I've never seen this thread on RM, sorry if there is one..Just the free bootleg thread had a mention of a gig I really really wish I'd been at and it got me thinking..what are the top 5 Pj gigs you wish you'd been to. Obviously we've all been to shows that were incredible for whatever reason but are there any you'd wish you'd been in the room for?

here's mine

1. Honking Seals 1997 Santa Cruz-it was a fuckin club! amazin show too..loved that tape for years.

2. Slane Castle 1993-first time Pj ever played here..I was only allowed go to this or U2..went to see U2 on the Zooropa tour instead. Fun but still pains me.

3. MSG 1998- the night they finally played Breath. The 98 shows were all epic though.

4. Off Ramp 91- their first gig. Who doesn't wanna see that?

5. Cascais Portugal 1996- just sounds epic. Saw them on the start of this tour and it was amazing but it definitely ended better than it began.

go for it.

1. MSG II 9/11/98 - without a doubt, this is my top choice. I still think this might be my favorite PJ show.

I was so bummed I couldn't get tickets for this one. I went to the East Rutherford show a few days before which was a good show in its own right.

2. Benaroya 2003 - great setlist, great venue, would've loved to have been at this one.

Boston 3 '03. I actually had the chance but thought "no, the two MSG shows will be enough traveling for this year".

I started a similar topic on the Dutch Ramblings forum a couple of years ago. Strange you're the first here (or so it seems) . I wish I'd known about going to concerts back in 1992. I would have joined some friends who did a big part of the Pearl Jam in small clubs tour. They were not my friends yet, then, unfortunately. Also, I'd have liked to have been at the recording of MTV's Unplugged. Other than that, I'm pretty lucky with all of the concerts I've been to. Well, Hawaii and the Japan/Asia tour would also have been nice .

groetjes,
Mirella

any of the spring '94 shows, we'll go with 4-3-94 for obvious reasons.

randalls island 9-29-96

msg 9-11-98 (popular choice!) saw them the night before, couldnt get tickets for 9-11, but i did wear out the video of the show i bought on ebay (blasphemy!) a couple months later. and as im watching them open with release....and playing breath and solat back to back....and off he goes...and baba....indifference with ben harper....closing with alive with ed climbing the mic cord.....all im thinking is "i cant believe i wasnt there ahhhh!!!!!!!!"

Damn me being 6 years old and on the other side of the world.
I just realized that this is the first time in my life that I'm looking at a PJ video where Eddie is my age

I'll list ones that I feasibly could have attended and not shows in like 91 or 92 where it was impossible.

Boston II '04- I had tix for Boston I and made flight plans and all that jazz. Then they announced the second show. My flight left that same day. So I didn't go. And I regret it. Parting Ways, Alone, I Got A Feeling... yeah.

The Vic '07- I tried so hard to get tix online. I failed. Lollapalooza was a good show, but I'd have loved to been inside the Vic.

House Of Blues Chicago, '05- Robert Plant played with Pearl Jam. Given To Fly->Going To California... *sigh*.

Any of the MSG shows from last year as well as Bonnaroo or The Vic.

I agree the '98 tour was great and was the beginning of the touring fanbase, I will stand against any nostalgic revionism that it was better than what came afterwards. The '98 tours has 22-23 songs, they played 1:50 usually, and Ed and Jeff were pretty mellow and lagged in the dept of stage presence.

Oh, forgot about spring of '94 as mentioned above. Anytime March/April '94. The band was in uncharted territory, things were coming to a head, and I felt a true sense of danger and uncertainty around the band. Those shows had to have been something else.

I am glad to say I was at the Chicago 09 shows, so I'm a pretty happy camper w/ no regrets. I'm sure I'll want to say the Spectrum shows of this year. This year they are on fire!

Red Rocks night 2 95'
Atlanta 94'
Santa Barbara '03 (with many guests)
Benaroya
that State College Show

in no specific order

first show - Off Ramp 10/22/90 (no explination needed)

Slim's SF - 5/13/93 (suprise show. a bass player i play with now was there. said the band was on point and killer, and they actually opened all the doors and windows and the street was filled as well as the show being sold out)

Fox Theater Atlanta 4/3/94 - (If anything, just to see Doug Pinnick singing WMA with them)

SF Polo Fields 6/24/95 and SJ 11/4/95 - (original show and make up show for it. the original was the ed food poisoning, neil sit in show...the makeup show was just a killer set)

Lisbon 11/25/96 - Just really like the setlist for this one and all the recordings from this tour the band sounded great

Catalyst 11/12/97 - was suppose to go and didnt end up being able to get there.

Melbourne 3/3/98 - love the 3/5 boot and all, but this was a cooler setlist.

ARO Space 5/7/98 - First Matt Show.

Seattle 11/6/00 - close of the Binaural tour.

Penn State 5/3/03 - epic setlist.

a show that opened with hard to imagine, a show that opened with wash, and shows that opened with really unusual openers.

9/11/98 would be the top choice. It's a great show on a great tour, but also one of the top "better show than a bootleg" gigs, so if I enjoy it that much on tape, being there would have really been crazy.

Benaroya Hall 03.

Santa Barbara 03.

Possibly MSG 03 or Boston III 03 (which was a rough performance but still a really unique night).

Soldier Field 95 also would have been crazy.

- Red Rocks 95

- VA Beach 00

- the Canada 05 shows that I wasn't attending

Red Rocks 2
Soldier Field
Atlanta 94
Orpheum Theater 94
NYC 94
San Jose 95
Utrecht 92
Zurich 92
MSG II 98

I don't think calling the 98 tour one of their better tours is "nostalgic revisionism" at all. That tour was fucking fantastic. No, it wasn't the 2 and a half hour 30 song marathons that followed in later years, but the band was on fire every single night, the variety of the setlists was very very good, and Eddie had some great great speeches/rants/quips throughout that tour

NYC 94 so much aggression
Katowice 00 whichever one they started off with the multiple slower tracks
Philly 05 should have been there, but I had moved out of Philly two months before this show

From the ones in Australia, I would have loved to have been at Melbourne III '98

i'm hoping i can get into the secret club show tonight in seattle. in line right now trying

Cow Palace '91: PJ - RHCP - Nirvana.

Pittsburgh 2000
Long story, but a friend of mine in Pitt had a ticket for me. The show was on the same day as my return to college after a stint as "employed." I didn't want to jinx myself by skipping the first day of school for a PJ show. So, i didn't go. Even my Mom was surprised.

Reading 04
VFC show. I was going. I was going. I was going...then I assed out.

Any show in Hawaii

Katowice II 2000
I've always wanted to see a foreign PJ show. I bought this show. Great vibe, great setlist. Awesome night. I wish I was there.

Off Ramp- first show.
Obviously.

Boston 2, 2004. I went to night 1 and missed night 2. Night 2 had Alone and I've Got A Feeling.