The Daze Between Band has been the crown jewel of Live For Live Music’s Fest by Nite lineup for years, and Wednesday night’s 2025 edition at Tipitina’s was no exception: In addition to the core lineup consisting of members of The Meters, Dumpstaphunk, Soulive, Trey Anastasio Band, and more, the show featured a long list of surprise guests including Dave Matthews, Mike Gordon (Phish), G. Love, Andy Frasco, Duane Betts, Neal Francis, Jeff Coffin, and more, helping bring both the 2025 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival season past its midpoint.

Following the final day of Daze Between New Orleans over at the Mahalia Jackson Theater, the ever-evolving Daze Between Band hit the stage at the famed Uptown club with an all-star roster featuring Fest by Nite all-star Eric Krasno (guitar, bandleader; Soulive) alongside Daze Between Band veterans George Porter Jr. (bass; The Meters), Ivan Neville (keys, vocals; Dumpstaphunk), Tony Hall (bass, vocals; Dumpstaphunk), Jennifer Hartswick (trumpet, vocals; Trey Anastasio Band), Skerik (saxophone; Les Claypool), Nicki Bluhm (vocals), Alex Wasily (trombone; Dumpstaphunk), and Raymond Weber (drums; formerly Dumpstaphunk).

Beyond its billed members, this annual Wednesday late-night show has become well known for attracting high-profile surprise guests. We always tend to say that “you never know who might show up at Tipitina’s for The Daze Between Band,” and this year that adage rang truer than ever as the clock crept toward 2:00 a.m.

New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival headliner and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Dave Matthews, the first of the night’s many surprise cameos, led the Daze Between Band through a pair of covers from the Dave Matthews Band live playbook, Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer” and Daniel Lanois’ “The Maker”.

Later, Mike Gordon—in town early ahead of his own Fest by Nite show at The Joy Theater on Friday, May 2nd— joined in with George Porter Jr. on a second bass and backing vocals for a funky and contextually significant take on “Sneakin’ Sally Through The Alley”, the Robert Palmer tune written by Allen Toussaint and recorded in New Orleans with Porter and the rest of The Meters as the backing band which has become a favorite live cover for Phish through the years.

Related: Mike Gordon Talks Phish’s Rock Hall Nod & The “Joyous Experiment” He’s Planning In New Orleans [Interview]

Other highlight sit-ins included Andy Frasco and G. Love leading a take on The Blues Brothers’ “Who’s Making Love”, Duane Betts and Neal Francis hopping up for Allen Toussaint’s “Get Out of My Life, Woman”, and more.

Below, check out photo galleries from The Daze Between Band at Tipitina’s via Jay Strausser and Dave Vann and view a selection of crowd-shot videos from the night. You can also revisit a full, pro-shot stream of the performance via nugs here.

Live For Live Music has plenty more Fest by Nite action in store during the second weekend of New Orleans Jazz Fest. The party continues on Thursday night with a number of familiar faces from The Daze Between Band at The Joy Theater for A Dream We Dreamed: A New Orleans Tribute to Phil Lesh and much more. Find a full list of Weekend Two Fest by Nite shows and related ticketing information here.

Daze Between Band – “Street Parade” (Earl King) [Pro-Shot] – 4/30/25 

The Daze Between Band w/ Dave Matthews – “Sledgehammer” (Peter Gabriel) [Pro-Shot] – 4/30/25

The Daze Between Band w/ Dave Matthews – “The Maker” (Daniel Lanois) – 4/30/25 

The Daze Between Band w/ Mike Gordon – “Sneakin’ Sally Through The Alley” (Allen Toussaint) [Pro-Shot] – 4/30/25