Dave Matthews Band's 'Sugar Will' returns

Dave Matthews Band has revived "Sugar Will," a 2004 song that did not make the final cut for the Stand Up album.

DMB played "Sugar Will" on Wednesday in Tampa, Fla. and again Friday in West Palm Beach, Fla. The last time the band had played the song in concert was Oct. 5, 2004.

Several other DMB songs made their returns this week in Florida as well. They included "Drive In, Drive Out" (last played in 2006), "Help Myself" (last played in 2005), and the tour debuts of "Stay" and "The Song That Jane Likes."

The Tampa Tribune has a review of Wednesday's show.

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Dave Matthews Band plays Rothbury Festival

Dave Matthews Band headlined the Rothbury Festival last night, playing a nearly three-hour set that relied heavily on '90s classics.

The concert was a live webcast, giving most DMB fans their first chance to see the band in action without LeRoi Moore, who reportedly punctured a lung and broke ribs in a June 30 ATV accident. Replacement sax player Jeff Coffin shined on several solos, including "Grey Street" and "#41," but you can tell he's still learning a lot of the songs. Rashawn Ross was showing him how to play songs during breaks, and Jeff also played with notes on a stand in front of him. A musician of Jeff's caliber will definitely catch on quickly.

Other highlights of the show included a very heavy, rock version of "Eh Hee," a climactic "You Might Die Trying" and great horn work by Jeff and Rashawn on "Gravedigger." Classics included the "Seek Up" opener, "Satellite," "Jimi Thing," "Tripping Billies" and "Ants Marching."

DMB's next show is Monday in Atlanta.

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Dave Matthews Band plays 'Sledgehammer'

Dave Matthews Band covered "Sledgehammer," Peter Gabriel's 1986 classic, during the June 28 concert in Bristow, Va.

DMB had been rehearsing "Sledgehammer" in pre-show soundchecks for a while, increasing fans' expectations each time. Here's video of the live performance:



The Richmond Times-Dispatch gave the concert a glowing review and even called "Sledgehammer" the highlight of the night.

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Dave Matthews Band revives 'Water/Wine Jam'

Dave Matthews band played the "Water/Wine Jam" outro to "Recently" last night in St. Louis for the first time in nearly 12 years.

DMB last played "Water/Wine Jam" on Oct. 24, 1996. Last night's setlist also featured "Recently" and "Pay For What You Get," two songs last played in 2006. For the first time this tour, the band did not debut a new cover song.

The concert was the first ever at the new Busch Stadium, home of the St. Louis Cardinals. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has a positive review of the show as well as a behind-the-scenes article. And the Riverfront Times features a DMB concert photo slideshow.

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Dave Matthews Band covers Neil Young

Dave Matthews Band played Neil Young's "Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)" last night, continuing a run of surprising setlists so far on the summer 2008 tour.

"Hey Hey, My My" was the first song of the encore during the show in Camden, N.J. DMB has never played the song before, although Dave Matthews did play it solo at a Neil Young tribute concert in 2001.

DMB has previously covered Young's "Cortez the Killer" and "Down by the River." The band has even performed "Rockin' in the Free World" with Neil and Peggy Young. Dave, Eddie Vedder and members of the Dave Matthews and Friends band also covered "Rockin' in the Free World" once, as has Stefan Lessard's side project, Yukon Kornelius.

Last night's DMB show received a positive review on Delaware Online. Here's a video of DMB playing "Hey Hey, My My":



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Dave Matthews Band kicks off tour with surprises

The Dave Matthews Band 2008 summer tour began this weekend with two very unexpected setlists.

The May 30 and May 31 concerts in Burgettstown, Pa. featured several cover songs DMB has never played before, including "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" by Sly and the Family Stone, "Money" by Pink Floyd and the classic "Money (That's What I Want)." For the first time ever, DMB also played "Gravedigger" and "So Damn Lucky," two songs from Dave Matthews' solo album, Some Devil.

There are two likely reasons for the creative setlists: the presence of Tim Reynolds and the absence of Butch Taylor. Tim played guitar on Some Devil and on the Dave Matthews and Friends tour, where the band regularly played "Thank You." And with Butch gone, some of the songs DMB typically plays in concert may need some reworking.

In the meantime, fans are getting some of the most unpredictable sets in years. It will be interesting to see how the rest of the tour goes.

As Dave and Boyd Tinsley both hinted at before the tour started, DMB did not play any songs from this spring's studio sessions, although the band did play "#27" and "Cornbread," two songs that debuted last year and will likely be on the next DMB album.

Friday's tour opener received rave reviews from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Rolling Stone.

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Rolling Stone pans Live at Piedmont Park album

Dave Matthews Band's Live at Piedmont Park album gets a two-star review (out of five) in the new issue of Rolling Stone.

Reviewer Kevin O'Donnell writes that DMB sounds "a little bored" and that the several new songs on the live CD are "in need of more road-testing." But he does give kudos to the three songs that end the regular set, "Too Much," "Warehouse" and "Stay."

Meanwhile, The Daily Campus, the student newspaper at Southern Methodist University, has a glowing review of the album. Live at Piedmont Park captures Dave Matthews Band's Sept. 8, 2007 show in Atlanta, and it hits stores next week. A DVD is also available.

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Dave Matthews Band ringtones due from AT&T

Dave Matthews Band ringtones are now available for AT&T wireless customers.

DMB and AT&T announced the deal yesterday, the same day the band played the first of two AT&T-sponsored shows at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y. A live version of "Ants Marching" is available now, and these other songs will follow Dec. 1: "Don't Drink the Water," "Say Goodbye," "Two Step" and live versions of "Everyday," "Warehouse" and "When the World Ends."

The Times Herald-Record has a review of last night's Army show, with reaction from Cadets who got to act like "any other college kids" for one night, as well as a large photo gallery from the concert. Dave Matthews Band will play another show tonight, and it will again be Webcast in the AT&T Blue Room.

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Dave Matthews meets Virginia Tech victims

Dave Matthews Band headlined A Concert for Virginia Tech on Thursday night, helping about 50,000 members of the Virginia Tech community heal after April's campus massacre.

Highlights of DMB's set included a cover of Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds" and John Mayer's appearance playing guitar on "#41." DMB also flew in The Roots' horn section to sit in for most of the show. And during Mayer's set, LeRoi Moore came out and played saxophone on "Gravity."

Nas and Phil Vassar also performed at the free show. The Roanoke Times has a great photo gallery, which includes pictures of Dave Matthews meeting Virginia Tech shooting victims before the concert. The Richmond Times-Dispatch has a positive review, featuring interviews with students talking about how the concert helped the school. But the review by Planet Blacksburg, a student-run media organization, is full of inaccuracies.

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Dave Matthews Band concert good, mesh shirt bad

The Kansas City Star has a short review of Dave Matthews Band's Aug. 28 show in Bonner Springs, Kansas. The highlight is this line: "Boyd Tinsley, the band’s violinist, gave an especially notable performance – although the mesh shirt was probably not necessary."

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Dave Matthews Band, Cincinnati weather reviewed

Dave Matthews Band receives an OK review of last night's show at Riverbend Music Center in The Enquirer of Cincinnati. Critic Chris Varias spends as much time talking about the heat as he does about the show.

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New Dave Matthews Band songs get critic's praise

Dave Matthews Band's show on Monday night in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio gets a glowing review in The Plain Dealer of Cleveland. Critic John Soeder praises DMB's new songs, calling "Corn Bread" a "heavy-metal hoedown" and comparing "#27" to a Neil Young song. He also described "Eh Hee" as "weirdly captivating."

The show also featured the return of "Stand Up," which DMB had not played since December 2005.

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Rolling Stone reviews Dave and Tim show

Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds' July 28 show at the East Hampton Social has received a short but positive review in Rolling Stone magazine's Smoking Section.

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Dave Matthews Band shows in Indiana reviewed

Dave Matthews Band's two-night stand in Noblesville, Ind. has received positive reviews in two local newspapers.

The Noblesville Daily Times has this short recap of the Aug. 17 show, while The Indianapolis Star chimes in with this review of the Aug. 18 show. That second show marked the first time Dave Matthews Band played the new song "Eh Hee" (download), which is featured on the new Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds album, Live at Radio City.

UPDATE: The Noblesville Daily Times also has a less enthusiastic review of the Aug. 18 show.

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Newspaper reviews Live at Radio City

Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds Live at Radio City gets a B in the Orange County Register's review. Critic Ben Werner says the album is great because it blocks out the obnoxious crowd noise that often accompanies Dave and Tim shows, and he calls the CD one of Dave's "more appealing live offerings."

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Newspaper reviews Saratoga Springs show

The Post Star of Glens Falls, N.Y. has a positive review of Dave Matthews Band's show Tuesday night at Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC). The highlight of the review: The look on guest Trey Anastasio's face during his "Lie In Our Graves" solo is described as "equal parts 'I'm not sure I know this one' and 'I have gas.'"

The SPAC show marked the first time DMB has played one of Dave Matthews' solo songs. The full band joined in on "Some Devil," and here's a video of part of that performance:



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Rolling Stone reviews Live at Radio City

Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds Live at Radio City has received a three-out-of-five star review in Rolling Stone.

Reviewer Christian Hoard says the double album would have been better if Dave and Tim pared it down to one CD, calling "Save Me" a "snoozer" and criticizing the "noodle-y" guitar solo on "Lie In Our Graves." But he also gives kudos to the "sensitive-dude beauty" of "Sister" and "Don't Drink the Water." "Dancing Nancies" and "Corn Bread" are also mentioned as highlights.

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Newspaper reviews Hartford show

The Republican, a newspaper in Springfield, Mass., has a positive review of Dave Matthews Band's show on Aug. 4 in Hartford, Conn.

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Dave Matthews Band covers Doobie Brothers

Dave Matthews Band shook the rust off and played a high-energy, jammed-out set last night in Mansfield, Mass.

The best part of the show came during "Grace Is Gone," where DMB segued into a giant sing-along of "Black Water" by the Doobie Brothers and then back into "Grace Is Gone." The only repeats from Wednesday night's show were the new songs "#27" and "Corn Bread," but "Corn Bread" was different. Dave Matthews played it solo the first night but was joined by Carter Beauford and Butch Taylor last night. Carter's drumming really added a lot to the song and showed its full-band potential.

Other highlights included the "Seek Up" opener and "Lie In Our Graves." DMB's next show is tomorrow in Hartford, Conn.

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Dave Matthews Band kicks off summer tour

Dave Matthews Band's summer tour started last night with a solid but not spectacular show in Mansfield, Mass.

DMB didn't bring back any long-dormant songs, as some fans had expected, but did play "#27," a song that Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds debuted last weekend. That bluesy rocker was one of the show's highlights, along with an energetic "Don't Drink the Water" featuring Xavier Rudd and Dave's solo performance of "Cornbread," another new song.

The Boston Herald has a positive review of the show, while The Providence Journal has a pretty nondescript recap. The tour continues tonight with another show in Mansfield before DMB moves on to Hartford, Conn. for the weekend.

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