Justin B.
This was my 26th time seeing Dave and it was just a tease until the winter shows. The band had decent enegry but being an acoustical performance it was not very loud. I could see great from my 17th row seats and Dave was smilin a lot. He was happy to be back on stage and had his dancin shoes on. Boyd appeared very little except for a brief solo on Ants. The best preformance was the Niel young cover I had never heard before in which Dave and Niel switched off verses and Niel played some lead guitar while Dave held the rythm, it was rather a neat sight,(13 minutes) I have seen Dave 26 times and this was nothing I will see again soon. The boys just don't sit and Jam like that anymore. Overall about the show was 45 minutes. See everybody at MSG!!!!!!!

Michael W.
This was day number one at the 14th annual bridge school benefit show in california. it rained during most of the show but, dave's used to a little precip. the concert started with tegan and sara at 5pm and ended with csn&y at 1:30am (dave along with woody harelson sang backup to love the one your with). dave opened with a most perfect warehouse. I mean a flawless version. next was a little dave speak, "you know you gotta make the best of what's around (referring to the weather)." so much followed by too much was incredib;e then grace is gone which to my surprise was the only new song played all weekend. dave says, "I'd like to bring out a good friend of mine, neiil young!" then together, with the band, the cranked out an acoustic version of cortex the killer and killer it was. cortez, cortez - what a killer. all in all, I expected seven or eight songs but got a six song fifty minute set. dave was upbeat and funny. very animated with lots of speak and say. a fantastic opener with a once ien a lifetime closer. anytime you get dave at a bridge school benefit many surprises are bound to happen. I only wish the warehouse (fan club) could have got us a couple of tenth row seats as we wallered in the mud and rain on the lawn all night.

Andrew B.
Despite the rain, the muddy lawn and the long breaks in between bands, the Benefit was still a lot of fun. It was my birthday, so that just made it even better! As expected DMB had by far the best set, and one of the longest too. Warehouse kicked it off unexpectedly, although the crowd got into it so much at one of the Shoreline shows during the summer, so I guess that makes sense. BOWA!!! First time I've seen this live, and it was awesome. Then came SMTS->ASTB-->Too Much, which was not a surprise. This made it 4 out of 4 shows that I've heard Too Much...oh well, it's a good song. Then came ANTS! You can never get tired of this song! Afterwards Dave started to introduce Neil Young but then said he was tuning his guitar, so they played GIG, which is such a great song. Then Neil came out and I was expecting Watchtower, but instead it was this song I had never heard before but I'm glad they played it cuz it kicked ass! It was mainly Neil and Dave, with a nice Boyd/Neil jam in the middle. This song went on for 10 min I would guess, and it was great to see the guys do something different. What a great night, and I hope they come back out to the west in the Spring.

Sean T.
The Bidge School Benefit as a whole was one of the best events I have have ever attended. Even thought the rain came pouring down, my enjoyment of the numerous talented acts was not to be altered. The best part was that the rain eventually stoped about a half an hour before DMB took stage. They started it off with a nice traditional Warehouse. The stop-time intro really got the crowd into the set quickly. After a brief pause Dave went on to say, "On a wet evening such as this, I guess one just has to make the best of whats's around." This got me really pumped because this is one of the songs he did not play at my three summer shows. Once again a very mellow version, much like Red Rocks, but a little slower. The next bit of the set is what really differentiated DMB form the rest of the acts. They played So Much To Say--Anyone Seen The Bridge---Too Much. The energy was about as intense as it could get for an acoustic concert, and the footwork that Dave displayed was by far the coolest I personally have ever seen. Even my friends, who mostly came to see the other bands, were like, "Damn that boy has got some moves!" It was really spectacular! This was then followed by a great version of Ants, which I think was almost the closer for their set, even though they did go on to play two more songs. By this point I was completly satisfied with what I had seen, and I was content that the set may be over.(There had been some technical delays) But all five songs were great. But at the end of Ants Dave and the guys were still up there with no intensions of leaving. He then mentioned that Neil was going to come on and play which I thought would lead to a definite Watchtower. But I guess Neil was doin somethin so Dave said that they would play a slow one before Neil would come on. I heard the opening bit to Grace is Gone and was just ecstatic. For two reasons. The first being that I love this song soooo much! The second being that I was curious to see the influence of Glen Ballard on the new tunes.(This was before I heard they were being shelved) I was extremely pleased with the newer version of the song. The song as a whole was a lot tighter. It sounded like it had been improved upon a lot since the last time I heard it at the 8/2 show over the summer. They turned a "better thing into the best"! I actually walked out of the show more excited for the new disc than even before, which I did not think was possible. I think that people will be extremely pleased with Ballard's influence on the band, I can't wait! They ended the set with Neil coming out and playing "Cortez the Killer," which lasted a very long time and was an extremely mellow song to end the set with. But none the less, it was sweet for certain. I could not have been happier with the Bridge School Benefit. I don't think I will ever have the oppurtunity to see that many legendary people at the same venue. I send out all my thanks to the efforts and generosity of all the bands and especially Neil nad Peggy Young! Thank you! Sean:-)

Bob W.
This show was AWESOME even though it was short. Dave Matthews Band stole the spotlight!! I saw at least 1/10 of the people got up and left after they played. Cortez the Killer is going to be the next best cover song they do now.

Trent H.
Show rocked!! Seemed like everyone there was just to see DMB and to me they didn't dissappoint. We were all expecting them to play some new songs, and even though they didn't, it was cool to hear Cortez. Which will always be one of my favorite DMB songs of all time.