I gotta say - I just finished listening to the Philly run and I'm extremely disappointed in the boys. All of the "interesting" or "rare" songs that they performed were disasterous. I know they wanna play rare songs for us, but should they do that at the expense of putting on a good show? So many songs from the Philly run are "unusable" when it comes to being "live album" or "DVD-worthy" material. I was planning on putting together a "best of Philly" set for various friends and family members to listen to, but halfway through taking notes I decided that it was a lost cause. The same thing happened when I planned on doing a "best of 2009" set. The performances are so sloppy and lame, it's just sad.

I have decided not to buy any more bootlegs or attend any more shows until the boys get their act together. I think they are concentrating on other projects too much and not practicing together enough. Mike is especially vulnerable to making bad mistakes in the middle of songs. It's like he's just flying by the seat of his pants. I long for the days of 1998-2000 where they were performing super tight and with passion. It appears that those days are long gone, and it's sad.

Does anybody agree/disagree? Bring on the flames!

Pearl Jam is far from perfect live - they always have been. I still would rather listen to a live PJ recording than anything else in the world.

taking notes?

I know you hate everything new they do and i sort of agree about them being sloppy the last few tours, but i think they are tighter than ever on this current tour. i've been shocked they can play so many songs so well. they must have been practicing.

Philly is overrated anyway.

I haven't heard Philly, or a lot of the shows from last year. Having just seen them in Bristow, it was apparent that they weren't as tight as they've been before. Most of the gig sounded fine, but every now and then, they'd flub something. That's expected to happen. Their catalog is vast and they're getting older. Lots of chords and riffs to remember perfectly all the time.

Its Stone's fault for not running a tighter ship.

I can understand and see what your saying, but you have to understand, there never gonna be that tight again. They aren't doing longer tours like they used to. Right now you'll get glimpses but that is it, the shows are funs still.

I know they've always been sloppy to an extent, but they've never been as bad as they were in 2008-2009. So many trainwreck moments, I can't even keep track. I guess it isn't worth practicing when you're only going to play a dozen shows.

good title for a porno

well get rid of the question mark probably

And replace it with three exclamation marks

shaped like penises

I saw them in 09, and the live shows are still absolutely terrific..but i kind of agree with the original poster. I do think they are sloppier than ever. That won't stop me from going to see them next time they come to Canada, but my interest in getting boots to the shows i haven't attended has gone down big time since the 2000/2003 tours.

I have one boot from last year, Chicago II I think. There are some great moments......and some that make me cringe a little. The Porch jam on there is pretty fuckin awesome though.

Everything I have seen from this tour thus far has been good, both in person and from others' videos

The shows will always be a blast to go to..........and I'm sure I'll pick up some boots as well. I don't get too worked up anymore about the guys playing perfectly.......as long as Ed is coherent on the songs then all is good.

remember satan's bed in 2003?

That and Why Go two months later at the DC gig... Butchered.

yeah, remember when they only played one song sloppy rather than like 20?

well they could go to a limited group of songs like almost every other band on earth and be really tight at them...

personally i wouldnt mind, but i know the tenclubbers would go apeshit at that idea.

Ridgefield last year was tight as hell. I remember coming away seriously impressed by how tight they were that night. That definitely does not apply to all 2009 boots.

Somebody hit the nail on the head earlier. The more a band tours, the tighter they get. If Pearl Jam does short tours, they're never going to get really tight while still accommodating our insatiable desire for extremely varied setlists. That's just the way it is. The reason they were so tight from 1992 - 2000 is because

1) They toured a ton
2) They were playing the same songs over and over again
3) They didn't play their rare songs (which is why they were rare)

That being said, if you want tight shows from last year check out Australia / New Zealand. They hit a pretty good groove there. There are still a few screwups but for the most part it's tight as hell.

Also, last year has nothing on 2008 and 2003 for sloppiness. Some 2003 shows are almost unbearably sloppy. I remember being really excited about getting the Melbourne 2 bootleg because of the cool setlist and when it arrived...slop sandwich. I don't ever listen to it no matter how much I like the setlist because it's sloppy as hell and Ed sounds like ass for most of the show. Even my mythical first show (Champaign) had a few sloppy moments. They didn't really hit a groove there until the end of the first US leg.

It could be worse!

yeah ive been listening to those lately and they are amazing. Australia really got some good ones.