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The Best of the Boots

Pearl Jam have released a remarkable 176 concert recordings in the past six years. Here's a guide to the best performances of some of their best songs

ANDY GREENEPosted Jun 12, 2006 1:11 PM

''Daughter''
(Las Vegas, November 30th, 1993)
Near the thirteen-year anniversary of John Lennon's death, Vedder pays tribute by interspersing bits of ''Instant Karma'' and ''Across the Universe'' into this classic.

''Go''
(East Rutherford, N.J., September 8th, 1998)
Though it doesn't appear as part of their bootleg series (it's on their 1998 live album), this is the most frantic rendition of this thrash-rock gem -- Vedder sings so fast, it sounds like he's growling at times.

''Corduroy''
(Virginia Beach, Va., August 3rd, 2000)
The first concert after the Roskilde disaster was the band's most emotional show. Key moment: Vedder changes the line ''Absolutely nothing's changed'' to ''Absolutely everything's changed.''

''Yellow Ledbetter''
(Cincinnati, August 20th, 2000)
Pearl Jam have closed nearly 200 shows with this fan favorite (a B side to ''Jeremy''), during which Mike McCready takes his most unhinged guitar solos of the evening. On this particular night, he adds riffs from Van Halen's ''Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love'' and Ted Nugent's ''Stranglehold.''

''Alive''
(Seattle, November 6th, 2000)
After refusing to play it during their 2000 U.S. tour, Vedder breaks out a vicious version of his autobiographical classic in front of a clearly appreciative hometown crowd at the tour's grand finale.

''Sometimes''
(Mansfield, Mass., July 11th, 2003)
During a three-night Boston stand, Pearl Jam attempted to play every song in their catalog. On night three, they were forced to do an hour-long acoustic set prior to their own opening act to squeeze in some obscurities, like this tender bare-bones version of ''Sometimes,'' from 1996's vastly underappreciated No Code.

''World Wide Suicide''
(Grand Rapids, Mich., May 19th, 2006)
Even days into the current tour, the new songs sound like longtime staples, such as this biting version of Pearl Jam's first single.

More Pearl Jam: Get behind-the-scenes interviews, archived anecdotes and essential live tracks


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