Review:The Dave Matthews Band Caravan
The Gorge Amphitheatre
George, WA
Sept 2-4, 2011
When the Dave Matthews Band decided to take their first year off in two decades, they realized they still had to find a way to mark their 20th anniversary. This culminated in four three-night, multi-band festivals, in which DMB headlined every night. This past weekend the Caravan stopped at the band's annual labor day stomping grounds of "The Gorge", a picturesque venue overlooking a giant canyon in central Washington state. The band has been playing here since the mid-90s, and for most of the past decade has made three nights at "The Gorge" a late tour labor day tradition. Every year the band is known for bringing their A-game, and filling sets targeted at these most hard-core destination fans stand out, and 2011 was no exception.
9/2
The three night shows were also televised live via full video webcast, and in full disclosure, I only managed to attend nights 2 and 3. Night 1 was a solid opener to the run, in which the band played a lot of their more recent material, including much of 2009s Big Whiskey & the Groogrux King. Highlights of the night included the live hardcore favorite "Shotgun", the jam heavy "Lying In the Hands of God", and the surprise return of 2005s "American Baby intro and American Baby", which, although a little sloppy, was a welcome return to the repertoire. Dave also played the newly and beautifully written ukelele tune "Sweet", written for his son who is learning to swim.
DMB - Friday Sep 2 2011:
Don’t Drink the Water
Squirm
Proudest Monkey >
Satellite
Seven
Pantala Naga Pampa >
Rapunzel
Sweet *
Out Of My Hands +
Lying In the Hands of God
Shotgun
American Baby Intro >
American Baby
Funny The Way It Is
Stay Or Leave
Crush
Shake Me Like a Monkey
Tripping Billies
__________________
Time Bomb
Grey Street
* Dave Solo
+ Dave, Carter, Stefan and Tim
> indicates a segue into next song
9/3
The second day of the Caravan kicked off with an energy driven performance by Tim Reynold's TR3, a predominately instrumental rock power trio. Highlights of that set included a melody driven but powerful rendition of Led Zeppelin's Kashmir, the classic driving ballad "Radar Love", and several songs from TR3s "Radiance" album, a recent DMB pre-show house music staple, and an excellent rock album.
Day 2 also featured a phenomenal perforamnce by the Warren Haynes Band, still touring in promotion of this summer's acclaimed Man In Motion album. The set featured such highlights as "Sick of My Shadow", and the album's title track, as well as Haynes' popular anthem from his other bands, the Allman Brothers Band's classic "Soulshine". DMB's Rashawn Ross set in on several songs in this set.The final opener on the main stage was the Roots, who managed to tear themselves away from Jimmy Fallon's stage long enough to tear it up for the crowd. Their exciting set blended hip hop, rock, and jazz to perfection as they played to a near capacity crowd while the sunset began. Unfortunately there were another 5-6 bands on the two side stages I was not able to check out.
DMB took the stage about 8:25, and for the next three hours played one of the more memorable shows in my 15 years of touring. The show opened with the haunting "Big Eyed Fish" > "Bartender" combination, in which Jeff Coffin killed on the sax and penny whistle. The set blended fan favorites from throughout the band's career, and included a few 2011 debuts - the return of #27, and a stellar surprise cover of Blue Oyster Cult's "(Don't Fear) The Reaper". The highlight of the show was one of the most intense performances of Neil Young's "Cortez the Killer" ever played. This long time DMB guest favorite, featured the return of Warren Haynes to the stage, who spent the better part of twenty minutes dueling vocals with Dave and lead guitar licks with Tim Reynolds. Haynes' sax player Ron Holloway came out to join the band for Jimi Thing, another stellar performance, and several other members of his band joined on backing vocals for the crowd pleasing "Stay (Wasting Time)". Other highlights included a killer #41, a slightly retooled "The Maker" by Daniel Lanois" and the 1-2 combination of So Much to Say > (Anyone Seen the Bridge) > Too Much. Overall this show was arguably the best of 2011, and the crowd left wondering how it could possibly be topped.
DMB - Saturday Sep 3 2011:
Big Eyed Fish
Bartender
One Sweet World
You Might Die Trying
#27
Write A Song
Spaceman >
Corn Bread
(#40)
Dive In
#41
The Maker
Cortez The Killer +
So Much To Say >
Anyone Seen The Bridge >
Too Much
Jimi Thing *
You and Me
Stay (Wasting Time) ~Ä
__________________
(Dont Fear) The Reaper
Two Step
Show Notes:
* Ron Holloway
+ Warren Haynes
~ Alecia Chakour
Ä Nigel Hall
5|| Dave Solo
(song name) indicates a partial song
> indicates a segue into next song
9/4
The final day of the caravan featured a few more weekend highlights. Josh Ritter entertained the crowd with his blend of country pop, before Dave and Tim played an acoustic set on the side stage. The short Dave and Tim set featured the typical blending of Dave storytelling and excellent stripped down versions of DMB tunes. Dave made a lot of jokes about his expensive pajamas, and sat there watching in awe with the audience as Tim played his solo song. The flawless performance featured non-stop highlights, and Dave and Tim doing what they do best - making big complex layered sound with just two guitars and one voice. In an era of DMB that is so rock/electric driven, it's also nice to see these shows where Dave's unique guitar playing is not only heard, but featured again, and this set was perfect.
;
Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds:Sunday Sep 4, 2011:
Grace Is Gone
Save Me
So Damn Lucky
Little Red Bird
Old Dirt Hill
Tim Solo
Oh
Eh Hee
Dancing Nancies
The final "opener" on the main stage was the reformed Dispatch, who put on one of the best show's of the weekend. Opening with their classic "Here We Go" and featuring an added guitar player and percussionist, the trio bounced around between a full band sound and a tiny three person acoustic arrangement. They played songs that spanned their career, including highlights "Bats In the Belfree" and "The General". This band is at a new peak, and the crowd seemed highly engaged in their performance. They also seemed elated to finally be performing on the picturesque and famous Gorge stage.
When DMB finally took the stage at 7:30pm, they were going to have a tough time topping Saturday. Opening with the crowd pleasing "Everyday", had tens of thousands of people singing along to kick off the night. This set was all over the place in terms of era, flow, and intensity level, but although somewhat awkward at times it was full of highlights. A near 20 minute Seek Up was dominated by near everyone in the band, Carter Beauford crushed drum solos on the classic "Say Goodbye" and "Gravedigger", and Boyd gave his all on an epic "Lie In Our Graves" - Left open in the main set and with the reprised outro revisited in the encore. Other highlights included the Busted Stuff fan favorite "Raven", which has been retooled to start with Dave solo and escalate into something big and bold, a Tim Reynolds dominated cover of Led Zeppelin's "Good Times Bad Times", the work in progress wall of sound "Black Jack", and the rarity "Halloween" which seems to have been played more frequently at the Gorge then any other venue. This show definitely had a higher "rarity value" then the other two, and also featured standout performances by Rashawn Ross and Stefan Lessard. A side note on this show, would be the glowstick war that escalated throughout the weekend, culminating on fans building a near football length glowing chain that gradually made its way down to the stage during the second half of the show. Before the encore, Dave commented at how awesome it was, and how it shows what people can accomplish if they work together. Night three definitely had a more jazzy and mellow feel to it, but certainly had its rock moments, and although slightly below Saturday, was a solid and memorable show in itself. The band closed the weekend with Sly and the Family Stone's "Thank You (Falletinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" as the crowd continued chanting the signature lyric all the way to the parking lot.
This weekend completely lived up to the hype, and the travel expense, and the Gorge is definitely everything people say it is. The view and sunset alone made the trip worth it, and every band brought their A game. DMB/Dave alone played 70 different songs over the course of the three nights, with no repeats. I only wish I could have seen the 15 or so other bands over the three days that I didn't get a chance to check out. I also commend DMBs management for doing such an excellent job of making the grounds organized, inviting, and easy to navigate. This was a very well run festival, and everyone seemed to have the time of their lives. The DMB caravan concludes next weekend at New York City's Randall's Island, a rain date weekend to replace the Irene cancelled Governor's Island dates from late August.
DMB - Sunday Sep 5, 2011:
Everyday
Seek Up
Why I Am
Alligator Pie
Crash Into Me
Say Goodbye
Digging a Ditch
Warehouse
Raven
Gravedigger
Lie In Our Graves
Loving Wings
Good Times Bad Times
Black Jack
Granny
All Along The Watchtower
__________________
Baby Blue *
Lie In Our Graves (reprise) >
Halloween
Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)
Show Notes:
* Dave Solo
> indicates a segue into next song
Oh, and check out the highlight of the weekend here:
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