48 of 48 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beyond words, January 20, 2004
Let me preface this by saying that I have been to maybe 150 shows in my life, and the 7/8/03 MSG show is the best show I have seen by any band, ever. Coming from a huge music fan, that's saying a lot.
Ok, here goes. I'll try to write it for the casual fan who may not know every song.
First let's start with quality. The video work is fine. Nothing fancy. It's a little jumpy sometimes, but good overall. The 5.1 surround sound is quite nice as well. There are lots of extras on the DVD as well, including an easter egg. It includes lots of tour montages, bonus clips (Ed pre-show solo stuff), etc. But the main part of the dvd, the show itself, is probably what you want to hear about so I'll try to be specific. I'll do a song-sy-song review below:
set:
Love Boat Captain: Good opener. The sound is a little off, but gets better during the next couple of songs. This is off the latest album. It references the 9 people who were killed during their set at the Roskilde Denmark show in 2000
Last Exit: Good rocking song that gets the crowd going.
Save You: Same as above. Good version. Off the last album
Green Disease: Also off the last album. You'll notice that the crowd doesn't go insane for some of the newer stuff, but because the MSG shows had such a high fanclub turnout, the reaction is better than expected. This is a fun, hard song.
In My Tree: This is a new, slower version of the song off of No Code. This is one of my all-time favorite songs, and they nailed the new version this time. This was the first tour they tried it this way, and it worked.
Cropduster: Also a new song. Good, but for the casual fan nothing spectacular.
Even Flow: Mike totally owns the middle jam, and the crowd goes nuts for it.
Gimme Some Truth: John Lennon cover. It was nice to see.
I Am Mine: This is prefaced by a nice speech from Eddie about Sept 11. You have to rewind to the end of the previous song to hear it. Good version as well.
Low Light: Had I not seen it a few days earlier I would have gone nuts. They broke it out in Boston on 7/3 for the first time in 5 years and the place went nuts. They also went nuts at MSG.
Faithfull: Great hard-rocking song from "Yield"
Wishlist/(Why Can't I Touch It?): Great light show for this, and the tag at the end is a Buzzcocks cover. Before the show, 3 members of PJ came out when the Buzzcocks finished their set and played this song with them. Great crowd singalong!
Lukin: 1-minute rocker from No Code that goes right into the next song
Grievance: Good hard song, was nominated for a grammy 3 years ago.
1/2 Full: Gotta love Ed w/ the mirror during this one. Great guitar from Mike on this song...very bluesy.
Black: Decent version. Great solo at the end from Mike. There are better versions, but this is pretty good.
Spin The Black Circle: Great hard song circa 95. A crowd pleaser.
Rearviewmirror: Awesome first set closer. Insane ending, crowd and band going nuts w/ the strobe lights.
enc 1:
You Are: Nice light show, great vibe to this song.
Thumbing My Way: Good slow song from the last album.
Daughter/(With My Own Two Hands): This was around the time I realized it had gone beyond being just a great show to being something special. Ben Harper comes out and sings the Two Hands tag w/ the band. I still get chills watching it. The crowd loves it.
Crown Of Thorns: Crowd going nuts by this point. It is a Mother Love Bone cover, which is Stone/Jeff's band before PJ that broke up when the lead singer died of an overdose. They played it twice on the 2000 tour (the first time being at their 10th anniv show), and twice on the 2003 show. I never thought I'd see it.
Breath: Yeah, the band is on fire at this point. Breath was the song they broke out at the MSG II show in 98 for the first time in years. It's special to see them play it there again.
Better Man: Not a particularly great version, but the crowd singing the first verse alone makes it worth listening to.
Do The Evolution: Watch the band during this...they start freaking out. Eddie gives a speech after the intermission explaining why. Considering Roskilde 2000, it's totally understandable. You could literally feel the floor moving if you stood still. MSG is raised off of ground level, and the crowd was going so nuts that they caused the whole place to shake. Watch Ed in particular.
enc 2:
Crazy Mary: 1 word: RIP. That's all I have to say
Indifference: Ed re-introduces Ben Harper. They have played this with Ben a couple of times before. This was my first time seeing this older song and I was loving it.
Sonic Reducer: Buzzcocks' member comes out. This is an old Dead Boys cover. I had never seen it live either and it was great. Maybe not as intense as it was on the early tours, but still rocking.
Baba O'Riley: Another Buzzcocks' member comes out. I will *never* forget the look on the usher's face next to me when the crowd sang the middle bridge part. He just had this huge grin on his face, like "wow, that was freaking cool as hell!!!"
Yellow Ledbetter: Nice closer, with Ed mumbling some new lyrics. Not a great version by any means, but different which is always good.
I'm not sure I can say enough about this show. I have never seen so many people leave a show speechless with their jaws on the ground.
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29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I Got a Spot at Lukin's, May 8, 2004
The DVD is a small window to the band holding the Rock and Roll Torch on one night. A window to a tour of a band at its peak...can they get better?
The members of Pearl Jam truly love music and it shows. They wear their influences on their sleeves, The Who, The Ramones, The Buzzcocks, Iron Maiden (McCready), and it shows in their genuine wish to put on a good performance worth the money of a concert ticket. The night filmed at Madison Square Garden in NYC may not have been their highlight concert from 2003's Riot Act tour but it's a cross-section of one night with the band. And if you are a fan and happened to miss PJ on that tour, it's one way to be a part of what happened.
Boom Gaspar is a benefit added addition to the PJ 5 and truly elevates Crazy Mary with an inspired Hammond Organ romp. Though Eddie is in the spotlight, each band member contributes and the camera spends isn't mono-mano focused on Ed the whole time. It's the little things you get to see in concert recordings that make the DVD worth the price of admission. Mike McCready loses himself from time to time becoming some alter-ego guitar god. You can tell when it happens because his eyes are closed head faced upwards, in the zone. His guitar playing becomes otherworldly wicked. The man can play. The DVD reveals each member has his talents...Jeff Ament has the groove and energy, Stone Gossard has a knack for songcraft (though his guitar skills are better left providing rhythm and not lead), Matt Cameron has a precise straightforward drumming style (and gifted musically evidenced by his song You Are), Eddie is truly gifted, but Mike McCready elevates the band above just another good Rock and Roll outfit. The free-flow jam on "Even Flow," is always good but this night stands out. Each band member plays off the other and Stone Gossard give McCready room to soar. Other guitarist maybe more technical, other guitarist may be more speedy, other guitarist may have more individual style, but McCready truly adds soul to all elements of his playing. It's truly a notch above in Rearviewmirror, Crown of Thorns, Yellow Ledbetter...how he plays the keyboard part of Baba O'Riley will boggle the mind...in fact I would dub it mind-boggling.
There are fun extras here watching Eddie ape Bush in Bushleaguer, a "Fortunate Son," montage of all the bands PJ played with in the Riot Act tour, a wonderfully talented solo performance of Eddie's Dead Man (get Lost Dogs for the studio version). Pearl Jam has lasting power and outlived the hype of the "grunge" movement in the early 90's. Other bands that got caught up in the overwhelming pressure of popularity that movement caused either aren't around anymore or aren't relevant. This Disc captures a band that has stayed true to its roots and true to the music. Don't miss a concert in your very own living room with one of the best bands playing today in their prime.
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