photo by Jessica Letkemann

“We’ve been here three days in Austin,” said Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam on Sunday night, “and we’ve received many, many gifts. So we hope to repay some of it tonight.” He looked out across the teeming, mud-spattered crowd at Zilker Park, and struck a note of solidarity: “I’m not leaving here ‘til I’m covered in dirt!”

It was the final set of the Austin City Limits Music Festival, and Mr. Vedder was being about as solicitous as any rock star can be. (“Everybody hanging in?” he inquired after “Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town,” the following song. “I’m going to keep checking in on you. I hope you don’t mind.”) He needn’t have been so concerned: the fans were hanging in fine, ready for whatever the band could generate. And for nearly two hours, that meant a tight and ferocious set, with sing-along favorites mixed in with material from “Backspacer” (Monkeywrench), the band’s potent new album.

At one point Mr. Vedder said that he and the band had last played Austin in 1995, a long time ago. He made the most of this visit: after sitting in with Kings of Leon on Friday night, he led Pearl Jam in a Saturday-night taping of “Austin City Limits,” the television show that spawned the festival.

Ben Harper, who played his own set earlier on Sunday evening, at the opposite end of the field, joined Pearl Jam for the first encore, “Red Mosquito,” adding some terse and bluesy slide guitar. A few more songs followed, including “Do the Evolution” and “Alive.” At the second encore, Mr. Vedder brought on Perry Farrell, the lead singer of Jane’s Addiction, for a cover of that band’s “Mountain Song.” Then came a closing salvo: the Neil Young anthem “Rockin’ in the Free World.” Mr. Vedder dedicated it to “all the soldiers,” including the veterans who were taking in the show from the wings. It was a smart way to end the festival: a nod to sacrifice.