Summer ritual: Dave Matthews Band brings good vibes, festive jams to packed Dallas show
Few things mark the summer season more than the Dave Matthews Band leading a packed amphitheater full of fans eager to party.
So it was fitting for the 57-year-old Matthews and his six-piece band to return for a night of relaxed, mid-tempo revelry on Saturday, the first day of June, at Dos Equis Pavilion in Fair Park.
Dave Matthews summer concerts have become a ritual for the band’s fans. His tours have become something akin to Jimmy Buffett’s annual traveling parties, sans all of the comical wordplay and Parrotthead vibes.
But “Dave Heads” have a unique vibe all their own and span generations and races, as was evident with the nearly 20,000 in attendance for the 150-minute, career-spanning jam session.
It was the seventh stop on the band’s summer tour of North America and the 21st time they’ve played Dos Equis since 1996, according to DMBAlmanac.com.
They played songs from nine of their 10 studio albums, including “Madman’s Eyes” from their most recent release, 2023’s “Walk Around the Moon.”
But Matthews and his six-piece band weren’t there to sell and show off their newest tunes. They are selling something much grander: summer vibes.
The 19-song set started with “When the World Ends” from 2001’s “Everyday” and smoothly transitioned from deeper cuts such as “Black and Blue Bird” from 2018’s “Come Tomorrow” and “You Never Know” from 2002’s “Busted Stuff” to a rocking cover of David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance,” which perfectly captured the mood of the crowd.
Some of his most well-known crowd-pleasers, such as “Grey Street,” “Everyday,” and “Ants Marching,” closed out the main set with a flourish.The trio of songs elicited a massive sing-along from fans, including a beautiful choir-like rendition of the “Everyday” opening with fans singing “Honey, honey, come and dance with me,” along with keyboardist Buddy Strong.
Each of the six band members, including guitarist Tim Reynolds, drummer Carter Beauford, bassist Stefan Lessard, saxophonist Jeff Coffin, and trumpeter Rashawn Ross, took multiple turns ripping through lines to the crowd’s delight. No song featured that better than “Warehouse” from the band’s six million-selling debut record, “Under the Table” and “Dreaming,” from 1994. Reynolds laid down a nimble, frenetic guitar solo before Coffin and Ross took turns showing off their brass.
The two-song encore included Matthews doing “Some Devil,” the title track from his 2003 solo album, by himself before the band returned for a raucous rendition of Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower,” including a lengthy interpolation of Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway To Heaven” crammed into the middle, before Matthews deftly brought it back to “Watchtower.”
Matthews and his band are heavier than Buffett’s Coral Reefer Band, of course, but they share the same summer spirit. And it was on display again, right on time.
Dave Matthews Band Dallas set list
When the World Ends
Funny the Way It Is
You Never Know
Madman’s Eyes
#41
Can’t Stop
Samurai Cop (Oh Joy Begin)
Black and Blue Bird
Warehouse
Lover Lay Down
Let’s Dance
Stolen Away on 55th & 3rd
Lie in Our Graves
Spaceman
Grey Street
Everyday
Ants Marching
Some Devil
All Along the Watchtower/Stairway to Heaven
