Dave Matthews Band!!

Long awaited Concert Review...
As many of you know, we took a trip to Charleston on the July 4th weekend to visit my sister and watch our favorite band…DMB! I have been a fan of theirs since they came on the scene in the early 90’s and have been to 15 shows over the years. Of all 15 and Jennifer's 13, we can safely say without hesitation, this was the best concert we have ever witnessed….DMB or otherwise.

First of all, the concert was general admission seating and was at Joseph P Reilly Park where the Charleston Riverdogs(semi-pro baseball) play. We got there early (about 4pm), got in line with the other DMB crazies and were able to score ourselves a spot appx 6 rows from the stage….really close! It was really exciting because we had to try and outrun the other DMB crazies to get to the stage! Jennifer had made a sign earlier that day, which at the time I thought was a little silly but I didn’t hold her back or anything. On one side she put in a request for her favorite song (called #36), and on the other side she put “DMB sets us free!! Happy July 4th!” It was in red, white, and blue lettering as you can probably see from the picture.

Just before the band came out, the entire stage was covered by a HUGE screen that displayed graphics of the American Flag while playing Jimi Hendrix’s version of the star spangled banner over the speakers. After the star spangled banner, the screens lifted and DMB went into their first song, Seek Up, which has a really slow intro. As Dave stares out to the crowd and looks our way, I hold up Jenn’s sign and he gives us a smile. The really cool part is that later in the show, the camra man (who films the concert for video to display on the bigscreens) pans across the crowd and we hold up the sign again and it’s displayed on the big screens….DMB Sets us Free! At this time, the rest of the band take notice to it and are obviously smiling and talking about the sign. At the very end of the show, Dave waves to the crowd and throws his guitar picks out….he looks our way again and I hold up the sign again and he points right at us, waves, and gives us a peace sign as he walks off the stage. Carter (drummer) also comes over to our side of the stage, points to us with a drum stick and chucks one over to us…I had my hand on it but couldn’t pull it away from the 2 other guys in front of me….rrhhhhhgggg!!! Very disappointing but Jennifer consoled me with the fact that it was definitely meant for us.

Aside from the reaction we got from the band because of Jennifer’s sign, it was just an amazing show. The energy of the crowd was off the hook and the band was on fire and played a really energetic and fun show. They had 3 cover songs (which is rare for DMB)…they played Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer”, Neil Young’s “Hey Hey My My,” and another song called “Sail Away” which referenced Charleston in the song and made the crowd go nuts…this was also an independence day related song. Sledgehammer was really fun and it was a great song for them as Dave sounds very similar to Peter Gabrial. They had Tim Reynolds (phenomenal guitar player) playing electric throughout the whole show...this is another reason this show was so amazing. They don't normally have the electric guitar in the mix and he sounds great with the band. They also had a guest (Jeff Coffin from Bela Fleck and the Flecktones) on the horns that replaced Leroi Moore who was injured in an accident a few days before the show. This guy had crazy energy and was jamming all over the stage and having fun….considerably different from Leroi. I'm not a huge Neil Young fan but they rocked the house with Hey Hey, My My for the first song of the encore and then when we thought it just couldn't get any better...they closed out the night with Tripping Billies. The crazy thing is that they played the last 5 songs of the set with closing style jamming and energy.

Here is the setlist…
Seek Up
Old Dirt Hill
Best of What’s Around
Crush
You Might Die Trying
#41
Everyday
Cornbread
Sail Away (Cover Song…not sure who)
Sledgehammer (Peter Gabriel Cover)
Ants Marching
Sister
So Damn Lucky
Louisiana Bayou
Crash Into Me
So Much To Say-->
Anyone Seen the Bridge?-->
Too Much

Encore:
Hey Hey, My My (Neil Young Cover)
Tripping Billies

Anybody interested in listening to this live show or nearly any other DMB show for that matter, there is a great website that allows you to stream live DMB shows on your computer. You have to sign up but it’s totally free and totally worth it if you are a DMB fan. Here’s the link.