In peak summer concert season in Chicago, Dave Matthews Band returned in support of its 10th studio album, Walk Around the Moon, to Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island and pumped out one of the best two-night runs this favorite tour stop has seen in recent memory.
This band has its legitimacy set in stone for what it can bring to live audiences over the years. This tour, DMB has honed its craft to the point that the band goes on stage and every moment of the set gives fans a memorable experience.
Friday night started off strong with the band arriving on stage with a joyous roar from the crowd focusing on keyboardist Buddy Strong who celebrated his 43rd birthday that night. An impromptu audience rendition of “Happy Birthday” left the keyboardist speechless and jovially welcomed the whole band back to Chicago. Once the band settled in, “Granny” kicked the set off, where fans were singing their hearts out right off the bat. The band flowed through much of its older catalog throughout the evening and sprinkled in songs from the new album here and there.
Related: Dead & Company Welcome Dave Matthews At Spectacular Folsom Field Finale [Videos]
Fans rejoiced at the fact that there were quite a few deep cuts brought out during the show. “Hello Again”, “Idea of You”, and “Digging a Ditch” all had the crowd cheering with excitement—all tour debuts and songs that had sat on the shelf for some time. Fans were given a few tastes of the new album in tracks like “Monsters”, “Walk Around the Moon”, and a fake of “Madman’s Eyes”.
The energetic high-point of the evening came midway through the main set as “Grey Street” drove the crowd wild. The fan favorite even included the seldom-played third verse. Later on, DMB ended the set on a high note with the classic “Ants Marching” closer.
Returning to the stage, Dave came out solo to kick off the encore with the lyrically deep Willie Nelson cover, “Funny How Time Slips Away”, before “Virginia in the Rain” brought the full band back out for the hauntingly beautiful live number. Finally, Dave Mattews Band closed out the night with “So Damn Lucky” for a solid first night of the run. All in all, there was something for even the most casual all the way to the diehard fans, as audiences witnessed five tour debuts and the first “So Damn Lucky” show closer in over a decade.
Coming into night two, lots of guesses were being thrown around about what the band would play. It was literally anyone’s guess. Would they lean into the new album or go with a lot of tracks from the back catalog?
The band kicked off the night with a classic “What Would You Say”, setting the tone for another back catalog-focused show. The energy from the crowd let the band know that we would have a raucous party all night long. DMB follow the opener with “The Best of What’s Around” and then the previously-teased full rendition of “Madman’s Eyes”.
One of the most significant moments of the night came early in the form of back-to-back songs, “Big Eyed Fish” and “Bartender”, also known as the fan-favorite “Fishtender” segue. The former song was another tour debut and later in the set, Dave Matthews Band debuted two other songs from its ninth album, Come Tomorrow, “Samurai Cop” and “Do You Remember”.
Though this is a year where the band is supporting a new album, DMB still delivered fans a pair of shows that leaned heavily on its back catalog. There was even a fake of a radio favorite, “Satellite”, that went right into another classic in “Warehouse”.
Rounding out the final moments of a lovely weekend in Chicago, the encore began with the delightfully beautiful “Sister” before a transition into the energetic “Cornbread” finished off the weekend.
Walk Around the Moon is a great new album and fans were treated to a good portion of it over the two nights. But this band has such an expansive back catalog that the group doesn’t ever have fans worrying about the shows being lackluster. It will always be quite the contrary.
Check out some photos from Dave Matthews Band at Northerly Island in Chicago courtesy of photographer Brett Bergen along with a collection of fan-shot videos from Ron Towles. A full cache of videos is available on his YouTube channel.
Dave Matthews Band – “Granny” – 7/7/23
Setlist: Dave Matthews Band | Huntington Bank Pavilion At Northerly Island | Chicago, IL | 7/7/23
Set: Granny, Pantala Naga Pampa > Rapunzel, Recently, Sweet, Hello Again, Monsters, Lie in Our Graves, Walk Around the Moon, Brick House (Commodores) [1], It Could Happen > Squirm [2], Idea of You, Grey Street, Digging a Ditch, Late in the Evening (Paul Simon) [3] [4], So Much to Say > Ants Marching [4]
Encore: Funny How Time Slips Away (Willie Nelson), Virginia in the Rain > So Damn Lucky
[1] w/ “Too Much” fake intro
[2] w/ “Madman’s Eyes” fake intro
[3] FTP
[4] w/ Ron Blake
Setlist: Dave Matthews Band | Huntington Bank Pavilion At Northerly Island | Chicago, IL | 7/8/23
Set: What Would You Say, The Best of What’s Around, Madman’s Eyes, Break Free, Big Eyed Fish > Bartender, When the World Ends, All You Wanted Was Tomorrow, Don’t Drink the Water, Samurai Cop (Oh Joy Begin), Warehouse [1], Looking For a Vein, Do You Remember, Sledgehammer (Peter Gabriel), Only Takes a Moment, All Along the Watchtower (Bob Dylan) > Stairway to Heaven (Led Zeppelin) [2] > All Along the Watchtower, Funny the Way It Is, Crush
Encore: Sister, Cornbread
[1] w/ “Satellite” fake intro
[2] Partial
