Benaroya Hall: October 22nd 2003

• Artist: Pearl Jam
• Rating:
• Release Date: July 27, 2004
• Type: Compilation (best of), Live
• Genre: Rock

Review

Of the many, many live albums Pearl Jam publicly released, their October 23, 2003, show at Benaroya Hall is one of the more novel ones. The show itself is a charity event for the YouthCare organization (www.youthcare.org), and it's a mainly acoustic affair featuring an atypical set list that's heavy on obscurities. In particular, covers of Bob Dylan's "Masters of War," Shel Silverstein's "25 Minutes to Go" (immortalized by Johnny Cash on his At Folsom Prison live album), and Victoria Williams' "Crazy Mary" are high points, as are non-album tracks like "Fatal," "Man of the Hour," "Down," and "Dead Man" and live rarities like "Around the Bend," "Can't Keep," and "I Believe in Miracles." Yes, there are some well-worn live favorites -- "Immortality," "Lukin," "Black," "Daughter," and the set-closing, very electric "Yellow Ledbetter" -- but these are the exceptions to the norm here. Such novelty, of course, doesn't make Benaroya Hall an especially excellent set (in fact, it feels a little one-dimensional and subdued because of the acoustic instrumentation), though it is one of the more unique and interesting of the many, many shows Pearl Jam released publicly over the years. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide

Tracks

CD 1

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Of the Girl	Stone Gossard	Pearl Jam	(5:22)
Low Light	Jeff Ament	Pearl Jam	(4:18)
Thumbing My Way	Eddie Vedder	Pearl Jam	(4:49)
Thin Air	Stone Gossard	Pearl Jam	(4:25)
Fatal	Stone Gossard	Pearl Jam	(3:49)
Nothing as It Seems	Jeff Ament	Pearl Jam	(7:29)
Man of the Hour	Eddie Vedder	Pearl Jam	(3:58)
Immortality	Pearl Jam	Pearl Jam	(6:18)
Off He Goes	Eddie Vedder	Pearl Jam	(5:53)
Around the Bend	Eddie Vedder	Pearl Jam	(5:37)
I Believe in Miracles	Dee Dee Ramone, Daniel Rey	Pearl Jam	(5:29)
Sleight of Hand	Jeff Ament, Eddie Vedder	Pearl Jam	(5:13)
All or None	Stone Gossard, Eddie Vedder	Pearl Jam	(7:42)
Lukin	Eddie Vedder	Pearl Jam	(2:07)

CD 2

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Parting Ways	Eddie Vedder	Pearl Jam	(5:24)
Down	Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, Eddie Vedder	Pearl Jam	(3:08)
Encore Break		Pearl Jam	(0:49)
Can't Keep	Eddie Vedder	Pearl Jam	(3:15)
Dead Man	Eddie Vedder	Pearl Jam	(4:24)
Masters of War		Pearl Jam	(6:06)
Black	Stone Gossard, Eddie Vedder	Pearl Jam	(7:41)
Crazy Mary	Victoria Williams	Pearl Jam	(7:40)
25 Minutes to Go		Pearl Jam	(4:43)
Daughter	Dave Abbruzzese, Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, Eddie Vedder	Pearl Jam	(6:30)
Encore Break		Pearl Jam	(1:06)
Yellow Ledbetter	Jeff Ament, Mike McCready, Eddie Vedder	Pearl Jam	(6:01)

Credits

Pearl Jam (Main Performer), John Burton (Engineer), Ed Brooks (Mastering), Liz Burns (Crew), Brett Eliason (Mixing), Brett Eliason (Crew), Steve Gordon (Crew), George Webb (Crew), Greg Keplinger (Crew), Nic Close (Crew), Mark Carlson (Crew), Jamie Harris (Crew), Brad Klausen (Design), Dick Adams (Crew), Mark Cooper Smith (Crew), Allan Bagley (Crew), Mike Scerra (Crew), Kevin Shuss (Crew)