Chris C.
'Twas a nice first show in Raleigh; perfect day, not cold but not unbearably hot as it could be. The setlist could have been a bit more different than the first show's, but I'm not complaining, because it was graciously short on the "screaming songs" (no Crash, SMTS->TM, or Angel), and the crowd tonight was so lackluster that any one of those songs would have driven me off the deep end. Besides, perhaps the boys are simply sick of playing old material, especially when they have almost 25 relatively new songs at their disposal ... Lord knows I would be. But anyway, onto some highlights rather than just pontificating all day about my personal setlist desires: #41 was a nice surprise as an opener (expected it but didn't think they'd open with it, but maybe I'm just ignorant), 12 minutes long, with Dave altering the "Everyday" melody to fit in the jam. The Everyday songs were pretty standard, much like Charlottesville; some of them are pretty ferocious (What You Are, When the World Ends), some of them need work but still sound pretty good (So Right, If I Had It All), and a few just don't work (I Did It). And as a side note, Dave: keep playing Sleep To Dream Her and ignore those dumbasses who take a bathroom break. It's a gorgeous song. As far as the Lillywhite songs go, great versions all around--I didn't see any 2000 shows so it was my first time live for all of them with the full band and I must say I was impressed. Unfortunately, they seemed to zap energy from the already terrible crowd, but they're some of the best songs Dave's written. Watchtower was standard but got the crowd into it; ditto with WWYS. True Reflections--always welcome and a nice surprise after such a lame I Did It, and the crowd went nuts. I called Two Step, and it was nice. Sounded like Listener Supported but with Carter featured from about 6-10 minutes; it wound up being 14 minutes long, nothing terribly special, but always a treat to hear. The first song of the encore, I found out from the kind gentleman in front of me (Section 5, row EE--if you're reading this, thanks, man, and nice dancing), was a Phish song I haven't heard (I'm not a huge Phish fan) entitled, I'm 99% sure, "Wasting My Time." It was Dave solo and acoustic, it was gorgeous, and I hope they do it again. And then a sicker-than-usual, tremendous Billies closed things out. All in all, there were a lot of people pissed at the abundance of Everyday and Lillywhite songs, but really, they need to get over themselves; the band has played the same songs for ten years now, and they need a break. It wasn't the absolute best show in the world, but it was solid and mostly enjoyable despite the crowd (half of them didn't even know #41 in my section; it was quite sad). Looking forward to tomorrow night.

Michael G.
this show was one of the best i have seen.dave was doing good and 41 was a great opener.does anybody know about daves beard. i thought it was cool. the show was just jam packed with great songs. nothing to get vored with and you can tell he was had time to rest. all in all it was an awesome show.

James D.
The guys put together an extremely high energy show like always. They opened with a great version of #41. They played 7 songs from Everyday and 4 from the unreleased Lillywhite session, so there was lots of new stuff. I would have been a little skeptical of the show if I had known that beforehand, but What You are and Everyday were particularly outstanding while So Right and If I Had It ALL were solid as well. It was great to hear favorites from last summer like Grace is Gone, JTR and Grey Street. The version of What Would You Say included a larger jam and was the best I've heard. The show might have been lost during True Reflections if Boyd hadn't gone particularly nuts with his violin. Carter's drums on Two Step were some of the sickiest I've heard from him. The encore was one of my favorites with a cover of Phish's Waste by Dave (the first time he's played that to my knowledge and one of my favorite Phish songs) and the classic Tripping Billies with their usual energy. Overall, the show delivered and kept me groovin the whole show.

Daniel G.
oh man what a sweet show. I was at this one and the energy from the fans was incredible. It started off really chill and then just jammed for hours. Overall incredible show. The phish cover was so sweet man!

James M.
This was the most amazing concert i have ever seen or heard. The energy of the band was absolutely unbeliveable, and it started from the first notes of #41 till the final notes of Billies. Dave was dancing all over the stage, and Boyd was going nuts most of the night. The highlight(s) of the night were the Dave solo cover of Waste, and So Right. Also, #41 to open, which caught everyone by surprise, was incredible. The band jammed everything out tonite, and by my watch, they played from approx. 8:05 till 10:40. It was a perfect evening for a concert, and the boys did not disappoint. Im not sure how they will top this effort for tomorrow night, but i will be there to see if they can do it. Ciao

Danny S.
Mediocre at best. And before the final 10 min. of the show, I was ready to call this sucker a complete disappointment. I foresee a great big trainwreck of a summer tour coming up. All the damn Ballard covers the band did really brought my vibe down, and I wasn't alone. Even the neophyte groupies around me who were really excited about these recognizable tunes recognized their frailty. I knew they were going to compose the majority of the setlist, but here's where the problem lies: the gloss and glamor that Ballard added to the cuts is noticeably absent from their live performances, and what's left is a shaky skeletal frame of vagueness and faux emotion. Despite reports, Dave knew all the lyrics to So Right, but this and other new songs just don't click for other reasons. Highlights of the show were definitely #41 opening (second fav opener next to Seek up), the everyday tease within (I was hoping he'd put that CD to rest after this one :)), and the energy that the band started out with. Also, Bartender was PHENOMENAL. I cannot stress enough how fabulous the band rendered this baby tonight. Dave was almost crying tears of joy at the climax. Watchtower was standard, but the band killed the ensuing good vibe with Sleep to Dream her. Grey Street was great. Two Step was a standard yet formidable 14 min. beast. The encore was incredible and made up for a rough night. Billies with the nature intro, oh yeah. The whole show was ironically representative of the current fan argument: Everyday vs. Lillywhite. Dave played them both, and while Everyday might have the edge in numbers, the Lillywhite tracks easily took home the cake for quality. The audience's lack of energy throughout the Everyday tunes quickly pervaded the band, though, and I wouldn't be surprised if this spoils every show on the tour. Let it all come to an end in Fall 2001. :)

Adam W.
This was the best concert I've seen in two years. Totally unbelievably, crowd was upbeat, and the band was JAMMIN. Despite much new material being played, Dave managed to work it in well into some of his older songs. The suprising opener with #41 set the night off right, and So right and Bartender closely followed with great energy. Peaks of the night were during Watchtower and Two Step, and it was nice to hear some older unreleased songs like Grace is Gone and Grey Street. The concert was great, the band sounded awesome. I couldn't have asked for a better setlist, and it'll be fun seeing what the band comes up with for tomorrow night!

Mark T.
What a show. After the C'ville show, I wasn't shure what to expect. First, thanks to Leo for the tix, Dan for the ride ! What could have been better than 10th row( well, it WAS at the very last minute)#41 was a great opener. I was calling Seek Up, but, oh well, can't get 'em all right. I lost my memory from here out. Like always, AATW was a nice bit, and some songs of off everyday were a nice little addition. The only downside of the show, was when they pulled out Sleep To Dream Her, followed by Grace is Gone. Grace is Gone is a great song, but when it is following STDH, it kinda looses it's kick. Leo, I called Two Step !!Anyway, it was a great night !

Matt R.
If there is anyone that doubted the band's ability after the Charlottesville show, this show laid those doubts to rest. #41 was awesome to open with. The new songs sounded great I thought and So Right was jammed out a little. I was surprised that the Space Between wasn't played. Maybe the band has realized that Crash Into Me is overplayed and they are giving it a rest. It doesn't happen often that they go 2 nights without playing it. I was surprised that there were no BTCS songs either. Anyway, the show was great and the new song "Waste" that Dave played was awesome. I would highly recommend getting a copy of this show.

Bec
I have to say that after reading the reviews from C'ville last week I was preparing to see the worst dmb show I've ever been to last night. Boy was I wrong. The opening band was pretty good. They played very upbeat happy music, and I even got some mardi gras beads to take home. DMB came on stage around 815. They opened with #41 - my absolute favorite which I haven't seen since '97, and did a little Everyday outro to it. Things were starting to look up. Low point: Sleep To Dream Her - This didn't do it for me, and didn't seem to really do it for anyone else either. The crowd seemed much more into the Grace is Gone that followed. Watchtower, Two Step and Billies were awesome. Probably the most energized Billies I've ever seen and it was a great closer to an awesome show. Dave also pulled out Phish's Waste for the first encore which I don't think anyone was expecting. On the new material: I think When the World Ends has so much more jam potential. I hate that they cut it off right at the end because I think they could do something amazing to close it out. I did it was much better than I'd seen on TV, but Boyd's plucking doesn't do it for me. What You Are and So Right were great - very energetic. Everyday's a fun song, and he was teasing #36 a lot at the end scattering "honey honey"'s and "Come and dance with me"'s in with the "Pick/Lift me up love"'s. Offstage around 1030 I belive. Great concert. Everyone walking out of the ampitheater was saying what an amazing show it was, and I agree. It makes me sorry I have to go back to florida tonight and can't stay for the show. I'd much rather do that than take finals. :)

Peter A.
The show was one of, if not the, best show ive ever seen. the setlist was very similar to uva, but this time, they did the newer songs right. #41>everyday opener was awesome, everyday as the outro was so tight and surprising. WTWE is gonna be a crowd favorite. it was awesome. JTR is always so awesome. so right was so good. better than at uva, more jammed out too. dave was dancing around on this. bartender is back and more powerful than ever! so much energy. WWYS was longer than i remember and did i actually see Roi do some dancing during his solo? i think i did! If I had it all was much, much better with an intro too! then came everyday AGAIN with the #36 outro! i love this song and the crowd was going crazy along with every member of the band. dave kept looking at carter and stefan, always laughing. WATCHTOWER took down the house. unreal. then came sleep to dream her which was much better than uva which went into Grace, which was better and more jammed out, boyd had an awesome solo at the end. What You Are was good. GREY STREET is back! love this song! it was so awesome! i did it was alright, better than uva but something is still missing. true reflections was better than most times ive seen it. Two Step was just sick. Carter went nuts. It was sick. Alls I can say. Encore, dave comes alone, says hes gonna do a tune by his friend and hes gonna give it his all, WASTE!!! holy shit!! where the hell did this come from? Dave did an awesome job and it was fucking cool. The boys followed that with a hellraising Billies, which ended the night perfectly. It was a 10 out of 10 show, nothing was wrong! One of the best ive seen

Luke R.
WOW !!!!! What a show! DMB opened with 41, which I had been hoping for, and it was Incredible! Then, they played a great WTWE, one of my favorites from the new CD. JTR, and So Right, were awesome. In the first 4 songs, they put forth SO much energy I thought they would be so tired out, that the rest of the show would be slow. Boy was I wrong! Bartender! What a surprise! It was awesome! Dave did that thing where he arches his back and sings for like 60 seconds getting louder and louder. IT ROCKED! I would like to write about every song, but it would take too much time, so I'm going to skip the middle of the show (but all those songs were great too). However, one song I CAN'T skip was watchtower. I originally was hoping for a non-watchtower show, but when it was over I was SO happy they did it. Stephan rocked with his bass opening and the jams were incredible with Dave and Boyd dancing together! Moving on, Grace is Gone was GREAT, but then they followed it up 2 songs later with GREY STREET! This I wasn't expecting either but it may have been one of the top few highlights of the show. Bye the way, the energy level still hadn't gone down. Finally, the closing song, Two Step, lasted for a good 10 minutes and was packed with enthusiasm. The crowd loved it! Dave waited for a while before playing his acoustic solo, but when he did it was so chill and such a surprise that I don't think I've seen more lighters being lit than back when CRASH came out, and DMB would play Crash Into Me. Then Tripping Billies, which was packed with SO much energy, and it was the perfect song with which to end such a energized show. I was very impressed! Overall, this show kicked ass and it so far surpassed my last show (C-ville), that it reminded me why I am still so willing to spend 50 bucks per show. Rating; 9/10

Justin
Not bad. That's all I can say about this show. Not great, but def. not bad. Maybe Dave's beard was constricting his talent. Anyway, #41 was a good opener and def. surprised me. Dave's lil Everyday tease was fun; good to see him being creative early in the tour. WTWE was good. Nothing exceptional, though. It just sounds like the album version. Liked the end, though, when all the lights go out on "We'll just be beg-." JTR is a lot better than last year's Raleigh show (9/1/00). They def. tightened it up and put more energy into it. So Right was fine, but not what I expected. One of my fav songs on Everyday, the live performance just didn't do it justice. I'm sure it'll get better as the tour goes on, though. Next was Bartender ... wow. Just wow. This song is amazing, and tonite was the best I've ever seen. The emotion he put into "I'm on bended knee" was unparamounted. I was hopin the song wouldn't end, but guess what. I did. WWYS ... OK, starting to see sim! ilarities to last week's Charlottesville show, which is not good. Dave and the boys have like 80 songs or something, so the least they could do is play diff. old songs each nite. I know they're gonna play plenty of Everyday, but how bout mixin it up a bit from the other albums? Anyway, WWYS was fine. Nothing great, though. If I Had It All was a treat. Best song on Everyday. It was good to hear this song, even though it sounded like the album version. No improvising or anything, but I'm sure that'll come w/ time. Everyday was next. Great in concert, it got everyone dancing. A little #36 outro tease, which got us real fans excited. Watchtower was great, as always. It might be time for them to throw a twist in it or somethin. The lighting was def. a treat on this one, as all the spotlights went to center stage and focused on DAve as he sang "The hour is getting laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate." The song got the crowd back into a feverish pitch after the mellow Everyday. Next up ... Sleep to Dream Her. I think some fans took the song literally and fell asleep, cuz half the crowd sat down for this song. I'll admit, it's not a good concert song, but it IS a good song. Grace is Gone was really good. Funny how hardly anyone knew it, though. Dave played a few chords and said, "This is a country song." Heh heh. He ALWAYS says that before he plays it. What You Are was tight. One of the few good songs on Everyday, the boys did an exceptional job playing it last nite. The beginning had all the lights off, and Dave mumbling in the mic (like on the album). I'm hopin he plays this one again tonite. I think Last Stop would be a great follower to this song; they could go right into it. Just somethin for you to think about, Dave. Grey Street was lacking some luster, but it was good. Not greyt, though. Sorry, couldn't resist. Last year's Polaris ones were much better, and that was the first time he played them! Next was I Did It, but I wish he hadn't. I was thinkin MAYBE the song would be better live, but I was wrong. AT least it was short, so that was good. True Reflections ... what a surprise. First time I'd ever seen it w/out the "lovely" ladies. Boyd rocked, as usual, and Dave added backup vocals. I was thrilled to see ZERO "lovely" ladies on-stage. Their greatest skill is butchering songs. 2Step was a good closer, but it didn't awe me or anything. Carter had a sweet solo toward the end of the song, which was def. a treat. Could only make out a lil bit of Dave's ramblings at beginning of the song. Somethin like ... "What's wrong for me is wrong for you, yada yada yada." Nevertheless, it was good, and I've always loved that little poetic freestyling, ever since he did it at Hartford 8/8/99. Lights out, band off the stage. I remember wanting more; this was not a satisfying show. I was hopin for Space Between as first encore. It just screams "first encore," but I guess Dave hasn't realized it yet. So instead we got a Dave acoustic solo, and I was thinkin #40, but instead we got Waste. Not bad; good to see Dave still has some tricks up his sleeve. Then the rest of the fellas came out and gave a good Tripping Billies to close it out. Nowhere near as good as Polaris 6/19/00, but it was a good closer. Tonite better be better, though. Let's keep our fingers crossed for a Seek Up opener. One more thing ... where the hell did the BTCS songs go!? My fav album and he played ZERO songs. Bring back Dreaming Tree, Dave! Give me some Halloween tonite. How about a lil Stone? ANYTHING! Anyway, overall a good show, but only memorable highlight was Bartender. Hopin for more tonite. See y'all there.

Todd W.
WOW!! I wasn't as excited as I could have been about this show. Last year's Walnut Creek show was a very lackluster one and after reading the reviews from last weeks show in VA I was ready for another letdown. #41-good, if standard version, the segue into Everyday was very cool. When the World Ends-good song, better live than on disc. JTR- I was very glad to hear some of the Lillywhite stuff, I was worried it would have been thrown away after the album wasn't released. So Right- This song would make such an AWESOME opener if the boys would just give it the time and energy it deserves. Bartender- good song, the whole fast-slow-fast-slow pattern of the show structure wears on me though. WWYS-pretty standard version. If I had it all- again slowing things down a bit too much. Everyday- Should have left this one as just the tease out of #41, lackluster and then left us hanging with the #36 tease. Watchtower- standard version. Sleep to Dream Her- One of my least favorite songs from Everyday I really didn't want to hear this one, sucked a lot of energy out of the crowd. Grace is Gone- wonderful song, but still where's the energy? What You Are- Alright, here things begin to pick up, for me at least, good fun song. Grey Street- My favorite of the Lillywhite tunes, obvious that lots of people didn't know it, but still fun. I did it- Damn...he did it...'nuff said... True Reflections-not one of my favorites, but it kept the energy going fairly well for an amazing TWO STEP- DAMN, DAMN, DAMN!! I was going crazy at this point, one of the most awesome versions I've heard. Near the end Carter dropped down to just the snare and I could have sworn the band was going into Nancies, but it was not to be. Carter blew everyone's mind with his solo and the band finished off the song and left the stage after just over 2 hours. My prediction all day was that Trey Anastasio was going to come out and jam with Dave (just because I'm a Phish fan and I thought it would be fun). So Dave comes out alone for the encore and makes a comment about how quiet everything had been (The sound system seemed to be turned WAY down all night) He then proceeded to play Waste. I was going crazy because I thought it would be a perfect opportunity for Trey to walk out, but that was not to be...Great song though, even though only a handful of people seemed to know what it was. The rest of the band came out for Tripping Billies which seemed to be a commentary on the crowd as there was a larger amount of herbal pleasure than I've seen at some past Dave shows. Best Moment: Two Step Worst Moment: The realization that NOTHING off of BTCS was played and that I'm going to have to hear Crash Sunday night...Oh well... :-)

Jeremy W.
It was great. Terrence simien and his zydeco band opened up the show. It was good, happy music and a lot of mardi gras beads. Then the band came on and opened with #41, which was terrific, they put some of "Everyday"'s lyrics in there. I think the best song they played was grey street from the lillywhite sessions. THe crowd really loved that one. Midway through the set they hyped up everybody with some all along the watchtower and an awesome intro by stefan that blew my mind, it sounded like tim reynolds playing. It was amazing. Two step closed the set and it was all carter at that point. Dave really impressed me with his footwork during the jam, he was all over the stage. BOyd and leroi were awesome as usual. The crowd wasn't expecting true reflections. The encore was great i think. Dave played this song waste solo, that amazed everybody and Tripping Billies had everbody singing along. It was a sight to behold when everybody sang, "you and me and all our friends, such a happy human race". All in all, a fantastic show besides the guy that peed all over me and my friends' legs.

Justin R.
This was my eleventh show and i was mildly impressed. I feel that dave and the boys were trying to ram the new stuff down the crowds throats. I checked out the setlist from the second show on sunday and I kicked myself for not getting tickets to that one. The second show had tons of old stuff mixed with the new. Highlights for me from the saturday show: #41, JTR, Grey Street, Waste and Tripping Billies. Most of the new stuff sounded good, but they need to drop sleep to dream her and if i had it all from the list. BTCS was no where to be found. See ya'll in charlotte.

Jordan L.
This was my 7th show, and the band is definately on the right track with everyday. 41 was a great opener. They seemed anxious to get into the show and gain some redemption after a somewhat shakey show at C'ville a week before, dave played with the crowd with the everyday lyrics. When The World Ends was very well done, but seems like Dave is holding back on his guitar parts. This song definately needs to be jammed out. JTR, phenominal outro, Boyd absolutely ripped apart his bow strings. So Right, much more solid than C'ville. Dave was really one here and in perfect sync with Carter, this song is coming along quite nicely. Bartender...my dear lord. I've heard dave go nuts like this on some shows (check out 9.18.00 Bartender). But I have never physically seen Dave go nuts like this before. He was completely drenched in sweat screaming at the end. WWYS, nice jam, standard version. If I Had It all, great song. They got a lot louder with it than they did on the album, nice vocals by dave. Everyday, not as good as c'ville. #36 was brief, but still well done. Watchtower, its like a whole new song when you're seeing it from the 16th row. When dave an carter got together and just stared at each other and played, right in front of me, I thought I was going to die, this song is better everytime i see it. Sleep To Dream Her, stupid people goign to the bathroom, you don't know what you're missing. Grace Is Gone, played faster than usual, sounded great, Dave really got into it emotionally. What You Are, absolutely phenominal. This is the best song off the new album. They could really rock it if they went right into minarets. Grey Street, for a song with that freary title, they were anything but grey. It was absolutely livid and explosive. I Did It, I don't know what all the fuss is about. This song sounds great live and on the album. Everyday in general is what the band needed to get their youth back. And I think they've done just that. True Reflections, ALL BOYD, damn he smoked up the stage. Two Step, never ever a dull moment. Dave played an acoustic solo like the old days. From there it was all carter absolutely tearing it apart. WASTE, was awesome! Dave mellowed it out completely. Nobody had a clue what it was. I was hoping for 40, there was a ton of excitement when Dave came out solo and then picked up the old Taylor Dreadnaught style guitar. Tripping Billies was great. They jammed on it for a while. Not my favorite closer, I was begging for just one more. But the band definately delievered tonight. I heard 12 songs that I have never heard them play before. The dream has only begun for Dave and the guys.

Jimmy M.
It was a great day for a show in sunny North Carolina and the lots were pleasant. I am from CT so I am used to the extended preshow festivals that are so native to giants, foxboro, and hartford. In NC, no one shows up until about an hour before the show (also creates entering traffic I heard) This was a solid show with a strange structure. The opening "41" was nice to hear but nothing great. I was definetely suprised that they did the LONG "everyday" outro to 41 and then later played the full song. (unnecessary double dose but it was OK) "When the World Ends" continued the energy. That song is funky and in my opinion the best of the live everydays (I'm gonna rock you like a baby....). Bartender!!! This song came out of nowhere and was the best I have ever seen live (out of 7 times I have seen it performed). The outro was gorgeous, you could feel dave's emotion. I hope this is played more. Next highlight: WATCHTOWER. I have seen many a live watchtower and this one was FIERY (they even had firedancers on the screens at the end). I am NOT a big fan of their mid-set watchtower and this one had the energy of a closer. One of the best I have seen. And then WITH ALL OF THE ENERGY FROM WATCHTOWER RACING THROUGH OUR VEINS WE GET.... sleep to dream her? This song currently has nothing to offer and was the midset equivalent of jumping off of a cliff. Grace is Gone and What you Are were both good (What you Are has a lot of potential). I was dieing to hear grey street and was thrilled to hear it. This version definetely did not have the power of the winter and summer tours from last year, and people were not into it like they were up north over the winter. Oh well. "I did it" was worthless. Standard "two step" and "true reflections." (seen better on both counts. "Waste" sounded great, but no one seemed interested. (some nice davespeak their- cannot remember though) I was wondering if they could ever get back to the energy of "Watchtower" and they absolutely did with the best version of "Billies" that I have ever seen. Dave really got into it and it BLAZED! The people (I was thinkin southern hospitality) were half wonderful and half indifferent hicks drinking as much beer as possible and looking for fans to make fun of (I guess that is worth their $55). Anyway parking nightmare- great show- see you all at giants!

Peyton T.
Man, this was a great show! It was my first show with seats so close.(5th row center; thanks Ryan) The set they played was great. I really enjoyed the #41 opener! Plus the Phish cover of "waste" for the encore was a very unexpected treat. I'm a huge Phish fan, and that really topped the show off. All in all this was one the best DMB shows I've seen. Thanks!

Matt B.
I didn't actually attend this show but I've checked it out on the DMB 'On The Road' site and I have to say that I am again disappointed. As was the first DMB show this year in their home town last week tonights show was very predictable. DMB once again played pretty much the same songs as last summer and this past winters tour. #41, JTR, Bartender, WWYS, Watchtower, GIG, Grey Street, True Reflections, Two Step... These are all great songs but I and I think most other DMB fans would like to see a little variation between tours. What ever happened to Pig, Spoon, Recently, Dancing Nancies, Cry Freedom...? I would love to see and hear some of these older songs being worked in. I love DMB but one of the best parts of DMB shows is being suprized and (granted its only the second show) so far there really are no suprizes (with the exception of tonights encore which was great). I hope to see a change in some of the upcoming setlists.

Chris C.
'Twas a nice first show in Raleigh; perfect day, not cold but not unbearably hot as it could be. The setlist could have been a bit more different than the first show's, but I'm not complaining, because it was graciously short on the "screaming songs" (no Crash, SMTS->TM, or Angel), and the crowd tonight was so lackluster that any one of those songs would have driven me off the deep end. Besides, perhaps the boys are simply sick of playing old material, especially when they have almost 25 relatively new songs at their disposal ... Lord knows I would be. But anyway, onto some highlights rather than just pontificating all day about my personal setlist desires: #41 was a nice surprise as an opener (expected it but didn't think they'd open with it, but maybe I'm just ignorant), 12 minutes long, with Dave altering the "Everyday" melody to fit in the jam. The Everyday songs were pretty standard, much like Charlottesville; some of them are pretty ferocious (What You Are, When the World Ends), some of them need work but still sound pretty good (So Right, If I Had It All), and a few just don't work (I Did It). And as a side note, Dave: keep playing Sleep To Dream Her and ignore those dumbasses who take a bathroom break. It's a gorgeous song. As far as the Lillywhite songs go, great versions all around--I didn't see any 2000 shows so it was my first time live for all of them with the full band and I must say I was impressed. Unfortunately, they seemed to zap energy from the already terrible crowd, but they're some of the best songs Dave's written. Watchtower was standard but got the crowd into it; ditto with WWYS. True Reflections--always welcome and a nice surprise after such a lame I Did It, and the crowd went nuts. I called Two Step, and it was nice. Sounded like Listener Supported but with Carter featured from about 6-10 minutes; it wound up being 14 minutes long, nothing terribly special, but always a treat to hear. The first song of the encore, I found out from the kind gentleman in front of me (Section 5, row EE--if you're reading this, thanks, man, and nice dancing), was a Phish song I haven't heard (I'm not a huge Phish fan) entitled, I'm 99% sure, "Wasting My Time." It was Dave solo and acoustic, it was gorgeous, and I hope they do it again. And then a sicker-than-usual, tremendous Billies closed things out. All in all, there were a lot of people pissed at the abundance of Everyday and Lillywhite songs, but really, they need to get over themselves; the band has played the same songs for ten years now, and they need a break. It wasn't the absolute best show in the world, but it was solid and mostly enjoyable despite the crowd (half of them didn't even know #41 in my section; it was quite sad). Looking forward to tomorrow night.

Mark T.
What a show. After the C'ville show, I wasn't shure what to expect. First, thanks to Leo for the tix, Dan for the ride ! What could have been better than 10th row( well, it WAS at the very last minute)#41 was a great opener. I was calling Seek Up, but, oh well, can't get 'em all right. I lost my memory from here out. Like always, AATW was a nice bit, and some songs of off everyday were a nice little addition. The only downside of the show, was when they pulled out Sleep To Dream Her, followed by Grace is Gone. Grace is Gone is a great song, but when it is following STDH, it kinda looses it's kick. Leo, I called Two Step !!Anyway, it was a great night !

Adam W.
This was the best concert I've seen in two years. Totally unbelievably, crowd was upbeat, and the band was JAMMIN. Despite much new material being played, Dave managed to work it in well into some of his older songs. The suprising opener with #41 set the night off right, and So right and Bartender closely followed with great energy. Peaks of the night were during Watchtower and Two Step, and it was nice to hear some older unreleased songs like Grace is Gone and Grey Street. The concert was great, the band sounded awesome. I couldn't have asked for a better setlist, and it'll be fun seeing what the band comes up with for tomorrow night!

James M.
This was the most amazing concert i have ever seen or heard. The energy of the band was absolutely unbeliveable, and it started from the first notes of #41 till the final notes of Billies. Dave was dancing all over the stage, and Boyd was going nuts most of the night. The highlight(s) of the night were the Dave solo cover of Waste, and So Right. Also, #41 to open, which caught everyone by surprise, was incredible. The band jammed everything out tonite, and by my watch, they played from approx. 8:05 till 10:40. It was a perfect evening for a concert, and the boys did not disappoint. Im not sure how they will top this effort for tomorrow night, but i will be there to see if they can do it. Ciao

James D.
The guys put together an extremely high energy show like always. They opened with a great version of #41. They played 7 songs from Everyday and 4 from the unreleased Lillywhite session, so there was lots of new stuff. I would have been a little skeptical of the show if I had known that beforehand, but What You are and Everyday were particularly outstanding while So Right and If I Had It ALL were solid as well. It was great to hear favorites from last summer like Grace is Gone, JTR and Grey Street. The version of What Would You Say included a larger jam and was the best I've heard. The show might have been lost during True Reflections if Boyd hadn't gone particularly nuts with his violin. Carter's drums on Two Step were some of the sickiest I've heard from him. The encore was one of my favorites with a cover of Phish's Waste by Dave (the first time he's played that to my knowledge and one of my favorite Phish songs) and the classic Tripping Billies with their usual energy. Overall, the show delivered and kept me groovin the whole show.

Matt R.
If there is anyone that doubted the band's ability after the Charlottesville show, this show laid those doubts to rest. #41 was awesome to open with. The new songs sounded great I thought and So Right was jammed out a little. I was surprised that the Space Between wasn't played. Maybe the band has realized that Crash Into Me is overplayed and they are giving it a rest. It doesn't happen often that they go 2 nights without playing it. I was surprised that there were no BTCS songs either. Anyway, the show was great and the new song "Waste" that Dave played was awesome. I would highly recommend getting a copy of this show.

Bec
I have to say that after reading the reviews from C'ville last week I was preparing to see the worst dmb show I've ever been to last night. Boy was I wrong. The opening band was pretty good. They played very upbeat happy music, and I even got some mardi gras beads to take home. DMB came on stage around 815. They opened with #41 - my absolute favorite which I haven't seen since '97, and did a little Everyday outro to it. Things were starting to look up. Low point: Sleep To Dream Her - This didn't do it for me, and didn't seem to really do it for anyone else either. The crowd seemed much more into the Grace is Gone that followed. Watchtower, Two Step and Billies were awesome. Probably the most energized Billies I've ever seen and it was a great closer to an awesome show. Dave also pulled out Phish's Waste for the first encore which I don't think anyone was expecting. On the new material: I think When the World Ends has so much more jam potential. I hate that they cut it off right at the end because I think they could do something amazing to close it out. I did it was much better than I'd seen on TV, but Boyd's plucking doesn't do it for me. What You Are and So Right were great - very energetic. Everyday's a fun song, and he was teasing #36 a lot at the end scattering "honey honey"'s and "Come and dance with me"'s in with the "Pick/Lift me up love"'s. Offstage around 1030 I belive. Great concert. Everyone walking out of the ampitheater was saying what an amazing show it was, and I agree. It makes me sorry I have to go back to florida tonight and can't stay for the show. I'd much rather do that than take finals. :)

Peter A.
The show was one of, if not the, best show ive ever seen. the setlist was very similar to uva, but this time, they did the newer songs right. #41>everyday opener was awesome, everyday as the outro was so tight and surprising. WTWE is gonna be a crowd favorite. it was awesome. JTR is always so awesome. so right was so good. better than at uva, more jammed out too. dave was dancing around on this. bartender is back and more powerful than ever! so much energy. WWYS was longer than i remember and did i actually see Roi do some dancing during his solo? i think i did! If I had it all was much, much better with an intro too! then came everyday AGAIN with the #36 outro! i love this song and the crowd was going crazy along with every member of the band. dave kept looking at carter and stefan, always laughing. WATCHTOWER took down the house. unreal. then came sleep to dream her which was much better than uva which went into Grace, which was better and more jammed out, boyd had an awesome solo at the end. What You Are was good. GREY STREET is back! love this song! it was so awesome! i did it was alright, better than uva but something is still missing. true reflections was better than most times ive seen it. Two Step was just sick. Carter went nuts. It was sick. Alls I can say. Encore, dave comes alone, says hes gonna do a tune by his friend and hes gonna give it his all, WASTE!!! holy shit!! where the hell did this come from? Dave did an awesome job and it was fucking cool. The boys followed that with a hellraising Billies, which ended the night perfectly. It was a 10 out of 10 show, nothing was wrong! One of the best ive seen

Luke R.
WOW !!!!! What a show! DMB opened with 41, which I had been hoping for, and it was Incredible! Then, they played a great WTWE, one of my favorites from the new CD. JTR, and So Right, were awesome. In the first 4 songs, they put forth SO much energy I thought they would be so tired out, that the rest of the show would be slow. Boy was I wrong! Bartender! What a surprise! It was awesome! Dave did that thing where he arches his back and sings for like 60 seconds getting louder and louder. IT ROCKED! I would like to write about every song, but it would take too much time, so I'm going to skip the middle of the show (but all those songs were great too). However, one song I CAN'T skip was watchtower. I originally was hoping for a non-watchtower show, but when it was over I was SO happy they did it. Stephan rocked with his bass opening and the jams were incredible with Dave and Boyd dancing together! Moving on, Grace is Gone was GREAT, but then they followed it up 2 songs later with GREY STREET! This I wasn't expecting either but it may have been one of the top few highlights of the show. Bye the way, the energy level still hadn't gone down. Finally, the closing song, Two Step, lasted for a good 10 minutes and was packed with enthusiasm. The crowd loved it! Dave waited for a while before playing his acoustic solo, but when he did it was so chill and such a surprise that I don't think I've seen more lighters being lit than back when CRASH came out, and DMB would play Crash Into Me. Then Tripping Billies, which was packed with SO much energy, and it was the perfect song with which to end such a energized show. I was very impressed! Overall, this show kicked ass and it so far surpassed my last show (C-ville), that it reminded me why I am still so willing to spend 50 bucks per show. Rating; 9/10

Justin
Not bad. That's all I can say about this show. Not great, but def. not bad. Maybe Dave's beard was constricting his talent. Anyway, #41 was a good opener and def. surprised me. Dave's lil Everyday tease was fun; good to see him being creative early in the tour. WTWE was good. Nothing exceptional, though. It just sounds like the album version. Liked the end, though, when all the lights go out on "We'll just be beg-." JTR is a lot better than last year's Raleigh show (9/1/00). They def. tightened it up and put more energy into it. So Right was fine, but not what I expected. One of my fav songs on Everyday, the live performance just didn't do it justice. I'm sure it'll get better as the tour goes on, though. Next was Bartender ... wow. Just wow. This song is amazing, and tonite was the best I've ever seen. The emotion he put into "I'm on bended knee" was unparamounted. I was hopin the song wouldn't end, but guess what. I did. WWYS ... OK, starting to see similarities to last week's Charlottesville show, which is not good. Dave and the boys have like 80 songs or something, so the least they could do is play diff. old songs each nite. I know they're gonna play plenty of Everyday, but how bout mixin it up a bit from the other albums? Anyway, WWYS was fine. Nothing great, though. If I Had It All was a treat. Best song on Everyday. It was good to hear this song, even though it sounded like the album version. No improvising or anything, but I'm sure that'll come w/ time. Everyday was next. Great in concert, it got everyone dancing. A little #36 outro tease, which got us real fans excited. Watchtower was great, as always. It might be time for them to throw a twist in it or somethin. The lighting was def. a treat on this one, as all the spotlights went to center stage and focused on DAve as he sang "The hour is getting laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate." The song got the crowd back into a feverish pitch after the mellow Everyday. Next up ... Sleep to Dream Her. I think some fans took the so ng literally and fell asleep, cuz half the crowd sat down for this song. I'll admit, it's not a good concert song, but it IS a good song. Grace is Gone was really good. Funny how hardly anyone knew it, though. Dave played a few chords and said, "This is a country song." Heh heh. He ALWAYS says that before he plays it. What You Are was tight. One of the few good songs on Everyday, the boys did an exceptional job playing it last nite. The beginning had all the lights off, and Dave mumbling in the mic (like on the album). I'm hopin he plays this one again tonite. I think Last Stop would be a great follower to this song; they could go right into it. Just somethin for you to think about, Dave. Grey Street was lacking some luster, but it was good. Not greyt, though. Sorry, couldn't resist. Last year's Polaris ones were much better, and that was the first time he played them! Next was I Did It, but I wish he hadn't. I was thinkin MAYBE the song would be better live, but I was wrong. AT least it was short, so that was good. True Reflections ... what a surprise. First time I'd ever seen it w/out the "lovely" ladies. Boyd rocked, as usual, and Dave added backup vocals. I was thrilled to see ZERO "lovely" ladies on-stage. Their greatest skill is butchering songs. 2Step was a good closer, but it didn't awe me or anything. Carter had a sweet solo toward the end of the song, which was def. a treat. Could only make out a lil bit of Dave's ramblings at beginning of the song. Somethin like ... "What's wrong for me is wrong for you, yada yada yada." Nevertheless, it was good, and I've always loved that little poetic freestyling, ever since he did it at Hartford 8/8/99. Lights out, band off the stage. I remember wanting more; this was not a satisfying show. I was hopin for Space Between as first encore. It just screams "first encore," but I guess Dave hasn't realized it yet. So instead we got a Dave acoustic solo, and I was thinkin #40, but instead we got Waste. Not bad; good to see Dave still has some tricks up his sleeve. Then the rest of the fellas came out and gave a good Tripping Billies to close it out. Nowhere near as good as Polaris 6/19/00, but it was a good closer. Tonite better be better, though. Let's keep our fingers crossed for a Seek Up opener. One more thing ... where the hell did the BTCS songs go!? My fav album and he played ZERO songs. Bring back Dreaming Tree, Dave! Give me some Halloween tonite. How about a lil Stone? ANYTHING! Anyway, overall a good show, but only memorable highlight was Bartender. Hopin for more tonite. See y'all there.

Todd W.
WOW!! I wasn't as excited as I could have been about this show. Last year's Walnut Creek show was a very lackluster one and after reading the reviews from last weeks show in VA I was ready for another letdown. #41-good, if standard version, the segue into Everyday was very cool. When the World Ends-good song, better live than on disc. JTR- I was very glad to hear some of the Lillywhite stuff, I was worried it would have been thrown away after the album wasn't released. So Right- This song would make such an AWESOME opener if the boys would just give it the time and energy it deserves. Bartender- good song, the whole fast-slow-fast-slow pattern of the show structure wears on me though. WWYS-pretty standard version. If I had it all- again slowing things down a bit too much. Everyday- Should have left this one as just the tease out of #41, lackluster and then left us hanging with the #36 tease. Watchtower- standard version. Sleep to Dream Her- One of my least favorite songs from Everyday I really didn't want to hear this one, sucked a lot of energy out of the crowd. Grace is Gone- wonderful song, but still where's the energy? What You Are- Alright, here things begin to pick up, for me at least, good fun song. Grey Street- My favorite of the Lillywhite tunes, obvious that lots of people didn't know it, but still fun. I did it- Damn...he did it...'nuff said... True Reflections-not one of my favorites, but it kept the energy going fairly well for an amazing TWO STEP- DAMN, DAMN, DAMN!! I was going crazy at this point, one of the most awesome versions I've heard. Near the end Carter dropped down to just the snare and I could have sworn the band was going into Nancies, but it was not to be. Carter blew everyone's mind with his solo and the band finished off the song and left the stage after just over 2 hours. My prediction all day was that Trey Anastasio was going to come out and jam with Dave (just because I'm a Phish fan and I thought it would be fun). So Dave comes out alone for the encore and makes a comment about how quiet everything had been (The sound system seemed to be turned WAY down all night) He then proceeded to play Waste. I was going crazy because I thought it would be a perfect opportunity for Trey to walk out, but that was not to be...Great song though, even though only a handful of people seemed to know what it was. The rest of the band came out for Tripping Billies which seemed to be a commentary on the crowd as there was a larger amount of herbal pleasure than I've seen at some past Dave shows. Best Moment: Two Step Worst Moment: The realization that NOTHING off of BTCS was played and that I'm going to have to hear Crash Sunday night...Oh well... :-)

Jeremy W.
It was great. Terrence simien and his zydeco band opened up the show. It was good, happy music and a lot of mardi gras beads. Then the band came on and opened with #41, which was terrific, they put some of "Everyday"'s lyrics in there. I think the best song they played was grey street from the lillywhite sessions. THe crowd really loved that one. Midway through the set they hyped up everybody with some all along the watchtower and an awesome intro by stefan that blew my mind, it sounded like tim reynolds playing. It was amazing. Two step closed the set and it was all carter at that point. Dave really impressed me with his footwork during the jam, he was all over the stage. BOyd and leroi were awesome as usual. The crowd wasn't expecting true reflections. The encore was great i think. Dave played this song waste solo, that amazed everybody and Tripping Billies had everbody singing along. It was a sight to behold when everybody sang, "you and me and all our friends, such a happy human race". All in all, a fantastic show besides the guy that peed all over me and my friends' legs.

Justin R.
This was my eleventh show and i was mildly impressed. I feel that dave and the boys were trying to ram the new stuff down the crowds throats. I checked out the setlist from the second show on sunday and I kicked myself for not getting tickets to that one. The second show had tons of old stuff mixed with the new. Highlights for me from the saturday show: #41, JTR, Grey Street, Waste and Tripping Billies. Most of the new stuff sounded good, but they need to drop sleep to dream her and if i had it all from the list. BTCS was no where to be found. See ya'll in charlotte.

Jordan L.
This was my 7th show, and the band is definately on the right track with everyday. 41 was a great opener. They seemed anxious to get into the show and gain some redemption after a somewhat shakey show at C'ville a week before, dave played with the crowd with the everyday lyrics. When The World Ends was very well done, but seems like Dave is holding back on his guitar parts. This song definately needs to be jammed out. JTR, phenominal outro, Boyd absolutely ripped apart his bow strings. So Right, much more solid than C'ville. Dave was really one here and in perfect sync with Carter, this song is coming along quite nicely. Bartender...my dear lord. I've heard dave go nuts like this on some shows (check out 9.18.00 Bartender). But I have never physically seen Dave go nuts like this before. He was completely drenched in sweat screaming at the end. WWYS, nice jam, standard version. If I Had It all, great song. They got a lot louder with it than they did on the album, nice vocals by dave. Everyday, not as good as c'ville. #36 was brief, but still well done. Watchtower, its like a whole new song when you're seeing it from the 16th row. When dave an carter got together and just stared at each other and played, right in front of me, I thought I was going to die, this song is better everytime i see it. Sleep To Dream Her, stupid people goign to the bathroom, you don't know what you're missing. Grace Is Gone, played faster than usual, sounded great, Dave really got into it emotionally. What You Are, absolutely phenominal. This is the best song off the new album. They could really rock it if they went right into minarets. Grey Street, for a song with that freary title, they were anything but grey. It was absolutely livid and explosive. I Did It, I don't know what all the fuss is about. This song sounds great live and on the album. Everyday in general is what the band needed to get their youth back. And I think they've done just that. True Reflections, ALL BOYD, damn he smoked up the stage. Two Step, never ever a dull moment.. Dave played an acoustic solo like the old days. From there it was all carter absolutely tearing it apart. WASTE, was awesome! Dave mellowed it out completely. Nobody had a clue what it was. I was hoping for 40, there was a ton of excitement when Dave came out solo and then picked up the old Taylor Dreadnaught style guitar. Tripping Billies was great. They jammed on it for a while. Not my favorite closer, I was begging for just one more. But the band definately delievered tonight. I heard 12 songs that I have never heard them play before. The dream has only begun for Dave and the guys.

Jimmy M.
It was a great day for a show in sunny North Carolina and the lots were pleasant. I am from CT so I am used to the extended preshow festivals that are so native to giants, foxboro, and hartford. In NC, no one shows up until about an hour before the show (also creates entering traffic I heard) This was a solid show with a strange structure. The opening "41" was nice to hear but nothing great. I was definetely suprised that they did the LONG "everyday" outro to 41 and then later played the full song. (unnecessary double dose but it was OK) "When the World Ends" continued the energy. That song is funky and in my opinion the best of the live everydays (I'm gonna rock you like a baby....). Bartender!!! This song came out of nowhere and was the best I have ever seen live (out of 7 times I have seen it performed). The outro was gorgeous, you could feel dave's emotion. I hope this is played more. Next highlight: WATCHTOWER. I have seen many a live watchtower and this one was FIERY (they even had firedancers on the screens at the end). I am NOT a big fan of their mid-set watchtower and this one had the energy of a closer. One of the best I have seen. And then WITH ALL OF THE ENERGY FROM WATCHTOWER RACING THROUGH OUR VEINS WE GET.... sleep to dream her? This song currently has nothing to offer and was the midset equivalent of jumping off of a cliff. Grace is Gone and What you Are were both good (What you Are has a lot of potential). I was dieing to hear grey street and was thrilled to hear it. This version definetely did not have the power of the winter and summer tours from last year, and people were not into it like they were up north over the winter. Oh well. "I did it" was worthless. Standard "two step" and "true reflections." (seen better on both counts. "Waste" sounded great, but no one seemed interested. (some nice davespeak their- cannot remember though) I was wondering if they could ever get back to the energy of "Watchtower" and they absolutely did with the best version of "Billies" that I have ever seen. Dave really got into it and it BLAZED! The people (I was thinkin southern hospitality) were half wonderful and half indifferent hicks drinking as much beer as possible and looking for fans to make fun of (I guess that is worth their $55). Anyway parking nightmare- great show- see you all at giants!

Peyton T.
Man, this was a great show! It was my first show with seats so close.(5th row center; thanks Ryan) The set they played was great. I really enjoyed the #41 opener! Plus the Phish cover of "waste" for the encore was a very unexpected treat. I'm a huge Phish fan, and that really topped the show off. All in all this was one the best DMB shows I've seen. Thanks!

Tyler J.
WHAT A SHOW!!!!!!! Dave surprised everyone when he opened up with #41. Granted I would have rather heard an upbeat song to get the crowd pumped, this did the trick though. What was up with the tease of "Everyday". It sounded....ok. WTWE got everyone into it. Most of the "Everyday" songs were average with a huge kudos on "i did it", probably my least fav song on the new album but they have re-done it and it sounds awesome. So Right and Sleep to Dream her were pretty good, but where was the space between and dreams of our fathers? All along the watchtower came a little early but it was unbelieveable.. After watchtower, my voice was gone so i had to resort to lip-singing. The Lillywhite cuts were sweet as well. Grey Street was so tight as well as Bartender and JTR. True Reflections is always welcome and ended with Two Step , probably the best DMB song. WWYS was upbeat and got the non-dmb fans going but i could have done without it. ONTO THE ENCORE. WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT DAVE WOULD SING "WASTE" from PHISH??? I know i didn't. it sounded great. Sorry Trey, sell the song to Dave.. But no dave matthews band concert is complete without the incomprable jam of "TRIPPING BILLIES", which closed out the night. EAT DRINK AND BE MERRY, FOR TOMORROW WE DIE, thats definately the greatest closer. This show was terrific although i was waiting for "granny" and Rapunzel. WHERE WAS THE DDTW, and CRASH??? dave preformed like a true pro tonight which was a total 180 from c-ville. I give this show an A+. Great upbeat show and probably the best in a few years. The crowd was on cloud nine for the whole show and hopefully the non-dave fans got a dose of the greatest artist ever, Dave Matthews.....great show, see ya in va beach 7/27.