Dave Matthews Band concert review

In the last decade, no band has sold more concert tickets across the United States (does not mean they made the most money sadly) than the Dave Matthews Band. Touring each and every summer since their inception some twenty years ago, going to see the diverse group of musicians has become something akin to a rite of passage in the American concert going scene, and Thursday among 17,000 fans at the Xcel Energy Center I'm proud to say I finally took my turn.

First and foremost, I must say that after seeing DMB it was clear to me that this is not simply Dave Matthew's Band, but rather a roaring group of musicians that happen to bear their lead singer and primary songwriter's name. Few other bands with lead singer namesakes seem to have this distinction, Dave was routinely not the center of attention or even an important component of long burning jams by his surrounding band mates, whereas attention removed from name holders like Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Seeger, etc. is seldom and short lived. I also need to sing praise for Dave being an amazing down to earth front man never showing signs of rock egotism. He was the first performer onstage, not appearing several minutes after the rest of the band as is true with many groups, and introduced the opening band, Black Joe Lewis and the HoneyBears, himself. Class act.

There is so much to say about Dave and Company's 2hr 45min set, not to mention Black Joe Lewis's 30 min set, that I've decided to break down the rest of the review in bullet point fashion. Enjoy:

-Black Joe Lewis and the HoneyBears were awesome. Pure 70s funk fused with gospel soul, a James Brown style vocal delivery, and lead by an up tempo electric guitar.

-As America's radio friendly jam bands, songs doulbe or tripled in length. The first three songs lasted around 30mins.

-Every musician got a grand moment to shine, even non-official DMB members, and the ferosity between players was often mind blowing.

-When the band caught a really pleasing groove, Dave would launch into a prancing jump sort of dance. Supposedly a DMB concert can be ultimately judged on how often Dave launches into this crazy jig.

-It was not a night for casual DMB fans, the group played very few singles and surprisingly on four songs off their new cd.

-As amazing as DMB was, there were several valley moments were the onstage jams just went on way to long.

-Everything about the band sounded great, Dave's voice, every instrument, and the visuals and lighting really tied everything together nicely.

-Dave kicked off the encore by doing a solo rendition of an old folk classic "If I dont get whiskey I will surely die." Actually I was amazed at how often Dave's lyrics mentioned whiskey. I hope his family was paying attention for a good Christmas present.

-Joined by the horn section of the Honeybears, the DMB ended the night with "Ants Marching" so intense and electrifying, that any lulls in the nearly 3hr set were instantly erased.

-The DMB drummer, Carter Beauford, stayed on stage long after all his bandmates throwing endless amounts of drumsticks to fans.

So if you're thinking about going to see The Dave Matthews Band, just stop. Stop fucking thinking and go do it man, you wont regret it.