As the Dave Matthews Band rolled into the SBC, I rolled in as well to photograph the first of a two-night stand at my favorite venue to shoot. Just like last year’s tour, the set is broken up into two parts, the first acoustic and the second electric. At 7:30, Matthews walks out solo with an acoustic guitar, sits on a stool and opens with "Take Me to Tomorrow", and "Butterfly", and then brings out guitarist Tim Reynolds on acoustic for a duo rendition of "Bartender". The rest of the band now takes the stage and runs through the rest of the 10-song set with acoustic versions of their many hits such as "Two Step",  "Funny the Way It Is" , "Raven" (funny, I didn't see any purple in the crowd, thank God) and closing out the first set with "What Would You Say".
        After a half-hour break, the band comes out and opens the electric set with "Minarets", "Big Eyed Fish", and the quite long song (great for us photographers) "Lie in Our Graves", with Matthews and violinist Boyd Tinsley in a face-to-face jam.  As Matthews changes his set list every night, for the rest of the thirteen-song set you never know what will be played next which makes it good. After "Virginia in the Rain" and "41", Matthews says to the sold-out crowd that he wants to bring a few old friends out.  He then  introduces "The Lovely Ladies." These three back-up vocalists used to tour with him for years but had been absent on the last few years of tours.  As always, female vocalists really do add a nice touch to the music, here singing "Save Me." Matthews says there is another friend in the house which he introduces as Warren Haynes (guitarist of the Allman Brothers, Gov't Mule fame) and they begin to play Neil Young's "Down by the River" and "Smooth Rider" which turns into quite a guitar jam between Haynes and Reynolds. As Haynes exits the stage, The Lovely Ladies finish their night with  "Be Yourself" before the band ends the second set with "Jimi Thing;" which sometimes could end up being a 20-25-minute jam song, but tonight they cut it short at 15 minutes. Last was "Granny" before bowing and waving to the crowd.
        A quick break and they return for a one-song encore, "You Might Die Trying," to end a LONG night of music from a band that always gives 110 percent and a very long show that you don't get much these days. They still have a few dates near us so if anyone is interested check them out at www.davematthewsband.com
– Gary Crouthamel, Concert Photographer