The contents include the entire set of the first of two shows played at New York’s Madison Square Garden on July 8 2003 and a few bonus live tracks, some of which are set to montages of highlights from the tour.

Before the concert begins, an intro of the vocal chants of the song, “Arc,” set to black-and-white footage of New York City fades into the rumble of the crowd as the band takes the stage. The wonderful rendition of the unconventional opener, “Love Boat Captain,” makes more sense after lead singer Eddie Vedder greets the crowd (six songs into the show) and tries to empathize with the New Yorkers, mentioning the band’s own tragedy a few years back at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark, which is represented in the song’s lyric: “Lost nine friends we’ll never know, two years ago today.”

The adaptation of the song, “In My Tree,” transforms a percussion-driven, mid-tempo studio version of the song into a slower ballad. While the original version is tighter and contains a superior chorus, the performance nonetheless captures an irresistible energy that snowballs as the show progresses.

While the casual fans always cherish live performances of the overrated Ten classic, “Even Flow,” the show lacks a genuine moment of greatness until the performance of the splendid “Low Light” in a criminally rare live performance. It would certainly become a crowd favorite if the band would include it in more set lists, especially with performances like the one caught here. “Wishlist” highlights Vedder’s classic live charisma as he firmly states, “There’s proof that dreams can be a good thing,” before encouraging the crowd to sing the lyrics, “Why can’t I touch it,” from a Buzzcocks song. After the crowd’s superlative effort, he states the obvious: “That’s (expletive) beautiful.”

While “Black” and “Rearviewmirror” are two of the best Pearl Jam songs, neither performance stands out as much as the song sandwiched in between the two, “Spin the Black Circle,” which Vedder dedicates to the record stores in the city because “they’re the best in the world.” The encore begins unspectacularly with a good-but-not-encore-worthy pair from Riot Act, but the rest is sensational.

The performance of “Daughter” features a guest appearance by a wine-drinking Ben Harper (there are confirmed stories that at least one person thought it was Lenny Kravitz). Vedder begins to sing, “With my two hands,” before Harper takes the reins of his own song. To the delight of the die-hard fans, the ageless wonder, “Crown of Thorns,” follows. The momentum continues with a magnificent performance of “Breath,” another gem for longtime fans. Vedder really seems to enjoy himself while singing this song — perhaps he is beginning to sense what a special night it has turned out to be.

While the crowd singing the first half of “Betterman” is cute, the ground-shaking (literally) rendition of “Do the Evolution” blows away everything before it. After informing the crowd that the stage had shook in a similar fashion for only three other bands (including one man named Bruce, whose name received a roar of applause when mentioned), Vedder admits, “I gotta tell you, it scared the s—t out of us.”

“Indifference” with Ben Harper (again) is unforgettable, and it would have been the moment of the night had the covers of “Sonic Reducer” and, in particular, “Baba O’Riley” not raised the bar even higher. Even more guests magically appear on stage, and the crowd’s and band’s energy during “Baba” is one of the most joyous sights I have ever seen — the atmosphere is goosebump-inducing. Just as the band leaves the stage, Mike McCready, whose guitar solos dominate every Pearl Jam show, insists that the show must go on by playing a familiar riff, so they end with the definitive closer, “Yellow Ledbetter.”

The footage of the 2 3/4 hour show features wonderful camerawork and editing, having just enough variety of perspectives. The Easter egg on the first disc is a performance of “Hunger Strike” in Mexico. The second disc contains bonus live tracks, the best of which are a performance of “Throw Your Arms Around Me” with Mark Seymour, and an Ed solo performance — before the main act to reward the early birds — “Dead Man.”

Pearl Jam: Live at the Garden: A

DVD features: B