In September of 1998, Pearl Jam played New York's Madison Square Garden for the first time. The first show was a nightmare, as technical problems marred the set, helping to create some 'remixes' of songs (most notably Given to Fly) that well, should never have been created. The next night, however, was a different story. The band was on, and they rocked the Garden to its very core, even bringing out Ben Harper to help out on Indifference, and closing the night out with Alive and lead vocalist Eddie Vedder climbing up a microphone cord lodged in some of the lighting. For some, the pictures of that moment captured the entire 1998 tour.

In 2000, the band skipped the Garden in favor of the outdoor venue Jones Beach, playing 3 shows that were, well subpar for Pearl Jam in New York. When the time came to book the shows for 2003, the band decided to return to the Garden, and they brought some friends with them: 7,500 friends, fan club members to be exact, from places ranging from Boston to San Francisco to London.

What resulted was a two night stand that in many ways was the opposite of 1998: the first night was raucous, bombastic, a pure monster of a show. The second night, in comparison, was a good show, but it just couldn't compare.

So when it came time to document their 2003 tour on DVD, the band went against the "faux setlist from various cities" concept employed on Touring Band 2000, and instead decided to release the entire July 8, 2000 show from the Garden, with the all creative title of Live at the Garden.

Having actually traveled from Boston with many many friends to see the New York shows, and having written a review (which can be found here) of the show already, this review may seem a bit redundant, especially if I were to go through track by track. So therefore, I'm going to try my best to compare watching this 2 disc set with actually being in the building as it was happening.

Obviously, the first thing that no video can capture is atmosphere, and from the moment the band walked on the stage that night, the atmosphere was amazing for almost the entire night. The good news is that the somewhat grainy quality of picture that was used for Touring Band 2000 is gone, as the band had their "crew" film using much better cameras, and so the picture quality on this release is tremendous and puts the previously mentioned TB2K to shame.

What this release also does for someone like me (besides providing a bada*s souvenir) is it enables me to see things I did not see the first time around. So while I could feel the energy in the building as the band romped through Do The Evolution, now I can see what they meant by the stage shaking; all one has to do is look at the microphones almost literally bouncing up and down with the audience.

When watching this show (as well as the band's 3 shows in Mansfield, MA), I was struck by the great light show the band had going on for You Are, but unfortunately, said light show doesn't translate well at all onto this disc. I still think the song and this performance is excellent, but the light show actually can be a bit of an eyesore at times. And you know, Thumbing My Way sucks the same amount of life out of this DVD as it did out of the show as it happened back in July, which is to say all of it.

There are subtle things that the far camera view misses, things that added even more charm to the show, like Eddie taping down 3 huge sheets of paper in front of his monitor, those sheets containing the lyrics to Low Light, only the third live performance of it ever. You also miss Jeff looking at Mike, completely exasperated and exhausted, before Yellow Ledbetter as if to say "come on man, I'm f*cking tired, let's just go home."

Much like the show, the regular set is good, but it's the encores (all found on disc two) that truly bring this thing home, thanks to the guest appearance of Ben Harper on Daughter and Indifference, and members of The Buzzcocks on Sonic Reducer and Baba O'Riley, the latter of which is the most joyous thing to watch (well, next to the mic stands bouncing on Evolution), a raucous sing-along with the house lights on, made even better by me spotting my friends Sheri and Orit in the second row bouncing along (damn Orit would've made the DVD just about no matter what show they picked).

For special features, the "Matt-cam," focusing on drummer Matt Cameron and first featured on TB2K, is back. Basically, this means you can watch 5 selections (including Last Exit, Crown of Thorns, and You Are) and get a peak into Matt's drum style.

There are a couple of bonus performances included here. Throw Your Arms Around Me, a cover Eddie has been singing solo since 95 or so, is performed in Australia with it's writer, Mark Seymour of Hunters and Collectors. This is a treat for those who have never heard it, because it's a song where if N'Sync ever covered it, it would have sold MILLIONS.

Also included is Dead Man, a No Code b-side that Eddie performed as a pre-cursor to the opening act on many occasions on this tour. This performance is from the US tour closing Holmdel set, and it's spot on.

There are also 4 collage videos not unlike those found on TB2K. Perhaps the most enjoyable is the Bushleaguer montage, the infamous anti-Bush song that has grown on me IMMENSELY since Riot Act came out. To see Eddie in that mask doing those dances, not to mention the 4 frat boys in Bush masks from Atlanta, just classic.

The behind the scenes and candid shots of the band are set to Down, a wonderful B-side to Riot Act. Nothing brings a smile to my face faster than seeing the entire band laughing and smiling with each other, so many people think they take themselves too seriously that something like this really brings them back to down to earth for me. All Those Yesterdays is the backing music for a montage of crew members, many of whom have been with the band since their inception (the audio is from the one hour acoustic "pre-set" of the July 11th Mansfield, MA show). And Fortunate Son is the backdrop for a montage of guest performers, ranging from Sparta to Sleater-Kinney.

Lastly, there is an Easter Egg on disc one that I'm sure many MANY people will want to check out. It's a performance of Hunger Strike from the tour's last night in Mexico City, with one of the Sleater Kinney girls handling those vocal duties that would normally be up to Chris Cornell to handle (on a side note, it's too bad this had to come out now, seeing as the band did Hunger Strike with Cornell just about 3 weeks ago). Anyways, to access this performance you need to get to title #2 on disc one. You can do this by hitting your "search" button, or your "go to" button, or whatever it is that your DVD remote has to allow you to change "titles." It differs by remote and some people have complained they can't get to it, but I assure you, it's there.

Live at the Garden is a must have for any die-hard Pearl Jam fan, and I think there's an awful lot on here that the casual fan would love as well. It completely blows Touring Band 2000 out of the water, and it makes this year's previous DVD release, the available online only Live At The Showbox.

For fans who want even more, there is a 3 disc audio bootleg of this very New York show available at retail (along with the second New York show, and the previously mentioned July 11th Mansfield show), and of course, their long awaited b-sides/rarities release called Lost Dogs is in stores now.

My original review of this very concert:
http://www.epinions.com/content_3391398020



Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day