After giving an emotional performance honoring the recent deaths of Jimmy Buffett and James Casey on Saturday, Dave Matthews Band returned to The Gorge Amphitheatre Sunday night ready to end the group’s annual Labor Day run, and its summer tour, on a high note. On hand to help lift the spirits of both the band and the audience was alt-country sensation Sierra Ferrell.
After attempting to make “small talk” with 20,000 fans while his special guest made her way to the stage, Dave Matthews told the crowd,”Earlier I was over there, and Sierra Ferrell was also over there, and then I thought, ‘Maybe she would like to come and bring her hauntingly beautiful voice on stage.’ At first I was real nervous, and then she said, ‘Okay,’ so I would like to invite Sierra Ferrell up here to sing this song with us.”
Ferrell emerged from backstage in an ensemble more fit for center stage, with a dazzling sequined leotard and bright red fringe, not to mention her knee-high boots and feathered cowboy hat. Like Matthews, she seemed surprisingly bashful as she acknowledged the “amazing band,” adding, “and of course Dave’s amazing”
“Yes, ma’am,” Matthews politely replied (most likely agreeing about the band) before busting into “Long Black Veil”.
The mutual admiration between Matthews and Ferrell was apparent as they traded verses and effortlessly harmonized on the song written by Danny Dill and Marijohn Wilkin and first released by Lefty Frizzell in 1959.
Watch Dave Matthews Band welcome Sierra Ferrell to sit in on “Long Black Veil” at The Gorge below.
Sunday’s show also included several fan favorites including “Dancing Nancies”, “#41”, “Warehouse”, which featured a fake-out “Satellite” intro, as well as covers of “Sledgehammer” by Peter Gabriel and “All Along the Watchtower” by Bob Dylan.
Having concluded the band’s summer tour, Dave Matthews Band will return to the road in the fall, starting November 7th in Savannah, GA, before heading to South Africa for the band’s first shows in Matthews’ birth country in ten years. For more information on the band’s upcoming tour, head here, and to purchase tickets, visit the band’s website.
Dave Matthews Band With Sierra Ferrell – “Long Black Veil” – 9/3/23
[Video: Mitch Wight]
Setlist: Dave Matthews Band | The Gorge Amphitheatre | George, WA | 9/3/23
Set: Water Into Wine (Partial) > Dancing Nancies, Proudest Monkey, Warehouse (with “Satellite” fake intro), Sweet, All You Wanted Was Tomorrow, #41, Grey Street, Long Black Veil (Lefty Frizzell) (with Sierra Ferrell) (First time played since August 1, 2015), She, Grace Is Gone, Cornbread, The Ocean and the Butterfly, The Only Thing, Sledgehammer (Peter Gabriel), Lover Lay Down, Don’t Drink the Water, Old Dirt Hill (Bring That Beat Back) > All Along the Watchtower (Bob Dylan)
Encore: Something to Tell My Baby (Dave solo), The Last Stop, Halloween