Pearl Jam’s first full acoustic concert is heading to CD next month. The 24-track, double-disc “Live at Benaroya Hall October 22, 2003” was taped at the Seattle venue as part of a benefit for local aid organization Youthcare. The album will be issued to retail via a one-off distribution deal between the band and BMG; Pearl Jam split last fall with longtime label Epic Records.
A special edition of the album, featuring a poster with a band photograph taken at the show by Charles Peterson, will be available for pre-order June 21 exclusively via Pearl Jam’s official Web site. In addition, PearlJam.com will be the exclusive outpost for a four-LP boxed set edition of the concert, also bundled with the poster.
“Live at Benaroya” finds Pearl Jam debuting “Man of the Hour,” its Golden Globe-nominated contribution to the film “Big Fish,” plus the non-album track “Fatal,” which appeared on the rarities album “Lost Dogs.” “Around the Bend,” the closing track from the 1996 album “No Code,” had not been performed since 1998.
Other oddities featured on the set include covers of the Johnny Cash-popularized “25 Minutes to Go,” the Ramones’ “I Believe in Miracles” and Bob Dylan’s “Masters of War.” The band ditched the acoustic set-up for a plugged-in, show-closing rendition of “Yellow Ledbetter.”
“This was one of those special shows,” says Pearl Jam manager Kelly Curtis. “But because it was not part of the 2003 tour bootleg series and fans were asking for it, and because of the unique nature of the performance itself — it being the band’s first full length acoustic show — it felt like a show we should give fans the chance to own.”
As previously reported, Pearl Jam may play some fall shows in swing states in the run-up toward the U.S. presidential election. Last month, the quintet’s site said, “it’s possible the band may head back to the studio towards the end of the year to begin work on their eighth album.”
Here is the track list for “Live at Benaroya Hall”:
Disc one:
“Of the Girl”
“Lowlight”
“Thumbing My Way”
“Thin Air”
“Fatal”
“Nothing As It Seems”
“Man of the Hour”
“Immortality”
“Off He Goes”
“Around the Bend”
“I Believe in Miracles”
“Sleight of Hand”
“All or None”
“Lukin”
Disc two:
“Parting Ways”
“Down”
“Can’t Keep”
“Dead Man”
“Masters of War”
“Black”
“Crazy Mary”
“25 Minutes to Go”
“Daughter”
“Yellow Ledbetter”
Source billboard.com.
