Pearl Jam are set to return to Boston’s iconic Fenway Park this September as part of their run of US stadium concerts. In anticipation, Newbury Comics has announced an exclusive release of the band’s highly prized Live at The Orpheum Theatre live album. Originally only available as a bootleg or as part of the 2011 Vs. reissue, this marks the first time Live at The Orpheum Theatre has been pressed as a standalone release.
Captured on the double-LP is the final show of a three-night run in Boston in 1994; while the first two occurred at the 15,000-capacity Boston Garden, this intimate gig took place at the 2,700-seat Orpheum. It also happened to be April 12th, 1994, exactly one week after the death of fellow Seattle music legend Kurt Cobain. That coupled with the struggles Pearl Jam were facing playing larger stadiums and utilizing Ticketmaster made this performance an exceptionally emotional one.
The setlist included just the second-ever inclusion of “Immortality” (with largely different lyrics than the version recorded later for Vitalogy), with Eddie Vedder ad-libbing some alternative lines to Neil Young’s “My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)” at the end: “Hey hey, this is my last day/ My my, know how hard I try/ Hey hey, I would’ve loved to stay/ My my, I wish I could get high.” While Vedder has held that the song is not directly about Cobain, it’s hard not to feel the inspiration in the poignant rendition.
Two other songs that would eventually end up on Vitalogy, “Not for You” and “Tremor Christ”, are included as well. Pearl Jam also covered Neil Young’s “Fuckin’ Up” and Dead Boys’ “Sonic Reducer”, the latter with help from Mark Arm of openers Mudhoney.
Only available through Newbury Comics, pre-orders for Live at The Orpheum Theatre are going on now. 100 Red Sox-colored (blue and red) variants will be shipped randomly to those who order online. Find the artwork and tracklist below.
Live at The Orpheum Theatre Artwork:
Live at The Orpheum Theatre Tracklist:
LP1
01. Oceans
02. Even Flow
03. Sonic Reducer
04. Immortality
05. Glorified G
06. Daughter
07. Not For You
08. Rats
LP2
01. Blood
02. Release
03. Tremor Christ
04. Once
05. Fuckin’ Up
06. Dirty Frank
07. Rearviewmirror
08. Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town
