Pearl Jam: Bootlegs
Above is a montage of just some of the hundreds of Bootleg covers out there. I saw these a few years ago everywhere at HMV and JB Hifi. They stood out among the sea of colorful covers. Each one was different and all looked hand stamped. The rough textured feel to them was a refreshing change to the norm. The paper stock also was used to resemble recycled paper. Each one hand stamped so no two are alike.
Upon researching this topic (read: Googling it) I found that these are official bootlegs from almost every Pearl Jams tour since 2000 and they sold more than 3 million of the buggers. Not bad considering it’s cheap production. They were sold at a discounted price. The ‘bootleg series’ has since gone all digital so you won’t be seeing these at your local shops any more.
Now “official bootlegs” sound great but I can see the Pearl Jam fans out their crying as they struggle to collect the 100+ releases out there. You poor bastards.
They also released a series based of the flags of the countries they played in. Here’s just four of the many out there. I think these work really well too.
The branding of this Bootleg series is fantastic. They are easy to spot a mile off and shows that cheap doesn’t have to mean nasty. And from a fans perspective the series goes that extra mile to satisfy the fans hunger for musical content.
I think that only a handful of bands in the world could pull this off and Pearl Jam has done it well.
