Dave Matthews Band performing at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, CA. September 8, 2018. Photo Credit: Jared Stossel
Dave Matthews Band
Shoreline Amphitheatre
Mountain View, CA
September 8, 2018
Photos and review by Jared Stossel
On Saturday night, the highly anticipated return of Dave Matthews Band made its way to Shoreline Amphitheatre for a three-hour show filled with twenty songs that spanned the band's decades-long career. Almost every year, Dave Matthews Band comes to the Bay Area, mainly to perform at Shoreline Amphitheatre. Over the years, I've missed nearly every opportunity to catch a live show and review their set. This year, the stars aligned and we finally got a chance to go and check out what everyone has been talking about.
Right off the bat, it's easy to see and hear that they are an immaculate live band. With their ability to play any track from their catalogue with gusto and perfection, as well as break into a jam session at nearly any given time, it's easy to see why a Dave Matthews Band show will always be a full house, no matter where they perform. The seven-piece band also has the ability to seamlessly maneuver from genre to genre; throughout the night, I heard rock, folk, and even salsa music thrown into the mix. Every member on stage looks like their having the time of their life performing, the crowd feeds off of their energy.
A majority of tracks in their set list came from the band's most recent effort, 2018's Come Tomorrow (their ninth album as a collective). The show was opened with "Do You Remember", a catchy track from Come Tomorrow that set the tone for the show perfectly, before heading into "Don't Drink The Water" from Before These Crowded Streets. What followed was a three hour show filled with incredible musicianship, crowd-pleasing sing-along moments, some cover songs (The Zombies' "Time of the Season" and Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer", and a sense of familiarity that is hard to find at many shows.
Even though I had never seen Dave Matthews Band before, I felt like I was attending a show that felt like a homecoming. Matthews even noted this towards the beginning of their show, stating that they've been coming to this venue for so many years, and how it always feels so great to return and feel so welcome. Their fanbase is unlike any that I've ever seen before, and I say this as someone who has attended hundreds of concerts and seen some of the craziest fanbases out there. Their fans are dedicated to being there and knowing the material, and it makes watching the happy faces in the crowd just as entertaining as watching the band onstage. A Dave Matthews Band show is an experience, and one that I'm glad I got to experience after all of these years. If you're a fan of music in general, regardless of the genre you may gravitate towards, we encourage you to take a night and go check out one of the best live bands in the industry.
Dave Matthews Band Set List
Do You Remember
Don't Drink the Water
Satellite
That Girl Is You
Seek Up
Again and Again
Old Dirt Hill (Bring That Beat Back)
Everyday
Time of the Season (The Zombies cover)
Dancing Nancies
Warehouse
Come Tomorrow
Grey Street
Here on Out
Sledgehammer (Peter Gabriel cover)
Digging a Ditch
You Might Die Trying
Ants Marching
Encore:
Samurai Cop (Oh Joy Begin)
Shake Me Like a Monkey