It was an eventful weekend for the Dave Matthews Band and its fans who followed the group to shows in New York and Connecticut. After making a rain-battered debut at Forest Hills Stadium in New York City on Friday, DMB traveled to the Xfinity Theatre in Hartford, CT on Saturday where the band paid tribute to The Beatles with an Abbey Road classic.
First up, Dave Matthews Band visited the Forest Hills neighborhood of Queens to play its first-ever concert at the historic tennis stadium. The evening began with overcast skies as the band mixed time-honored classics like the opening “One Sweet World” and “Busted Stuff” alongside cuts from its new album Walk Around The Moon including “Looking for a Vein” and “Madman’s Eyes”.
Midway through the show, the sky opened up and unleashed a downpour on the packed house. Rather than rushing for cover, the devoted mob began chanting for the band to perform “JTR”. Ever the gracious hosts, DMB obliged the crowd and belted out the song’s chorus, “Rain, rain, rain down on me / again and again, rain down on me.”
In the face of the elements, the Dave Matthews Band powered through a 24-song performance. The band threw in a partial cover of the Commodores‘ “Brick House” as well as a snippet of The Kingsmen‘s classic “Louie Louie” into “Warehouse”. At the end of a long evening, the show came to a triumphant finish with a triple encore of “Monsters”, “Granny”, and finally “Crush”.
Getting out of the Big Apple, Dave Matthews Band traveled up to Hartford, CT on Saturday for a show at the Xfinity Theatre. Conditions improved on Saturday as the band staged a 20-song show that also gave attention to the band’s album released last month with takes on the title track, “After Everything”, and more.
Halfway through the concert, immediately following “Madman’s Eyes”, DMB pulled out a surprise with a partial performance of The Beatles’ “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”. Though the band has staged three partial performances of the roaring Abbey Road track thus far this tour, DMB has never played it in full, per DMB Almanac. Later on in the show, frontman Dave Matthews got the crowd’s hopes up as he started the encore with a tease of “#40”, which hasn’t been played to completion since July 4th, 2015.
Rather than reviving the rarity, Dave Matthews instead closed out the show and the weekend run with a fitting “Say Goodbye” and finally “Shake Me Like a Monkey”.
Check out image galleries from Dave Matthews Band in New York and Connecticut over the weekend courtesy of photographers Andrew Blackstein and Charlie Jenkins respectively. The band’s tour resumes on Wednesday in Darien Lake, NY. Visit the group’s website for tickets and a full list of tour dates.
Dave Matthews Band – “One Sweet World” – 6/9/23
[Video: Patrick McKenna]
Setlist: Dave Matthews Band | Forest Hills Stadium | Forest Hills, NY | 6/9/23
Set: One Sweet World, When the World Ends, Busted Stuff, Pantala Naga Pampa, Rapunzel, Looking for a Vein, Madman’s Eyes, Funny the Way It Is, Kill the Preacher, Why I Am, Walk Around the Moon, JTR [1], You & Me, The Only Thing, Jimi Thing, Brick House (Commodores), #41, It Could Happen, Warehouse [2], Crash Into Me, You Might Die Trying
Encore: Monsters, Granny, Crush
[1] Played in response to crowd chants after the rain started
[2] w/ “Louie Louie” snippet
Setlist: Dave Matthews Band | Xfinity Theatre | Hartford, CT | 6/10/23
Set: The Song That Jane Likes, Stay or Leave, Satellite, All You Wanted Was Tomorrow, Grey Street, Walk Around the Moon, You Might Die Trying, Virginia in the Rain, Madman’s Eyes, I Want You (She’s So Heavy) (The Beatles) [1], After Everything, Louisiana Bayou, Typical Situation, Don’t Drink the Water, Looking for a Vein, The Space Between, Dancing Nancies, Stay (Wasting Time)
Encore: #40 [2], Say Goodbye, Shake Me Like a Monkey
[1] Partial, LTP 6/16/17
[2] Tease
