Live at Benaroya Hall

by Jason Birchmeier

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.