Pearl Jam has released a lot of live albums. More than any other artist, period. Touring Band 2000 is a collection of videos shot in various cities during their American tour of 2000 following the release of the album Binaural.
It is evident throughout the entire disc that the musicianship that exists here is quite noteworthy. This is a band that has performed together many times, and has the skill to show it. The riffs created by the three guitars are always right on par with each other, and the solos are always very impressive. Jeff Ament's bass skills are great and he is also very fun to watch. Not quite as fun as Matt Cameron, however. Matt Cameron's aggressive beats and quick fills can be very entertaining. He is constantly full of energy. Eddie Vedder is as fun of a frontman as it gets. Not only is his singing flawless when compared to the album versions, he is simply a great speaker.
The video quality of the disc is not as spectacular as you would get from a large budget film recording. It was recorded by three crew members somewhat randomly at concerts before being compiled to this disc. With that being said, it really gets the job done. Each musician's emotions are captured perfectly. It is overall satisfying, just not overly impressive.
The sound quality is nothing to complain about either. Each guitar is at the right volume and separate from the others. The bass is crisp and punchy, the way is should be. There are no complaints from the drums or singing either.
What the highlights of this video are would have to be the quantity and the quality. For a good price, you get 28 healthy Pearl Jam tunes. Since this isn't just one concert, they were able to pick out the best performances and the songs they thought would fit best. Also, there is a lot of bonus content. You get the music videos of Do The Evolution and Oceans. There is also three live cuts of a camera showing only Matt Cameron up close, who, as I mentioned earlier, is really cool. There are enough montages and such to keep you entertained for a good while.
My problems with this video are few. My biggest complaint is that there are more songs from Binaural than any others and very few from Ten. I felt Binaural was their worst album and Ten was their best. This is understandable, however, as Binaural was the most recent album and Ten was the oldest. Personally, I would rather hear Black or Yellow Ledbetter than Evacuation or Grievance. Other than that, the only other thing I can say is that Stone Gossard is just plain goofy to watch.
Overall, this is a very solid slab of live music from Pearl Jam and would be well worth your money if you like this band and are familiar with this material.
