Not long into the tour, a friend I had met while on the road with the Melvins decided to come along and record all the shows. This was Mike Zeigler, aka "The Kid," infamous Nirvana fan and rock n roll bootlegger. It's his tapes that have been distilled into what you’re about to hear.

I'm the first to admit that Unwound was not a consistent live band. Some of the shows on this tour were rough. We nearly broke up two weeks in, after 9/11 threw everything up in the air. You may notice that most of the shows represented on this compilation occurred after 9/11. Prior to that, we had good energy, but we were still working out how to play the songs as a five-piece. Then, for whatever reason, we rocked hard for like a week in the south. Survival instincts kept us alive for a bit afterward, but during the California leg of the tour we self-destructed, and eventually we decided to cancel our European and Japanese tours.

Let's be clear: this compilation isn't trying to rewrite history. Listening through hours and hours of tape from this time, I cringed frequently. But there were also sublime moments where I was touched. Think of it as a gift from us to you -- we did the hard work of culling the good stuff from a few dozen shows. Now you can just sit back and listen (at a loud volume, please). I was often surprised by what I heard; I hope the same holds true for you. Believe it or not, this is long overdue. We’d originally planned on putting this out in 2002! So, if you’re an old friend, welcome back. If you’re new -- here's to you. Thanks for finding us.