DMB Ignites a Soggy Crowd

© Andrea Barrack / RumBum.com

Dave Matthews charms 'em big time.

Though legendary Dave Matthews and his Band are festival mainstays, whenever they hit one of those massive outdoor arenas they are giving thousands the experience of a lifetime. "Dave! Dave! Dave!" they chanted at the end of a rainy Saturday. The soggy folks at ACL were guests at DMB's last stop of his summer sweep. Though some made enemies while weaving (and sliding) through the mud-lined sardine can that was the ground floor, others made friends who helped each other get a better look at the man himself. When he finally swung his guitar strap over his shoulder, he took the whole park into the stratosphere.

His veritable orchestra consisting of backup guitars, trumpet, sax, and the famous Carter Buford in the massive percussion section (does he have 12 arms?) and Boyd Tinsley on fiddle built a platform of sound to intro "Don't Drink the Water." Then the throngs of fans were treated to a taste of Dave's child-like candor. "I'm Dave Matthews," he said to the screaming masses, "It's a good day."  By the end of the second song, "You May Die Trying", Dave was already sweating well through his grey button down from all the dancing onstage (he was cracking up the Buford) and the ladies of the audience were begging him to "Take it off!"

Even after the third song, Dave is still greeting the audience: "Hello.  I hope you all had a real good day. A little damp." And then, in superb Dave style, he used the next song, "Funny The Way It Is," to break out into bouts of extemporaneous jazzy rock with the boys. In "Seven", his lyrics repeating "I love you" was being tossed right back at him by all the ladies (and yeah, plenty of guys, too). During his songs like "So Damn Lucky," Dave's head was surely in the clouds, or at least it looked like it with those monstrous screens flanking the stage that hung in the sky. Every popping vein, hair on his arched eyebrows, and wrinkle on his forehead was clear as day, but then you remember the real thing is on stage right in front of you.

The high intensity of "Shake It Like A Monkey" had the crowd busting moves as much as their lack of elbow room could allow, and the anyone who knew the lyrics belted them at the top of their lungs - even the grown men were giddy to sing with (whom they called) "The Man".  When Dave left the mic, he always took his guitar with him and danced with it under his arm.  They weren't your typical dance moves, of course, just how Dave felt like moving at that time.  Like when he broke into skat during "Why I Am", the wildly popular tune actually commemorating their dear friend and late sax player, LeRoi, Dave didn't just skat with his mouth, but with his entire body - writing a little, jerking a little, sticking his tongue out, and putting all in a tizzy.

A little 80's flashback lit up the stage with a cover of "Burning Down The House" – an intriguing option, but one that ignited the fans – before the crowd really hit the roof with the slam dunks "So Much To Say" and "Ants Go Marching" where Tinsley and Buford really got to pump out their stuff. Finally, the exhale of the evening came with the finale of "Two Step" – a lyrically sweet piece with triumphant melody, a sonic flight that no one wanted to land.