Bill D.
I'm 51 years old and got "hooked" on Dave no more than 2 weeks ago by my 20 year old daughter. Unexpectedly, I was able to attend this concert. I have read some reviews posted earlier -- some saying this show was great; others expressing disappointment -- but I can't compare it to other shows. What I can tell you is that I have been going to concerts for 30+ years (from Beatles & Stones to Allmans & Skynryd to Elton & Billy). This group -- these musicians -- are unlike any other that has ever recorded. This is, quit simply, the greatest group of performers that popular music has yet to witness. Put aside the pushing, screaming, drunks, fights, pot-smoking (common in the 60's too) -- and just focus on the TALENT and the uniqueness of these five guys. I KNOW we'll never see another Ali in boxing; nor a Jordan in basketball. I doubt we will ever see anyone better than these five guys.Hey kids -- tell your mom's & dad's!!!! The DMB is "The Best of What's Around"!!!

Mike C.
okay this show was the best show I hgave ever seen in my life, The Band was on fire, Boyd was ripping it up, Leroi was hitting some major solos too, Carter was on fire and Stefan well he just amazes me, Dave was awesome as well the setlist was really good, except with Crash Into Me, no Dixie Chicken, must be first time on the tour, Dancing Nancies, no Could I have Been Lost in Vernon?, but ding dang doo, they still were awesome, Leroi and Carter had this 6 or 7 minute jam before Say Goodbye it was sweet, Stay had this 4 minute jam of Dave just saying Makes me wanna Stay, makes me wanna Stay, makes me wanna Stay. #36 was a great song, played even better, they were people around me saying what is this, I go Red Rocks they go oh okay cool, Jimi Thing was very good also, Tripping Billies was a solid song, the encore was good, but I would rather have heard All Along The Watchtower wit the Stefan intro, but hey they are the Band not me, all in all the encore was still pretty sick, Boyd was doing crazy jams through out all of it, well see y'll sometime soon.

Eric B.
First of all, the venue layout was horrible. How can you expect to have a concert with 40, 000 people pushing on each other. I was near the front and fights were breaking out left and right. I was so cramped, I couldn't even clap. Anyway, the show was pretty good. I really enjoyed AGR. People wern't giving them much respect, but they played real well! On to DMB...LIOG was a solid opener. It really got the crowd moving. Stay and Rapunzel were typical versions. Crash was weak. As much as I hate hearing Crash, there was no Dixie Chicken as well. Oh well, at least there was no Satellite. Nancies was descent, but they didn't jam it out too much. Also, Dave said "lost somewhere in Paris (not Vernon)". Warehouse was solid. I like the stop time intro. DDTW was album style...nothing spectacular. Say Goodbye was awesome. Carter and Leroi introed the song for almost 5 minutes. It was great! 2 Step was nothing special. #36 was the highlight of the night. They played it in the soundcheck, but it was amazing to hear this rare song live. Dave really improvised the lyrics. TLS is always good live. Crush and Jimi Thing were good as usual, and Billies really had some energy to it. DMB really dragged out the nature intro. to this one. Unfortunately, the encore was weak...SMTS --> Too Much. I was hoping for Typical --> Watchtower, but oh well. All in all, I had fun and it was a great night.

Branden W.
soundcheck: ??? slow, dark song, jammed for quite a while. PNP-> Rapunzel #36 This performance was very well played. It was a more laid back concert, lots of funky jams, and the lighting was incredible. The band and lighting director's talents have reached an all new peak. Highlights include an incredible drum solo -> drum/flute jam into Say Goodbye, in which the band was looking at Stephan to start the bass line, but he prolonged it with his bebopping and bouncing to the music. Jimi Thing was very groovy and really laid back, which I think was because Leroi missed his spot to start jamming and the bass/drums/mild guitar were all that were being played, but he hopped right in and held it together with a jam longer than usual, followed by a shorter Dave solo. #36 was spectacular, lots of fun, and with Billies as a closer and SMTS->Too Much as an encore, the crowd was really grooving. All in all, the show wasn't the greatest, but is was lots of fun with unbelievable sound and lights.

Dave J.
Unlike everyone else I thought the venue was all right, it was just the accessibility to main roads. One driveway for that many cars is a little tough. The show: this was my fourth DMB show, and they have graduated from the happy jam, 10-songs-for-two-hour, play 'til our fingers fall off. DMB is a bona fide superband now. For them to play more songs with less funky segues and groovy jams is what they must do now, their immense fan base demands it. Everyone likes different songs. I loved Jimi Thing at Vernon, I wish they could have played it all night, but DMB has to fit a lot more music into their shows now. The Last Stop blew my mind. The encore was a little weak, but Too Much is a great concert song, everyone singing their guts out. Billies is the best at a night show, the lights are absolutely mind-blowing. I too yearn for the older days, when Jimi Thing, Ants, Nancies, BOWA, and Billies took two hours to get through. P.S.-I danced with a beautiful girl named Erica from Cornell (maybe it was Hornell, I had a few cocktails in me). Erica, if you see this, email me. Thanks

David R.
I was at the show in Montreal (which is where I'm from) and as good as that show was...this one was far better. Whoever said this show wasn't good is nuts. The band came out with so much energy and jammed more than I've seen before. The highlights for me were a surprising incredible version of #36, LIOG (Boyd kicks ass!!!!!!!!!!), Warehouse (I love the new intro), and Say Goodbye was also incredible with a long Leroi/Carter Jam at the beginning. The only thing I could complain about was the lack of a powerful encore...not that SMTS and Too Much aren't good but Watchtower or Ants would have been dynamite and woulda capped off the the show much nicer. Overall though, the show was a lotta fun. Woulda liked to see Seek Up or #41 but how can I complain?

Georgia V.
Well, first I must state the most important fact of all, that being that I am in love with Dave. With that said, this was a great show. I was dissapointed with the extreme roughness of the crowd right in front, and I'm not at all down with the crowd surfing. I mean come on, its a Matthews Show, not a ska fest. However I was glad that I had the opportunity to get so close to the stage, and that the crowd mellowed out once DMB started playing. It was so funny how Dave was all "... just lean back..." I was thrilled with Graves as an opener. Warehouse and Say Goodbye were wonderful. The tunes of BTCS were pretty standardized, but thats ok. I think that out of the setlist, I was most psyched and surprised to hear #36 - that was incredible. :) As always, Crush was beatiful. I was wishing for a little Granny action, although not expecting it. I was hoping for Watchtower as an encore, basically for my friends. They just jam that baby out live, like at Giants Stadium, and I wanted everyone to hear that. All in all an awesome show, which is pretty much a given with these guys ;)

Kyle B.
A commercial Dave show set out to satisfy the frat boys and the 12 year old girls. The crowd was ridiculous, 40,000 people trying to get as close to Dave as possible. I got pushed or run over about 5 times. The music was more like background music in a party. For myself, someone trying to catch as many shows a summer as possible, this was very disappointing. The setlist was boring, except for the AMAZING #36, a great Jimi Thing, and Say Goodbye. I felt sorry for my friends that I dragged there after I saw Saratoga last weekend and was telling them how awesome they were. On a final note, the venue is the worst venue that I have ever seen. Not anyone past the first 10 rows could see anything. Talk about being ripped off... $35. Hopefully this will lead to a comeback performance in Pittsburgh tomorrow night. I will see you there!!!

Ellen R.
This show reminded me of why I continue to love and follow the Dave Matthews Band. After a mediocre performance the night before, DMB left the impression that they're returning to the type of spontaneous and excellent jamming they employed back in 1993. Songs from the new album that sounded OK the night before (Rapunzel, Crush, and even Stay), were an absolute pleasure to hear tonight. LeRoi switched from Sax to flute on Crush between the two evenings, which gave a refreshing perspective to those attending on both nights. 41, as always, was incredible. The night before Roi seemed like an unhappy fifth leg; this night, he came to play. When Dave finally closed out the show with such over-plays as Satellite and Billies, the crowd was electrified by their incredible performance, inspiring the band to make these songs sound new and energetic. Old classics like Granny, BOWA, and even Say Goodbye also sounded as good as ever (especially because of a particularly long drum and flute intro on Say Goodye). I only had two disappointments from my trip to Hartford: (1) The Stone, arguably the best song on the new album, should have a Boyd jam in the middle. (2) When will DMB realize that Roi should take an elongated solo at the beginning of Crush? Much like Typical, this is an opportunity for Roi to dazzle us and immediately get us into the song. After the 1997 tour, i was beginning to have certain doubts about the direction DMB was taking. This evening showed that the entire band is willing to take new risks, and allow heir raw tallent to take them wherever they will go. Jokingly, I said i wanted to hear Exodus earlier in the night. When Stefan suddenly pulled Stir It Up out of his Watchtower-Intro solo, i knew the band was back to just having fun, and not worrying about pleasing the jump-on-the-bandwagon teeny-boppers. Unfortunately, Dave had to shrug his shoulders to the band half way through the song--he apparently didn't know all the lyrics. Hopefully, this kind of on-the-spot, go-with-the-flow jamming will continue, and old covers and new songs will develop themselves on the road.