Binaural Tour

The Binaural Tour was a concert tour by the American rock band Pearl Jam to support its sixth album, Binaural.

History[]

Pearl Jam promoted Binaural with tours in Europe and North America. Before the tour started on May 23, with a show in Lisbon, Portugal,^[1] two warm-up concerts were performed in Bellingham, Washington, on May 10,^[2] and Vancouver on May 11.^[3]

Pearl Jam's 2000 European tour ended in tragedy on June 30, 2000, with an accident at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark. Nine fans were crushed underfoot and suffocated to death as the crowd rushed to the front.^[4] After numerous requests for the crowd to step back, the band stopped playing and tried to calm the crowd when the musicians realized what was happening, but it was already too late. The two remaining dates of the tour were cancelled, and the band seriously considered retiring after this event.^[4] Pearl Jam was initially blamed for the accident, but the band was later cleared of responsibility.^[5] Two additional concerts through July were cancelled.^[6]

A month after the European tour concluded, the band embarked on a two-leg North American tour, starting on August 3 in Virginia Beach, Virginia.^[1] The first leg of the tour focused on the East Coast of the United States, and then the band moved to the Midwest and the West Coast for the tour's second leg. On performing after the Roskilde tragedy, vocalist Eddie Vedder said that "playing, facing crowds, being together—it enabled us to start processing it."^[7] On October 22, 2000, the band played the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, celebrating the tenth anniversary of its first live performance as a band. Vedder took the opportunity to thank the many people who had helped the band come together and make it to ten years. He noted that "I would never do this accepting a Grammy or something."^[8] The song "Alive" was purposely omitted from all shows on this tour until the final night on November 6, 2000 in Seattle at KeyArena. The band performed that night for over three hours, playing most of its hits along with covers such as "The Kids Are Alright" and "Baba O'Riley" by The Who.

The European and North American tours were documented by a long series of official bootlegs, all of which were available in record stores as well as through the band's fan club.^[9] The band released 72 live albums in 2000 and 2001, and set a record for most albums to debut in the Billboard 200 at the same time.^[10] Following the conclusion of the 2000 tour, the band released Touring Band 2000, a DVD which featured select performances from the North American legs of the tour.

Tour dates[]

Information taken from various sources.^{[11][12][13][14][15][16]}

Band members[]

• Jeff Ament – bass guitar
• Stone Gossard – rhythm guitar, lead guitar
• Mike McCready – lead guitar
• Eddie Vedder – lead vocals, guitar
• Matt Cameron – drums

Songs performed[]

Gallery[]

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  Pearl Jam in Columbia, Maryland on September 4, 2000.

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  Eddie Vedder on stage with Pearl Jam in Columbia, Maryland on September 4, 2000.

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  Pearl Jam in Columbia, Maryland on September 4, 2000.

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  Pearl Jam in Columbia, Maryland on September 4, 2000.

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  Pearl Jam in Columbia, Maryland on September 4, 2000.

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  Pearl Jam in Columbia, Maryland on September 4, 2000.

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  Pearl Jam in Columbia, Maryland on September 4, 2000.

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  Mike McCready on stage with Pearl Jam in Columbia, Maryland on September 4, 2000.

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  Pearl Jam in Columbia, Maryland on September 4, 2000.

References[]