Comfortably in their 30s, the Dave Matthews Band showcase sharp sound in St. Louis return
The jam band kept music fans entertained for over two and a half hours on Saturday night.
Walking into a concert venue and hearing your favorite band play music is a lot like walking into a bar and hearing the voice of longtime friends.
After too many years spent elsewhere on tour, the Dave Matthews Band strolled into the Hollywood Casino Amphitheater on Saturday night, comfortably striding through their 30s. That’s over three decades as a touring band. D.M.B. came into prominence as the 1990s reached their midpoint, a group of friends from Charlottesville with the pure intention of combining their respective talents to create a unique sound.
The signature touch of D.M.B. is transforming any of their songs into a Summer Olympics theme, an attribute that detractors pick at and hardcore supporters come to expect. It’s not just a 15-minute version of Jimi Thing that could be waiting for concert attendees, but a normally three-minute song like Grace Is Gone being stretched into double digits. They opened with an old goodie in Rapunzel, and then fired off a live show-only tune like The Idea of You.
The peaks of the evening came during extended renditions of fan favorites like Lie in Our Graves and Dancing Nancies, and the comfort of The Space Between pleased fans of the band’s electric-infused album, Everyday. Tripping Billies and the expected cover of All Along The Watchtower populated the second half of their setlist. The list of tunes was their most eclectic gathering of tunes in their last few visits to St. Louis. Without sticking to the hits or unearthing little-known album favorites, the band delivered the goods in the only way they know how: by showing love to the people in attendance and each other.
Every D.M.B. live show includes pit stops with every member of the band. Instead of Taylor Swift or a legit face of the show carrying the workload, Matthews and company treat the show like a movie with a great ensemble cast attached to its plot. The whole band gets a chance to shine bright. Matthews will stop mid-song, and hand off the keys of the live music to his longtime friend and lead guitarist, St. Louis’s own Tim Reynolds, or Jeff Coffin, the saxophonist. Stefan Lassard, the bassist, opened up the post-encore cover of the Bob Dylan classic.
Buddy Strong’s stellar work on keyboard turned many songs into something extra, like adding extra silk to a tailored suit. Carter Beauford’s drum work can be diligently complementary, but he can step forward and take over a song with a thunderous treatment. Rashawn Ross cranks up the trumpet to tag-team a tune with Coffin, who took over for the “father” of the band, the late LeRoi Moore. Every live show feels like a tribute to the saxophone specialist who died suddenly in 2008 following an ATV accident.
D.M.B. turns ordinarily supporting instruments into star players for one evening, soaking every bit of creative juice from the ensemble instead of pushing too hard into one facet of their arsenal. Matthews, who always looks like he rolled out of bed right onto the stage in a comfortable t-shirt and jeans setup that hasn’t wavered in the many times I’ve experienced his music live. Like the rest of the band, he gives until it’s all gone before hopping back on the tour bus and moving on to the next stop.
With them, what you see is what you get. There are no gimmicks or overzealous light shows. Just a collection of musicians with a need to impose their creative will on an audience that handed them their evening. Over 30 years into their run, their sound hasn’t lost a bit of sharpness.