high. I literally remember nothing about this show with respect to the music.

B and I were there. This was actually a really good show for a festival. Good versions of Nothingman and Crazy Mary at this one.

[tragabigzanda]

1. Augusta 1996
2. Everything else

[Mr.x]

13. Atlanta 2012-My wife and I flew down for a sort of trip deal so it was fun. We sat way back and messed with some people who were definitely high. I literally remember nothing about this show with respect to the music.

B and I were there. This was actually a really good show for a festival. Good versions of Nothingman and Crazy Mary at this one.

That’s probably true. I don’t remember it horribly. I just don’t remember much. The two shows I’ve been with my wife I was definitely less invested in the show for whatever reason.

[Kevin Davis]

7. Pittsburgh 2013-My wife and I went and it’s the worst seats I ever had(upper almost behind) but it was a fun night because of the first show of the tour and that baseball player who was blitzed ‘singing’ Whipping. He got traded the following season I think.

Because he got blitzed and sang "Whipping?"

[Mr.x]

7. Pittsburgh 2013-My wife and I went and it’s the worst seats I ever had(upper almost behind) but it was a fun night because of the first show of the tour and that baseball player who was blitzed ‘singing’ Whipping. He got traded the following season I think.

Because he got blitzed and sang "Whipping?"

Idk. Was bad I guess?

June 27, 2014: Traded by the Pittsburgh Pirates to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for Ernesto Frieri.

[Biff Pocoroba]

13. Atlanta 2012-My wife and I flew down for a sort of trip deal so it was fun. We sat way back and messed with some people who were definitely high. I literally remember nothing about this show with respect to the music.

B and I were there. This was actually a really good show for a festival. Good versions of Nothingman and Crazy Mary at this one.

That’s probably true. I don’t remember it horribly. I just don’t remember much. The two shows I’ve been with my wife I was definitely less invested in the show for whatever reason.

First time they played a home town show in nine years (at the last time they were here) for me & they underwhelmed. Definitely a lower tier show for me; I had high hopes of showing them to friends who had forgotten about them but I left thinking they were better than that. A hit heavy set for the casual fan though.

[Biff Pocoroba]

A few highlights that I remember over the years

Charlotte '96: Long Road opening my first PJ show
Maui I '98: First and only time back stage for anything
Vegas '00: Crown of Thorns premiere at the 10th anniversary show
Seattle 2 '00: First Alive since Roskilde
Bridge 2 '01: Lowlight premiere
MSG 1 '03: The huge ovation Ed got when he joined the opener Buzzcocks for their last song (Why Can't I Touch It?).
Montreal/Ottawa/Philadelphia '05: by far the best 1-2-3 run of my travels
Toronto 1 '11: Chloe Dancer prelude premiere leading into Crown of Thorns. Same show Neil Young joined them for Free World.

Other stand out shows: Charleston 96, Maui 2 98, Birmingham 98, Honolulu 06, London (Ont) '13, OKC '13
Honestly I have more favorite memories for Ed solo than than full band shows during the '10s.

Last edited by Biff Pocoroba on Sun August 02, 2020 10:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[wease]

I, too, was at that ‘96 Charlotte show.

Weren’t you at the Midtown Music Festival in 2012, Biff?

[wease]

13. Atlanta 2012-My wife and I flew down for a sort of trip deal so it was fun. We sat way back and messed with some people who were definitely high. I literally remember nothing about this show with respect to the music.

B and I were there. This was actually a really good show for a festival. Good versions of Nothingman and Crazy Mary at this one.

That’s probably true. I don’t remember it horribly. I just don’t remember much. The two shows I’ve been with my wife I was definitely less invested in the show for whatever reason.

I was there, as well

[wease]

1. Memphis 2014 - Just my favorite set list that I've personally been to. Wash, Alone, Garden, All Night (which was surprisingly awesome live - never stood out to me on Lost Dogs), Breath, Come Back, Nothing as it Seems. Just a great show.

2. Lexington 2016 - Might be for a cheesy reason, but it was my wife's first Pearl Jam show. We had a blast. I really enjoyed the show and I know there are a lot of call and response haters here, but this show had easily, hands down, the best version of Corduroy that I've heard in person.

We were at both these shows. By definition, that cannot be the best Corduroy because it had the call-and-response.

[liebzz]

What I find fascinating is that this list probably changes for me as much as my ranking of the albums. Time is fortunate for some shows while others the memories fade a little.