Ben S.
Grab your calendar. What year is it? Is it 1996 or maybe 1995? Ten of the 20 songs were from 1996 or earlier. The show waltzed into One Sweet World---a very nice way to start the show. A hop, skip, and a jump through When the World Ends—quick. Hunger for the Great Light is such a cool song that juxtaposes wishful thinking with hard-charging rhythm---one of my favorites from Stand Up. Back to 1994 with Rhyme & Reason and Seek Up. Seek Up was almost ridiculous. By far the longest version I have ever head with Boyd, Dave, LeRoi, Ruben, and Butch Taylor. I told Cari that she would dig the ending even though she was sleeping through the first part---it still gives me chills---either way she loved the ending. “Ruben Studdard” was playing a mean trumpet all night long giving LeRoi a run for it. I didn’t catch his name but he was amazing…I found out later he is Rashawn Ross. They kept on the mellow side with Pay For What You Get and but turned it up with What Would You Say. Grey Street was thrown in there somewhere but the exact order escapes me. This was definitely a crowd-pleaser as some of the younger fans got to chime in. “Little baby” started off a smooth So Much to Say and segued nicely into Too Much. Both LeRoi and Ruben added some flash to the “Anyone seen the Bridge” part. We left 1996 and moved up to 2006 with a few new songs. Good to see they haven’t sat on the Stand Up album and are progressing on some new material---hopefully Lillywhite is back. The 1st one was Kill the King. It was kind of dark but a bold song with great potential. Another one called Break Free was more of a major key mover with a lot of accompaniment from LeRoi and Ruben. This is already a strong number with Dave on the electric guitar. Gut check with Jimi Thing…hmmm where to begin. Once again kind of mellow until the back section of this song. Boyd really jumped around the stage ripped off one bow after another. Butch Taylor got into it with the keyboards and a bit of scatting himself. Dave got it going and kept on scatting throughout the show. Crash Into Me was sweet and comforting. Dave even went for the high notes at the end. The set ended with Louisiana Bayou and easily satisfied even the most hyper DMB fan. This song could still be going with its crisp vibe and clear tone. Dave came out solo for the encore and told us how his sister Jane gave him some advice on writing new material. “Take your head out of you’re a**” was most of it. This song was heartfelt and smooth. Not so bleak as Gravedigger. Look for the band to join in soon. The band came out and played another new song that was driven mostly by Stefan on the bass. Very cool with Dave just singing at this point---the new album would be good with these songs alone. They mixed it up with Crush. Another solid jam with LeRoi and Ruben going at each other. This guy’s trumpet unstoppable and the crowd fed off of this energy. They could have stopped right there but to our delight we hit on Under the Table one more time with Ants Marching. Everybody got moving to this one. Your brother, sister, mom, dad, grandpa, grandma…don’t be shy. This brought down the house to an eclectic show of quite old material and brand new songs. It goes to show that they can still pull off songs from long ago and remind you of a band that never stops moving.

Karl L.
This show was drowning in mediocrity from the beginning, occasionally peeking its head above water for momentary patches of averageness, but ultimately sinking hard and fast into the abyss. The band started off with a lackluster One Sweet World that brought some of the already-standing crowd back to their seats. This song plodded along roughly, setting a pace the band would rarely stray from for the rest of the show. I expected a make-up song that would instill some form of energy into the crowd, but I was met with the bland, uninteresting, and not-so-welcome When the World Ends. Fortunately, Hunger For the Great light inspired the first burst of energy into the crowd, briefly putting a stop to my boredom. What Would You Say was standard, and it didn't do all that much in terms of energy. Rhyme and Reason has always been a good one, and it still is. An epic Seek Up followed, which would have been great if the crowd was ready for it. Unfortunately the energy was low when the song started and there was not enough to carry through this plodding version. Grey Street was a breath of fresh air, however polluted that air may have already been. Pay For What You Get was good, I was glad to here this very rare song. Unfortunately it was just too slow and somewhat misplaced. So Much To Say>Anyone Seen The Bridge>Too Much was crazy as always. Jimi Thing was next, bringing the energy up in the crowd. The ending jam was great, mostly because of Rashawn Ross' killer trumpet. While Crash as always was a crowd favorite,it just doesn't do much for me anymore. Kill the King sounded decent. The opening chords of Where Are You Going? inspired me to vomit violently and profusely all over my pregnant girlfriend. It was that bad and that out of place. Break Free sounded good. Lousiana Bayou was good and soulful but was essentially too little too late. Sister forced me to end my vomiting hiatus as I once again spewed chunks all over my pregant girlfriend. Can't Stop sounds like it was good. When Crush came on I thought it would be their closer which would have made this one of the worst Alpine shows of all time. Crush is a good song, but it's not a third song in the encore song. Ants Marching seemed like an apology to the crowd. After a pretty boring show, this song instilled a small amount of excitement. However, like Louisiana Bayou, it was too little too late. All in all, last night's show can be described in one word: mediocre. While at times it was great, it was not very fluid and the songs seemed to clash with eachother. Hopefully tonight's show will be better. Umphrey's McGee was awesome by the way.

Rene M.
It was a great feeling to actually get a show where it was a majority of his oldies. Especially for such a young and spirited crowd. The energy was raw. Everyone looked to be having a blast outside in parking. Definitely lots of grilling and drinking. Kinda windy though, i had a tuff time getting my grill going. Inside was jam packed. Bathroom lines were not fun. But once i had taken care of business and grabbed some beverages and found our seats i was ready for anything. One Sweet World just reminded all of of how sweet it is indeed. When The World Ends was alright just a nice, catchy tune. Hunger for the Great Light was well worked through. Its style and composition worked well for me. What Would You Say?, Rhyme & Reason, Seek Up were incredibly strong and full of nice improv. The R&R into Seek Up transition was tight. Ruben Studdard's clone was tremendous he really made the show, in my opinion, unique and cohesive. Grey Street was cool but only warmed you up for this Pay for What You Get, So Much To Say, Too Much, Jimi Thing. That was the meat of the show really. Floating everywhere between melodic harmony and hard hitting performances. These guys were putting on a rare performance! Crash was fine, Kill The King was better. Where Are You Going? was okay no mess up they played it right. It was a kool jam. Break Free and Louisiana Bayou was nice to hear. Bayou is one of my favorites off Stand Up and they really jammed it out! Encore: Sister ~Dave ceases to amaze me with a sheer volume of music he produces. Can't Stop great bass! Crush was nice but you knew it wasnt over yet. Ants Marching was what we needed to go home happy:) I've been listening and seeing shows of dmb since 96 and ive always had fun but this show was unique in its play and energy.

Chris C.
This was my 29th dmb show. I should have stopped at 28. I was at deer creek earlier this year which is a great place to see dave. Those two night rocked compared to this night. I must admit that I don;t care for alpine valley. I think anyone who has been to deer creek will agree. The setlist tonight was all over the place. Right when the band would get things going, they would suck all of life out of the crowd. I also feel that any show that has "Where are you Going" in the setlist is a horrible show. One Sweet World - standard When The World Ends - Hate this song Hunger for the Great Light - loved it What Would You Say - leave it Rhyme & Reason - standard Seek Up - Finally something to write home about Grey Street - standard but my engery is up Pay for What You Get - Rare song but why here in the setlist???? So Much To Say - I'll take it Too Much - I'll take it Jimi Thing - Great Trumpet work Crash - :-) Kill The King - Not bad Where Are You Going - ANYWHERE - get a beer, piss, vomit Break Free - like it Louisiana Bayou - Loved it Encore: Sister - Heard it Can't Stop - ????? Crush - ?????????????????????????????????????????????? Ants Marching - Too little Too Late

This show was in the bottom 1/4 of show's I've been too. I wanted to hear JTR, Pig, Joy Ride, The idea of You. Seek Up and Jimi Thing were the only songs worth downloading. Why the band plays where are you going is beyond me. Too bad the fan club couldn't score me sunday night seats. Maybe night 2 would have made up for this less than stellar show. ----- chris

Dave S.
After 8 Dave shows, this is the only one where I felt robbed and taken advantage of both timewise and money wise. OSW felt like somebody hit the entire crowd with a tranquilizer dart it was not a very good version and took the wind out of a lot of peoples sails. WTWE standard, nothing special (a recuring theme to many of the songs played tonight). HFTGL brought a little energy back but in the back of my head I knew that this show had been sold down river. R&R was good as always and wow, what a good Seek Up, blew me away. Grey Street was enjoyable (was hoping for JTR when he busted out the 12 string plus it was drizzling a little). ANOTHER SMTS into Too Much, yawn, good energy but its getting old. Jimi thing was good especially the end scat. From here until 1/2way through Louisiana Bayou it was dissapointment after dissapointment. The encore, quite frankly, was piss poor minus ANTS which salvaged at least some possitive feeling from this concert. Luckily, I am writing this review after seeing the Sunday night show so I am in a much better mood than I was last night. Never before had I seen this band with less energy and enthusiasm. It reaked of "eh". The song selection, while not awful, was so out of place and disorganized (and not in the "wow, thats fresh and cool and totally unexpected!" way). His new songs aren't the worst, they seem to need some work though, especially Sister which made me want to cut my ears off. Rashawn Ross was an extremely bright spot on the night, adding his craft brilliantly to many songs to help make them bareable if not memorable. He could not save this concert though. I would have rather crocheted with my grandma and watched old episodes of the Lawrence Welk variety show than have gone to this 'preformance'.

R.T. M.
This was my 5th dave show and by far the worst. The show didn't have any energy, the jam sessions got to quiet (people started sitting waiting for them to finish jamming), the setlist did'nt have enough phatty songs, the encore sucked except ants marching, the light show was weak compared to last years at Alpine Valley, and it was bogus that they did not have the 3 mega screens working. Dave just couldn't keep the crowd alive this was by far the most quiet show i've seen. i went ready to dance my ass off but i couldn't because the majority of the show was too slow. The best part of the show was the camera work for the screens which was really trippy and crystal clear, that had to be HD shit. The bottom line is Dave did not rock this show, it was more of a jam session than anything. A most disappointing show.

Ricker S.
Overall it was a pretty decent show, but I thought it was prett funny during the encore when Dave started repeating the second verse during Ants when he should've been singing, "Driving along this highway." He caught it and jumped back to the right part, with a little smirk realizing he had f-ed up. I've defenitely seen better shows, but it still was pretty good. I think the trumpet fits in perfectly.

Justin B.
First of all, let me tell you where i'm coming from. The last show i saw was in Novermeber at Target Center in MN, and i enjoyed that one the least out of all the shows I've been to. Alpine reminded me why i go to Dave Matthews, for two night stands like these... On night (this first night) mellow, mixed with a second night completely different. And it's so fun to party all day with friends. There is a new brand of DMB fan who might not have enjoyed tonight's show, but I certainly did. I think of the show in 3 parts before the encore. 1) OSW, WTWE, HUNGER, & WWYS were all some-what safe, and the least interesting, but for me the show really started with R&R... 2) R&R through JIMI where amazing and gave the show a mid 90s feel, infact one of my nights highlights was how well played SMTS was played, it caputed the Dave-in-a-straight-jacket feel of the music video (sometimes it just seems commercial) this was a flashback and very nice. 3) Evolution... i was one to hope before this show that Rashawn Ross, aka Ruban Studdard, would not make the 1,000 mile trip because my previous opinion from the Target Center show was that he wasn't helping, only hurting. However sometime durring "break free" i realized the evolution is making progress. Dave actually had to make Everyday and Stand Up to keep from getting bored and it might actually be beginning to work in concert too. Maybe adding Mr. Ross isn't so bad, after-all he was pretty wicked on and old song, JIMI, tonight (however, i would still kill for one night stripped of butch and rashawn with tim reynolds added instead)... anyways i kind of like the new stuff, not more than the old sutff or less, but i'm can't trash it like some people do. And then the encore came, it was safe too, and the ants marched on up the lawn... already getting excited for the second night if they were like me... Cheers!

Josh V.
All around a great show. Too many radio songs, but the set still rocked. Seek Up was the high point for me personally. SMTS–>ASTB–>Too Much got my blood flowing as they always do, and HFTGL and Bayou and two the of best from Stand Up. With classics like Crush, Ants, Rhyme and Reason and Jimi Thing I can’t complain. Dave and Butch’s scat argument was sweet. The guys brought a ton of energy tonight and the crowd was stoked. Boyd was all over the stage, Fonzy was having a lot of fun and Dave’s shirt was soaked thru (it was really humid that night.) Four songs in an encore is awesome!!!

Cam G.
Hey there! well this was my 1st Dave Matthews Band Concert, and it will not be my last. i thought it was something to remember...I thought it was a great concert. Opening song "One Sweet World" was a good opener...then when "When the World Ends" came on..it brought excitement into the crowd. "Hunger For the Great Light" was an awsome song-one of my favorites from 'Stand Up' "What Would You Say" came on and really got me excited. "Rhyme & Reason" came on right after and you would of thought that nothing can be worse at that point until...........they played "Seek Up" now this song (I believe) is the most boring DMB song next to "Christmas Song" but anyways to play that song for 18 minutes straight was dreadfull....but once I heard the drum solo begining to "Grey Street" I was fully recovered...an amazing song....Im not a big fan of "Pay For What You Get" but it was well-played..."So Much To Say" into "Too Much" was something I'll remember everytime i hear those songs....in too much it started to rain a little bit which woke up everyone who were still sleeping from "Seek Up".... Every song after "Too Much" the concert was incredible! Hearing "Jimi Thing" to "Crash into Me" to one of his new songs "Kill the King" "Where Are You Going" is one of his greatest songs..to hear that live when you are 15 ft away from him sing was unbelievable. Hearing "Break Free" was awsome....Rashawn Ross is now my favorite member of the band besides Dave. When Dave played that soft guitar beginning to Louisianna Bayou" I was going nuts...everyone was dancing and going crazy. It was awsome!!!...the encore was very sweet...when Dave came out solo with his acoustic guitar telling the story about Jane then playing "Sister" he also played another new song "Cant Stop" the crowd was getting very quiet.....but it then erupted when the baseline of "Crush" came on. After "Crush" me and my friends thought the show was over.... we were getting ready to leave.....but then.....the snare of "Ants Marching" came on and you could not of gotten a better closing song than "Ants Marching" for your first DMB concert......well after seeing Dave for the first time...I will be seeing him every time he comes to Alpine or Chicago....that was incredible