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Elliott SmithElliott Smith Live at Henry Fonda Theatre on 2003-01-31 (January 31, 2003)

Collection: : ElliottSmith
Band/Artist: Elliott Smith
Date: January 31, 2003 (check for other copies)
Venue: Henry Fonda Theatre
Location: Los Angeles, CA

Source: Unknown Audience
Lineage: Unknown AUD -> WAV -> FLAC(7)
Taped by: Unknown
Transferred by: Derek Correia
Keywords: Live concert

Description

d101. King's Crossing
d102. Memmory Lane
d103. Happiness
d104. No Confidence Man
d105. A Passing Feeling
d106. I Figured You Out
d107. A Fond Farewell
d108. Strung Out Again
d109. Somebody's Baby
d110. Coming up Roses *
d111. A Distorted Reality is Now a Necessity to be Free.*
d112. Pretty (Ugly Before) *
d113. Plainclothes Man
d114. Long, Long, Long
d115. No Name #1 *
d116. Division Day *
d117. I Don't Think I'm Ever Gonna Figure It Out (aborted)
d118. I Better Be Quiet Now
d201. Crowd Noise
d202. Say Yes
d203. Brand New Game
d204. Shooting Star

Individual Files

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Downloaded 258,852 timesReviews
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Reviewer: jbunnelle - - December 10, 2009
Subject: Great Show But Clearly...
...overblown by many in terms of his "state" of being. Yeah, he sounds a little out of it, until he starts performing, and then he's spot on. The live versions of these songs are among my favorites: King's Crossing, Fond Farewell, the acoustic version of Brand New Game. The shakiness and instability in his voice at times moves me in the way that later Verve-era Billie Holiday does: technically imperfect but visceral in its power to evoke emotion.

Reviewer: smth - - August 20, 2009
Subject: re
koreyw, I think it's "and that's me trying to hide my anxiety"

Reviewer: koreyw - - August 10, 2009
Subject: some people
i don't remember who it is on here but, someone gave him 2 stars. what the fuck is wrong with that person? this show is great. sure he messes up and may be messed up but that's elliott, and messing up (like he says) is part of it.

after a fond farewell he says it's true, then starts talking about how he's fine, then says something like "and that's me trying to hide my..." i have no clue what he says he's trying to hide. if someone else can tell let me know.

Reviewer: moe.Umphrey's - - December 11, 2008
Subject: amazing
Does anyone know what Elliott song Nickel Creek covered?

Reviewer: sufferingnomore - - October 18, 2008
Subject: You know,
...I thought for a long time trying to decide if I could or rather, should, write a review of this show. I purposely listened to this show first to, I don't know, I guess to try to get a sense of where his head was at at this time. And I want to make it clear that the only qualifications I have for my opinions are the facts that a) I'm a touring musician and b) struggle with depression, alcoholism and addiction - so, I connect with this in those two ways.

I absolutely love Elliott's music but this show hit REALLY close to home for me. I remember trying to get onstage for the first time, or couple of times, after a fresh rehab stay and being terrified and consumed with fear - still half-sick(or not half-right) and feeling like I REALLY needed something to calm me down a little. I remember being absolutely positive that if I walked out in front of that crowd in the state of mind I was in I would somehow not survive it or...just something really bad would happen. So, there were times when I did use something and times I didn't. I survived them both.

Elliott made me cry listening to this. The sounds of beauty and tragedy at the same time. Trying to speak to them and not being able to really say much to them that was coherent made me feel all locked inside myself again. The song selections were perfect, all my favorites. I particularly liked hearing him play Strung Out Again, Fond Farewell, and Plain Clothes Man.

This is harder than I thought it was going to be. You see, Elliott's music may have saved my life. His songs have been the connection to that screaming voice inside of me that would torment me and from time to time still does. His lyrics are the biggest connection I've ever had to how I truly feel. The only thing bigger than his are my own. I get angry sometimes, selfishly I might add, that Elliott is gone but I understand. I understand how dark it gets inside your own head. I could've written a review and talked about sloppy guitar playing and a shaky voice and all those things but I wanted to say thank you to the man I never met, never saw live, and quite possibly woke me up in time. He soothed those wounds of mine in a way that nobody else could.

I have 3 weeks clean and sober again for the first time in many years and I have a hope that maybe it's not going to end for me the way it did for him and so many others. I'm really sorry if I put anybody off with this rant. His music is just very special to me, almost sacred. If you're all messed up and feeling down about it just know that there are others of us out here that are doing the best we can and if we do it together and support each other maybe we can make it.

until then,
paul rader

paul@paulradermusic.com

Reviewer: Ferdinandgal - - August 29, 2008
Subject: WOW
you can hear his sister and girlfriend screaming
"becuase we love you" after "give me on good reason not to do it"

it was also added by them at the studio recording after his death

Reviewer: ParisianDag - - June 15, 2008
Subject: "Whole Item" FLAC?
I have just completed downloading all the FLAC files and it seems clear the sound quality is pretty good. I actually quite like that the performance isn't perfect, it's certainly very far from the sound of a studio album. But I haven't listened enough to rate at this point.

So instead I post to complain about two things:

1) There's no "whole item" download with the full quality FLAC files!

2) The file names were no good. I had to type it for each file, with number prefixes so that I can easily play back in the right order!

I'm new here on archive.org but I suppose I could zip/rar the files I downloaded and upload the resulting "whole item" file..? Can I somehow make it part of this same "entry"? (Don't know if I'm using the right terminology; I mean to make it show up together with the other files here on this same page.)

Reviewer: Casper_Kids - - August 28, 2006
Subject: Good Show
I think a lot of people are being mislead why he's a little shakey in this show. This show is set only a couple months after his rehab release, he's not high, a little hammered yes. And Elliott's always been a random out there kinda guy which can explain most of the things he says, though he's not that talkative in most of his shows, during his last years he does interact with the audience a lot more.

I actually love this show, it starts of a bit shakey, but it progresses. His voice is very frail in this set, which I actually really like, it sounds more 'raw' as cheesy as that sounds. The whole 'drunk' things is being blown out a proportion, it's actually a really good set and I recommend it.

Reviewer: MelTheFruitFly - - August 24, 2006
Subject: Makes me sad and happy at the same time.
I was at this show... and though I didn't know it at the time, it would be the last time I would see him live. I remember thinking it wasn't the best Elliott show I'd seen, but it wasn't the worst either. I've enjoyed reliving memories, but it does sadden me to remember that it was the last for me.

I'll echo the thought that if you're new to Elliott you should find other shows to start with. And yes, he was probably quite inebriated, but again, there were worse shows in that regard. (The Sunset Junction show comes to mind.) But it was still good, it's an acoustic set so the true frailty of his voice (which I don't mean as an insult but a compliment - it's one of the things I always loved about him) comes through loud and clear, and the quality of this recording is excellent.

I still miss Elliott very much and I count myself lucky to have seen the shows I did.

Reviewer: hax - - January 28, 2006
Subject: So Sad it's Beautiful
This show really blows me away. I've just recently discovered Elliott...though I knew who he was, I was not famaliar w/ his music. I'm a songwriter myself, and hearing this show raised the hair on my arm. It's such a beautiful show...from the sound quality to the between song banter Elliott goes on. At one moment after No Confidence Man, Elliott mention that his "fucking bracelet is getting in the way", and that he's worn it for 8 years....he says that it will be gone in about 6 months....and then he goes on to say that "I don't know what I'm telling you this."

I think the highlights are No Confidence Man, I Figured You Out, A Fond Farewell, A Distorted Reality is Now a Necessity to be Free, Strung Out Again, Somebody's Baby.

In all of his tragedy and despair, is the beauty of Elliott's music, and this show stands as a triumph to that. RIP Elliott

One Love
David

Reviewer: rvaDUBfan - - January 1, 2006
Subject: sadly ironic this show
well, I have to say the first time I heard this show I was awstruck. i believe the show is great! it does send chills down my spine and almost brings a tear to my eye at times during the beginning, especially king's crossing and no confidence man. sound quality and show are both outstanding. although i think he was high, not drunk. show is definitely not for the beginner; more for the avid collector or long-time fan.

Reviewer: topherout - - December 8, 2005
Subject: A Fond Farewell
While this may be a painful display of what addiction and depression can do to a person, it is the most beautiful version of "A Fond Farewell" that I've heard in the 50 something shows that I have on disc. It seems to be the most honest version of the song -- most emotional. You really get chills when he says "This is not my life," and he ends the song by saying, "it's true." That last added line makes it quite powerful.

Reviewer: chalco - - October 24, 2005
Subject: Good show
Elliott is drunk during this show and has trouble getting through most of the songs. The sound quality is great and the set is great too, only bad thing is Elliott is too drunk to put on a good show.

Reviewer: Augustanowsley - - September 9, 2005
Subject: Setting sun
Definitely shaky at the beginning and smoothes out some as he gets going. The sound quality is very good. I have little exposure to his great performances in his prime, but it is clear he is far gone. I'm reminded of Jerry Garcia's final performance at Soldier Field. It's sad to see such an enormous talent wasted, stumbling through what could have been a remarkable set. But if anything this is testament to how addiction destroys life and smothers talent rather than the romantic myth attributed to heroin and the like. Like many before him Elliot Smith squandered his gifts in pursuit of instant nirvana. His beautiful voice is unsteady and flat. His guitar playing is sloppy. Still this is somehow beautifully tragic and sad.

Reviewer: _Ice_9_ - - August 26, 2005
Subject: Plastered
He's definitely wasted during this, but it's a widely circulated recording.

Lets out a nice drunken hiccup/belch during "Happiness".

Good song selection. Not the greatest execution.

Reviewer: Stepherniacus - - July 15, 2005
Subject: I donÃÂt have any knees!
This is a tragic performance. If you dig Elliott youÃÂll love it, but if your new please go find his performance over at the back cat in Washington Dc on 1998.

For most of the show he sounds ÃÂslowÃÂ or drunk, and very unhappy, happy but almost as if he is putting on a facade to get through the show. Most of the set list is most of his amazing yet really heart wrenching songs. Its amazing to listen to past performances compared to ones latter on in his life. There is a distinct separation between them. In earlier performances he has a certain optimism in his voice, he took time to make the songs really special and interact with the audience, the guitar was more purposely perfect. It seems the latter it got he stopped caring and if anything tried to reach out to the audience instead of connecting, I seriously believe he was looking for help. Help that he never got. It is chilling to know that this one was tapped only 10 months before his death. R.I.P. 08/06/69 - 10/21/03

Reviewer: winterhunt - - July 14, 2005
Subject: Sad and Beautiful
Good sound and a good show but in a carwreck sort of way.....pretty painful in a lot of ways.....definately seems like a very strung out Elliott....it's sad to hear how he has let his life and extraordinary talent fade...still great set list and definately heartfelt but just makes me wish he could have played these songs with the magic he possessed when he was at his best.... more for the collector or morbidly curious than someone just getting into him or wanting to know what he was all about.....

Reviewer: openwindow - - July 12, 2005
Subject: Wonderful show
I got this in trade on easytree. No idea who the taper/uploader was, but all credits go to them. A phenominal show with absolutely amazing sound quality. Better than some soundboads. Show and performances are pretty good, but Elliott seems a little "out there" at times. Can't recommend this one enough.

Notes

* Accompanied on drums by Robin Perringer