From October 2, 2004/Various Comments

Left to Right: Mike McCready, Peter Frampton, Jeff Ament, Ed Vedder, Matt Cameron, Neil Young, Stone Gossard, Pegi Young

I recently obtained copies of most of the Fall 2004 Tour (Boston shows plus the Vote For Change concerts), so I thought I'd break this picture out. It's from the show Loretta and I saw in Toledo. These shows have not been (and likely will not be) officially released, and the quality is so-so. The Toledo show features prominent vocals and the rhythm section up front in the mix, with the guitars somewhat toward the back, but it's nice to have nonetheless. At the show, the four guitars for the encores (Mike and Stone, Frampton and Neil) sounded quite muddled, and the CD shows that my impressions were fairly accurate. But hell - it was Neil Young coming out to tear it up with Pearl Jam! - so I'm not complaining. It was quite a sight to see.

I may try to get another copy of the Toledo show, since the guy who sold these on eBay obviously did not burn the CDs very carefully - there are obvious digital flaws in quite a few places, likely a result of either inferior media or burning at high speeds, or perhaps a combination of those factors.

In any event, it's always nice to have a document of a show I've attended - I appreciate the brave efforts of those people who sneak MD and DAT recorders into concerts - it takes some guts. I listen to the Robert Plant shows from 2001 on a pretty regular basis, and I hope to get a line on that Myrtle Beach show as soon as possible. It's not really close to being there, but it definitely brings back at least a little hit of the same emotions I felt. Good stuff.

There may be no more effective mood-enhancer than great music. It can change my whole day. Yesterday, I was reading for a while in the library after class, but the nice weather drew me out and I took a drive down Route 5 into Westfield and then took Route 20 back to Fredonia, windows down and jamming out to Stone Temple Pilots' second album, Purple, the whole time. As a result, I was in a pretty damn good mood for the rest of the day.