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Revision as of 18:44, 4 April 2006 by Mylifeisought (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)A large, continually growing series of live albums by rock band Pearl Jam. Begun for their 2000 Binaural Tour, the Official Bootlegs are a complete record of almost every show the band plays, excluding club "warm-up" dates. 72 of the "bootlegs" were released to stores in three waves in late 2000 and early 2001, with the 25 European bootlegs coming first. Every show was releaed in a cardboard sleeve containing two CDs, with the exception of the 72nd and final show on the tour, November 6, 2000 at Key Arena in Seattle. The Seattle show was released as a triple-disc set, and was the highest-charting of the series, peaking at 98 on the Billboard 200, and was called an "essential live document" by Allmusic.
The CDs continued for the 2003 Riot Act Tour, but they were not available in stores at first. They had to be ordered through the band's website, and were mailed out. After the tour, however, certain standout shows were released in stores, 2/23/03 in Perth, Australia, 3/3/03 in Tokyo, Japan, 5/3/03 in State College, PA, 7/8 and 9/03 in New York, and 7/11/03 in Mansfield, MA. The State College show was a three hour, triple disc show, which lead singer Eddie Vedder vowed to make "the longest Pearl Jam show ever played." It was surpassed by the Mansfield show, from the Tweeter Center Boston, in which the band played 45 songs, including an acoustic set. The New York shows, from Madison Square Garden, were released both separately and as a boxed set. The July 8 show was also released as the Live at the Garden DVD.
The band took a year-long touring break until the 2004 Vote for Change tour, but they elected not to release bootlegs for the six shows from that tour. They took yet another year off until a fall 2005 tour of Canada and South America. For the first time, the bootlegs were MP3-only, again only available through the band's website. It is unclear whether or not the MP3-only format will continue for the band's 2006 summer tour for their self-titled eighth album.
