Pearl Jam: Live at the Gorge 05/06

Written by Fumo Verde

Hey, gang, last month Pearl Jam came out with a seven disc set that contained recordings of three separate concerts performed live at the Gorge Amphitheater in Eastern Washington. The concert dates were 9/01/05, 7/22 & 23/06, and my buddy Smitty, who follows PJ like the FBI followed Lennon, confirmed to me that these were fantastic shows. Pearl Jam has become one of the cornerstones of modern rock n’ roll and they don’t disappoint when it comes to live shows.

I was given a sample disc of twelve tracks ranging from the three concerts. It had songs like “Alone”, “Army Reserve”, and “Given to Fly” along with “World Wide Suicide”. From the flavor of this disc, I feel this set will sound just as clean. With each song you can hear the crowd in the background as they become immersed in the moment of the show. The crowd sounds do not infringe on the music at all. The complete seven-disc set also includes unreleased material, cover songs, and of course crowd favorites, of which I truly don’t know because I have yet to attend a Pearl Jam concert, though I would like to.

Everything I have seen online regarding this set and from what I’ve heard off of the sample disc lead me to believe this is a great set to have, unless you already have these shows live. This is where I have a problem with the record industry as they slowly release music with a couple of extras here and there to keep the fan buying songs they might already have. Smitty told me he would still buy the set although he already had a copy of the 7/22 show. He didn’t tell me where he got it or if that show had been released on its own earlier. True fans like Smitty will gobble this up just because it came from Pearl Jam, kind of like me when it comes to the Dead or Miles Davis.

No CD or DVD compares to being at a live show, especially a Pearl Jam show, so I’m told, but as technology improves, the sounds coming out of your entertainment center, PC, or i-Pod get better thus bringing you closer to the show while sitting in your home. This little disc packed a real punch and I would assume the seven CDs will kick your ass. Given the power of the music Pearl Jam plays, I’m impressed they captured it on only seven discs.