Ben P.
Wow, the word of the night was intense. The atmosphere was great, a lot of weed smokin and screamin. Soulive entered with about half the people seated played some nice tunes. I was very impressed by the drummer, very enjoyable. Dave came in and sang on the 3rd song reading from a card. Gave the crowd a little spark. Soulive then left and DMB entered. They started out with a very nice version of GREY STREET. A lot of jamming but didn't play as long as I had hoped. Dave then switched into his sad electric guitar and played I DID IT. Myself, like most true to DMB fans dislike Everyday very much. But I do admit that they are playing the songs better every show. I am not as dissapointed as I used to hear an Everyday tune at a concert. Dave then started DONT BURN THE PIG. I love the BTCS version and was pleased and suprised that they played it at the Rose Garden. They played the song exceptionally well. After finishing, my man Carter started playing on the rims of the drums and all the lights went on him. He played a nice jam of rim shots and clicks but I wish he had just gone all out and amazed the fans at the Garden. His jam then went into YOU NEVER KNOW. I enjoyed the song and they played it very smooth and enjoyable. DMB then went into another BS song, WHERE ARE YOU GOING. This song, like YOU NEVER KNOW, was played nice and smooth giving the crowd a nice taste on what they will hear on their new album. After waiting for some nice old school tunes, Dave went into a smashing version of TOO MUCH. Carter wailed and Dave was screaming, the crowd was going nuts.Dave did some sweet leg dancing and got the crowd going.JIMI THING came in next with some rock hard solo's by Boyd, Leroi, and Dave. When Leroi played Carter had a more jazz groove going and I liked that.Dave then went into a good 15 mins of BIG EYED FISH into BARTENDER. Both songs were played great,Leroi was going crazy on Bartender and got the crowd going. note: I still dont understand why Dave doesn't realize that the crowd loves when they play the older stuff but still sticks with a lot of the new songs.Then Dave went back to Everday with FOOL TO THINK, played it alright but I was very eager to hear some more older tunes.Dave then went into a very sweet version of GRACE IS GONE. Played it a lot like it sounds on the upcoming album and I liked it a lot.Then Dave grabbed the electric and I felt another dissapointment awaiting. Dave then started playing this funky grooves with Carter coming in that sounded a little bit like the Dave and Tim Reynolds intro to Warehouse. Little did I know that it was an intro to WHAT YOU ARE. This was hard, intense, and everything else you can think of. Best version I have ever heard it. Dave then grabbed the acoustic and my prayers were answered. THE STONE came next and was played well. Stefan going all out like usual on the song. After 13 songs and Dave saying his good byes,and being a little dissapointed not to hear some older stuff, DMB waited in the dark while the crowd awaited the last song of the setlist. Then Dave came pumping out with an incredible version of TRIPPING BILLIES. Boyd just went all out on his solo. Played made and jumping all over the stage. Carter also did a sweet job on the drums, couldnt have asked better. Then the band left and after mineuts passed of people screaming and banging and chanting Dave came back and play BEAUTY OF WYNONA. Never really enjoyed the solo acoustic stuff but it was pretty. Then the rest of the band came out with Eric Krasno from Soulive and Stefan started with some of Star Spangled Banner and also some Nirvana rif was a nice intro into WATCHTOWER. I know fans are getting fed up with them not closing in anything but this, but the song rocks. Krasno played a nice long solo on the electric and impressed everyone. Dave then played all out and left everyone leaving the Portland feeling well.

Noah M.
Let me start this review my saying that the boys were full of energy tonight and their performance was so tight. With such highlights as Jimi Thing, Bartender, and Watchtower, its hard to believe I could have anything bad to say about it. BUT, I must confess that I am rather disappointed in the setlist. I think what makes it really bad is that they've been doing such great sets lately, getting better and better each night, until tonight. Oh well, still a great show. On to the set: GREY STREET - Such a great opener, and it really set the energy level for the rest of the show. Always great to hear live. I DID IT - Not my favorite off of ED, but this song is totally badass. It's easy to tell how much the band loves playing this one. PIG - Good to have this song back this year. YOU NEVER KNOW - Carter had a cool little thing before going into this song. WHERE ARE YOU GOING - Such a beautiful song, it pains me to think that a year from now everyone will be sick of hearing this one (remember when Satellite and Crash were beautiful?) At this point I wondered if the band was going to acknowledge the fact that they were around before 1998... TOO MUCH - There's my answer. Fairly typical version. JIMI THING - Let me just say this to all tape traders: Get this show for this song alone. BEST JIMI EVER! Boyd ripped it up pretty good, and the crowd absolutely went wild. I like the new accompaniment to Roi's solo. At this time I had an uncontrollable urge to dance. And it only got better when Dave played the greatest guitar solo of all time. Well worth the wait for such a great classic. (14 minutes) BIG EYED FISH - or whatever they call this song now. Again, Roi had a hard time getting the pennywhistle to the mic. While he struggled, I knew Bartender would be next. BARTENDER - and let me tell you, it's never been so great to be right. Words cannot describe the magic of Dave's voice. Best I've ever heard this song. Had a cool ending too that went on for a while. (12 minutes) FOOL TO THINK - I'd like to hear this acoustic some time. GRACE IS GONE - Nothing too exciting. WHAT YOU ARE - Dave started jamming on the electric and doing some cool vocals. This is a good song live. Love Dave's vocals at the end too. It was really strong tonight. THE STONE - I like the new opening. TRIPPING BILLIES - As always, cool to hear live, but I must say I was disappointed that this was the end of the set. Only 14 songs and no big jams? Not to mention only 5 \old\ songs. For the encore, Dave came back out and said he was going to play a quiet one, which is weird because I didn't think WYNONNA was really all that quiet at all. Its acoustic, sure, but he got pretty loud. Very good cover. Now, if DMB had closed tonight with Ants or Rapunzel or Two Step, I would have left happy, but instead we were treated to WATCHTOWER which is just so amazing that they played it. This alone saved the setlist, definitely worth sitting through 6 of BS and 3 EDs. And, with Eric Krasno from Soulive sitting in, that made it extra special. Stefan played the Star Spangled Banner before the manic Watchtower.

Dctrsus
OH YOUR GOD! So i just got back from church...the church of dmb that is, and i should say that last night was definitely one of the best i have ever seen. And ignoring the fact that we spent half an hour trying to get the hell out of portland, the night couldn't have been any better. The whole band was full of energy and it was contagious. Even Stefan was gettin his groove on. i only have two comments about the set list. i didn't want to hear I Did It, but it was the second song and to my surprise, it was fabulous. It seems to have gotten better with age. And Watchtower as the encore...it's been done...over done. I would have liked to hear Rapunzel instead, but the solo from the guitarist from Soulive was pretty damn cool. And even though Watchtower was a predictable ending, it WAS a fabulous ending to the best show i have been to yet.

Ryan
To say it was an incredible concert is an understatement and does no justice. It was may first Dave concert and I recommend everyone going to one sometime in their life. Need I remind you that this band sells more CDs and sells out more venues than anyone is the WORLD? These are facts. I am still in awe of last night...The lighting was spectacular. And I now have a greater appreciation for the rest of the band. Boyd Tinsley was a mad man with the violin. I can't even begin to explain what that guy did with that instrument! Whoa! And Leroy Moore's incredible baritone and alto sax solo jams kept the jazzy vibe going all night. His riffs on the sax are definitely the backbone of a majority of DMB cuts. Overall, it was a little lacking on some of the older stuff, but he did still manage to play Too Much, Jimi Thing, Tripping Billies, All Along the Watchtower, I Did It and others. The new stuff was a little frustrating, only because I didn't know the songs too well. But they were still extremely beautiful cuts. I can't wait for the new CD, Broken Stuff to come out in July. Where Are You Going (the superman song) is already my favorite track on that cd. (the bootleg is available on the internet, but won't be officially released until July) The encore performance consisted of an all acoustic solo of Dave doing a cover of For the Beauty of Wynona. It was all dark with a single spotlight on Dave and his guitar. This is where you must just close you eyes and really hear his voice. He held nothing back. Especially considering he canceled his previous two shows and a TV performance on the Willy Nelson special due to strained vocal cords. The last encore song (and Jimi Hendrix cover!), All Along the Watchtower made the entire night complete and was completely amazing! The bassist Steffan Lassard intro'd into it with the Star Spangled Banner and a little Teen Spirit riff, then the band and a special guest electric guitarist from the opening band (Soulive) joined him into Watchtower, where they jammed on it for about 15 m jamming until someone brought another to him for a quick exchange. I can't wait to see this band at the Gorge in September. I know this sounds a little corny, but I feel very fortunate to have experienced the world's best band and most popular performer of our time. I think I'll need a few days to recover from this experience.

Eric J.
I must say that this is the best show i have seen. After Reading some other reviews of the show, i decided to write one to clear some things up. As far as the encore goes, Beauty of Wynnona was one of the best dave solos i have seen, and watchtower was 100% unexpected. Yeah i has been played a lot as an encore, like 2 years ago, last night was the 6th time it has been p[layed this tour, so, good call bud. As far as the rest of set, amazing. Pig was the highlight of my night. The last time i saw it was 99, and its only gotten better. You never know and Where are you going only impressed me more. The gravedigger intro to What you are was/is somewhat scary, amazing. I was hopping for a LIOG but i got an amzing billies where boyd ripped up the stage. Daves jam to Jimi Thing supprised most of the people here tonight. The majority of the people at this show hadnt seen him since portland meadows in 99, and dave has improved so much over the years. All in all, Out of 8 shows, this one is the best. You at the gorge

Adam H.
My first DMB show and I would have to say that I was impressed and yet disappointed at the same time. I think it is because I have had this built up by all my friends to be the "end all, be all" of concerts and it was a great show but not the best I have ever seen. Having said that, I was very happy with the show and can't wait until I have another opportunity to see them (Hopefully at the Gorge next summer). Getting into the show now: Soulive took the stage promptly at 7:00 and the second the lights went down, the crowd roared. I just have to say, how cool is Dave Matthews that he actually comes out and introduces his opener? I thought that was awesome! Soulive belted out a great set, which was highlighted by Dave singing with them. Into DMB, they came out and milled the stage for a few minutes which made me think something was wrong. Then they went into GREY STREET. Great opener! I was disappointed that they did I DID IT but it was a great rendition none-the-less. PIG was amazing! The lights were perfectly in time with Boyd's fiddling it was.Amazing. YOU NEVER KNOW was cool, my first time hearing it. WHERE ARE YOU GOING was great and can't wait to get BS. Then they launched TOO MUCH and did a great job on it, high energy and Dave was dancing all around.Great version. JIMI THING was of course a crowd favorite and was a done very well. BIG EYED FISH was done well. Dave switched verses one and two from the LWS and got a great response when he dropped the "f" word into the monkey verse. BARTENDER was great.what else can I say about it. FOOL TO THINK was nothing special but good. I was So stoked to hear GRACE IS GONE! WHAT YOU ARE, THE STONE, and TRIPPING BILLIES were all done well with an awesome jam at the end of BILLIES. They then took and incredibly long break, it was almost like they were seeing how long they could drag it out. Dave finally came back out and played a FOR THE BEAUTY OF WYNONA with two spots on him.amazing. The boys came back out with Stephan playing a solo of the STAR SPANGLED BANNER and into ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER. Great way to end the show but.I wanted Two Step and Rapunzel.and maybe Crush. Oh well.next time. All in all a good show. Can't wait see them again!

Darrin H.
I made the trip from Sacramento thinking that this show would be just as good as the ones I saw at Shoreline and Autowest, and indeed the Band was once again awesome. They played with great intensity for the fourth straight show and let the world know why they are one of the greatest bands. My only critique of the band is the limited use of their full song base, play less everyday, more early stuff. But I see them working, I would expect the second leg of the tour to be filled with more of the traditional DMB hits. As for Portland though, wow. Dave came to the microphone before the show and I believe he said, "Its great to be back here in Portland, we haven't been here for a couple of years..." Well I know why. Portland, you guys are bad fans with little to show for energy. Get your act together, half the arena (all the upper half, some lower) should not be sitting for the entire show and the 3/4ths of the arena should not be silent nearly all of the show. I wish I could compliment the Portland people on something but I would bet that the people who did make noise were the people who traveled, because the majority of the fans just sat there looking...nevermind, hey at least its a beautiful city. Can't wait for the Gorge, always a great venue with people from all over the US, stay home Portlanders.

Kristin
This was my eighth DMB show (I was in the eleventh row), and I heard my eighth different opening song! At 7PM, Dave came out and introduced Soulive, and I was hoping he would sing "Joyful Girl" with them. (He didn't do it at the other three shows that Soulive opened this year.) Sure enough, midway through their set, Dave came out and they played "Joyful Girl." Dave had his lyric sheet with him, and after he was done singing he did this little hip-swaying dance. Soulive's set was more entertaining than I remembered from the Charlottesville show last year. At about 8:20PM DMB came out. I saw the 12-string guitar on the stage so I had an idea of what might open. They teased "The Last Stop," and then played "Grey Street." It was a good opener. Dave was all smiles during "I Did It." "Pig" was nice-- it was the third time that I have heard it live! I was very excited to hear "You Never Know" live for the first time. I always liked "What You Are," but with the new outro and all of their energy on it, it is incredible this tour. "Fool To Think" was surprisingly energetic. Carter was going crazy at the end of the song, and the song was getting faster and faster. Other highlights included "Bartender" (always nice to see), a very energetic "Tripping Billies," and some nice solos during "Jimi Thing." (Dave even did the falsetto part!) Dave's solo "For the Beauty of Wynona" during the encore was powerful. The guitarist for Soulive played on "Watchtower" (while first playing some of "The Star Spangled Banner" in tribute to Jimi Hendrix). The show ended at about 10:40PM, so it was about 2 hours and 20 minutes long.

Phil M.
Ok this show blew my socks off. Lest start out with the Dave and Stefan Last Stop tease b/f Grey Street. No one has mentioned that yet or they just completely missed that it was happening. Grey Street was an expected opener, IDI was okay... it got the Everyday kids wild. Pig was just awesome. I hadn't heard that song live since my very first show at the Gorge in '99, I'm glad they brought it back. YOiNK and WAYG were very nice. The Everyday kids didn't seem to know what to make of them. Too Much was nice... Suck it up! F**k it up! Yeah! Jimi Thing was awesome, great Dave solo in there and he jammed hard. BEF was nice ---> Bartender. I had never heard these two songs live before and they rocked. What You Are is the best song to come off of Everyday in my opinion... just blew my mind and it had the Gravedigger intro. Fool to think is an ok song (this came before WYA), carter had a nice solo in there. The Stone was sweet. Stefan was dancin and the dew rag was flyin all around. Props for the Fox jersey Stefan. Rippin' Chillies man blew my mind. Boyd just went off and it was bad ass. Encore. BOW was nice... Dave was wailing nicely. Watchtower... Stefan blew up the spot with the Star Spangled Banner, and then Krasno comes on and joins the band. Really no Leroi solo in there I was dissapointed about that some. My friend Doug got the setlist from the sound guys. Watchtower originaly was supposed to follow Billies, encore was sposed to be BOW (Dave Solo) and Antsmarching. Reason why this didn't happen, simple Boyd went off in Billies and that was dope enough... All in all a lot of new stuff, mixed with old stuff. Dave and the Boys kept me on my toes the whole time. Great Show.

J D.
My 26th Dave show and I would say this was a solid show ranking right around the middle for me. Grey Street was an amazing opener and I still can't believe this song isn't getting it's due because it's one of DMB's best. Glad to see this showing up as an opener more often. Don't Burn the Pig was solid and the YNK and WAYG are solid, can't wait to hear them on Busted Stuff. Big Eyed Fish is another underrated song and Dave screwed up at the beginning of the 2nd verse but caught himself to finish it off nicely. Bartender is solid and What You Are is definitely one of the best songs from Everyday. For the most part, the Everyday material needs to go the way of the dinosaur IMO. Grace is Gone and Billies were both amazing and very tight, glad to see GIG as one of Dave's favs. FTBOW is a weak solo song and I would have much preferred Waste or AIFHTSA. Watchtower is always an energetic way to end the night even though Two Step would have been better. Overall, a solid B but can't wait to see them at the Gorge. See y'all in September