Samuel
I am a crazy DMB fan and this was the first concert of theirs i've ever been to, and it was the best time of my life BY FAR. I turned from a docile fan just enjoying music to a crazy lightstick-twirling, funky dancing maniac by the end of the show. When he struck up Ants Marching in the middle of the setlist i went just plain NUTS. But the absoulute kicker of the whole evening was the encore of Watchtower. It started out smooth as the crowd watched the storm roll in. When the song picked up, the storm did too, as if they were in step. By the time Dave sang "and the wind begin to howl" the lightning was flashing and thunder was rolling, it was as if the world was falling down and everyone there was having the time of their lives. I loved it. Absolutely moving. Many thanks to the band.

Jason F.
Every year for the last few years I have left Deer Creek saying "best show ever". This year was the culmination of my own personal Dave Matthews Band concert experience....thanks to Robert Randolph. Somewhere in the middle of his set, Robert Randolph grabbed a guitar and asked the crowd if anyone out there could shred. I raised my hand. Almost instantly, he looked my way and asked if I could play. In some sort of haze, my legs carried me forward and I ended up on the stage at Deer Creek with the incredible Robert Randolph and the Family Band. I walked up and grabbed a smooth Fender Strat and Mr. Randolph walked up to me smiling saying "we're in E minor...you ready?" Yeah. Deer Creek. Thousands of people. I'm ready. I hit the first note and a small roar came from the crowd. If there is video somewhere, you'll see me say "whoa". My solo with the band lasted for what seemed like a few minutes and ended with Robert and I standing at the edge of the stage jamming to the screaming crowd. This was by far the most surreal experience of my life and is still quite literally awesome and inspiring. I'm sure the guitar players in the audience thought I sucked, because I thought I could have done much better myself. But for the crowd around me at the show, "it rocked". High fives and back slaps all the way back across the 1st row and throughout the night...especially after Robert came back out to jam with the band on Bayou and Watchtower. Anyone missing out on the Robert Randolph experience needs to check out the Eric Clapton Crossroads special and see what this band is all about. Quite possibly the most enthusiastic band in existence today. Thank you very very much, Robert Randolph!!!

Jesse H.
This was a top shelf performance. Tonight's setlist was a mix of top tunes from Stand Up along with several old standards. Although I thoroughly enjoyed the selection, it was the energy of this show that put it over the top. I think the first three songs (American Baby, The Stone, Best Of What's Around) symbolized the fact that DMB can blend the infant, middle-aged, and geriatric songs and have a damn good time doing it. The LOVE, BABY's were strong throughout Granny, and Rhyme & Reason and Grey Street really fired everyone up. A couple more Stand Up songs preceded a surprising mid-set Ants Marching. The flow from old to new and back was nearly unnoticeable to me. I felt that the crowd was engaged the whole time. An exception came during Out Of My Hands, which I thought was very awkward. The Dancing Nancies -> Warehouse treat was fabulous, and, amazingly, the energy continued through the following Stand Up songs. Leroi added a sweet "Chameleon" (Herbie Hancock) solo at the end of You Might Die Trying. The harmony of the crowd singing the intro to Dream Girl was euphoric. Robert Randolph appeared for Louisiana Bayou, and it was spellbinding as Dave and Boyd continued the Good Time jam with him! The whole band was stunned at what had occurred to say the least. At the end of the encore opener, Old Dirt Hill, the "Bring that beat back to me again" line was repeated seemingly forever - I counted 25 times! The following jam began with Stefan's Watchtower intro, but ended up with RR throwing down some grooves on the slide guitar. Dave broke in with "There must be some kinda way outta here," and the whole place went nuts. RR plays some sick Hendrix licks as we had learned earlier in the evening. Watchtower was absolutely thrilling! I caught Dave's guitar pick at the end - that pretty much capped off an incredible night!

Chris G.
This was an amazingly enthusiastic set of shows. The final night was set off with an outstanding performance from Robert Randolph, who later came back to play with DMB during the encore. This was my fifth and sixth show overall and I must say these rank up there behind my first DMB experience in Chicago. The shows are memorable in respect to the incredible storms and the incredible performances on stage. Carter was so amazing to watch once again...these guys never fail to show everyone a great time.

Danny
Wow, talk about doing a complete 180. I have no idea how a band can play the worst show I've ever seen, by ANY band, one nite and then play my 1st or 2nd favorite of 18 shows the next nite. I was watching a completely different band out there tonite. I haven't seen this kind of energy from them in a VERY long time. Only weak spots in the show were Out of My Hands (just shouldn't be played at a full band concert, total buzzkill) and Old Dirt Hill in the encore. It was funny though at the end because Dave and Carter must have sang "bring that beat back to me again" 30 times and Dave was cracking up by the last one. I have seen this band almost 20 times now and I could tell that were truly having a blast out there tonite and they really just tore the place down. Bayou was a fantastic closer with Robert Randolph sitting in.

One of the more surprising things that I noticed from the show was Grey Street. I actually groaned when they started to play it, but they jammed the end of it more than I have heard in the past 2 1/2 years, much more. Carter was going crazy as was LeRoi. Anyone else notice how great it sounded?

Everything sounded better tonite, everything. They didn't look tired and forced to be there. They didn't look or sound sluggish, they weren't playing all of the songs at half the normal pace. Fantastic show, they redeemed themselves in my eyes and I definitely plan on returning next summer now. Thank you DMB, you were the band that I fell in love with tonite.