Dave Matthews Band came off the bench on Wednesday to resume its summer tour at Ameris Bank Amphitheatre in Alpharetta, GA following a week of rest. The show featured several debuts for the still-nascent summer jaunt as well as a call for peace by the titular frontman ahead of the encore.
Wednesday marked the eighth show of the tour and the first since June 1st in Dallas, TX. The outdoor shed on the outskirts of Atlanta is a familiar site for DMB and its fans, with the band playing there six times since 2009. That comfort showed as Matthews, guitarist Tim Reynolds, drummer Carter Beauford, bassist Stefan Lessard, trumpeter Rashawm Ross, saxophonist Jeff Coffin, and keyboardist Buddy Strong cruised through a 20-song main set. Highlights included an exploratory “Warehouse” that immediately followed the show-opening “When the World Ends” as well as lengthier runs through “Madman’s Eyes” and “Dancin’ Nancies”.
Dave Matthews Band also added three songs to this tour’s setlist rotation, including “It Could Happen” which hadn’t been seen since April 8th, 2024 on the spring tour (23 show gap). Then the encore saw back-to-back tour debuts with “Something to Tell My Baby”, which Matthews performed solo acoustic, and “Stay (Wasting Time)” which closed the show. Ahead of “Something to Tell My Baby”, however, Dave took a moment to address the crowd and the world around him.
“I do feel compelled sometimes to speak my mind and it’s not because I think anybody else is necessarily…their opinion doesn’t matter,” Matthews said to start the encore. “But I do have one [opinion]: when I look at the world and I look at the world I’m gonna leave for my children, I worry when we somehow justify the level of violence that we allow in the world and that we endorse in the world. …And so I with all my heart would like to say that I believe that there should be peace in Palestine, there should be peace in Gaza right now. That’s just how I feel. I can’t think of any reason in my heart that I could think it’s okay to kill a baby. And I want all the hostages to come home and I want everyone who was hurt to be okay, but that’s just not the way the world is. So maybe we can start by looking after each other rather than killing each other for solutions.”
Check out a gallery of images from Dave Matthews Band in Alpharetta courtesy of photographer Christian Stewart along with fan-shot videos by Blake Jefferson and audio from taper Zmanatl.
Dave Matthews Band — “When The World Ends” — 6/12/24
Dave Matthews Band — Ameris Bank Amphitheatre — Alpharetta, GA — 6/12/24 — Full Audio
Setlist: Dave Matthews Band | Ameris Bank Amphitheatre | Alpharetta, GA | 6/12/24
Set: When the World Ends, Warehouse, Sweet, Busted Stuff, Pantala Naga Pampa > Pig, Dreamgirl, Madman’s Eyes, Black and Blue Bird, Dancing Nancies, Lover Lay Down, It Could Happen, So Much to Say > Anyone Seen the Bridge > Too Much, Drunken Soldier, American Baby Intro > Break Free, Rapunzel, You Might Die Trying
Encore: Something to Tell My Baby [1], Stay (Wasting Time)
[1] Dave solo acoustic
