despite the number of times I listen to this show, I'm listening to it again while I work, to try to grasp why it means so much to so many people


(can someone give me some clues, in the meantime; i've always much preferred great woods II)

the breath campaign

Ive heard every official boot they have ever released, and yeah i was there, but in my mind the boys have never, EVER been as DEAD ON as they were that night. not by a long shot

more than that - and that was cool - but the entire show was very well played.

the Immortality, RVM (clapping), Brain of J, Black (love can be a dangerous thing), DTE stretch was awesome. Ed thanked the crowd about 12 times during the set.

the encores are outstanding

consider Breath->State of Love and Trust. Off He Goes, Leatherman (rarity at the time) best Betterman I've seen/heard and Baba to close to FIRST encore

Indifference into Alive. Ed hanging from mic. Whew.

This never dead much for me, and that's not said to be contentious.


I just felt Breath fell flat, and the State of Love and Trust after was too (just a little bit; compare it to Great Woods II "State")

Not the biggest fan of Cameron-era Off He Goes. Leatherman doesn't do much for me either.

Betterman IS stellar, and yet again, I find myself comparing it to Great Woods, and though NY is delivered "better" or "right," Great Woods gives me goosebumps!

As for Baba, after the '92 Singles Party version, I never really have been too into hearing this song live.

As for the mic climb, that's a visual thing, "had to be there," which never translated on an audio cd (even when I got the bootleg in May '99 before departing on a trip to Europe and I saw the photo of Ed hanging in the air).

And I'm not saying any of this to argue. I'm merely explaining why so much of a show that some think is their best doesn't translate as such, to me. And at the least, my replies probably make my appreciation for Great Woods II much more tenable.

I listen to 9/16/98 all the time and IMO it's much better than MSG2. It was great to get Breath, but it was a very mediocre version. 9/16 had Throw Your Arms Around Me too.

Isn't it true that Matt had little to no time to practice Breath? Thought I heard that. Maybe an interview. Someone want to confirm?

I'm not sure they've really played it well at all since 1994. Of course the first time out was going to be rusty.

I never even correlated the song's '98 debut at MSG with Cameron's drumming. Ed's delivery wasn't all there AND possibly more important, there was some noticeably absent distortion

Everything was lacking on this song. The drums were shaky, his vocals werent all there, no distortion, and the guitars were just weak all around.

who the hell is in your avatar? liv tyler? face looks so familiar but can't quite identify it

Kate, from Lost, it looks like

don't know her

**bias warning, I was at this show**

I think alot of it has to do with crowd energy and the momentum the band had that night. The first night was very average for the '98 tour and it left us all wanting more. The second night, front the first note of Release no one even remembered the previous night had happened.

The indifference duet was amazing. Breath sign campaing was cool. Black was awesome, and it's a song I don't usually get that into.

I do think you had to be there.

We have a winner!

Maybe you had to be there live. The energy was awesome. Take a look at the last sentence of the concert chronology on 5horizons/twofeet thick and you can see what is stated about the show.

the night before, after everyone was holding up their "Breath" signs, Ed asked Matt if he knew how to play "Breath." His response was no.

Given that I think its fair to say that Matt learned the song the day of second show.

MSG I & II were my first PJ shows. For me, I just remember the crowd around me being full of energy (especially compared to night 1 -- partially because I had crappy seats). Also, as Indifference was winding down, I figured this was the last song and I recall getting sad that the show was ending... so, when they ripped into Alive, I thought it was the greatest thing.

Well, if you were following the band closely in 1998 - on tour and online - the Breath thing was very very cool. It was the first time that anything like that every happened. Quite special.

But the answer to your question is quite simple. In the late 1990s and early 2000 era there was a VERY VERY influential pearl jam fan who ran a VERY VERY influential website that most serious fans relied on for about 99% of their PJ info.
This person had strong opinions and was quite outspoken about those opinions. And this person decided to declare that 9/11/98 was "Possibly the best show the band has ever played in their life."

Well, because people respected (or were intimidated by) this person's opinion, the masses accepted it as truth.

You might think I am bullshitting but seriously that is where about 75% of the hype came from. People read the show review, found out Breath was played and suddenly that was the MUST HAVE bootleg. Since a pretty nice recording was out there it became one of the more well known and widely circulated shows.

It is a great show and I was just as excited as everyone else at the time. But the legendary status is probably inflated by the factors I discussed. Had they not played Breath and had that person not declared it to be the "best show the band has ever played", it would probably just be thought of as another great show on the 1998 tour.

Exactly. For a while, Five Horizons was the only real source for pearl jam news that wasn't synergy. Especially during the 1998 tour and the concert chronology. Oops, I destroyed the illusion that we weren't naming names.