Jim H.
I have seen 50 plus shows since 1998, and by far this was the most disappointing show that I have seen. I have not seen DMB since last year, and Dave and Tim since Vegoose. I recognize that I am old school, the band probably gets tired of playing certain songs, and there is a younger crowd that grew up on some of the newer stuff. But honestly, there were very few bright spots after Seek Up, and from my perspective the show had very little in terms of energy. Sorry band, I will give you your due when I think you hit a homer, but this set list on a Friday night was strike out while looking !!!!!

Seth A.
Another summer night at the Pavillion with the Dave Matthews Band has come and gone. And just like in the previous years in Pittsburgh, the guys treated us to a great night of music and merryment, albeit with a couple of setbacks here and there.

If you were on the lawn like me and my wife, you know how crowded it eventually got as the night wore on. I think part of the problem was that everyone slowly slid down the hill until it got to the point where people were standing on top of one another.

I normally don't have a problem with people partaking of a few adult beverages, but when it gets to the point that you are falling into my pregnant wife... then we have an issue. I think that next year, especially if we only get one night, we'll shell out the extra money for the pavillion.

The only other downside of the show was during the first few songs, the speakers that project to the lawn either blew out, or just weren't turned on or up enough. However, people shouldn't scream "Turn it up" in the middle of the song. All that does it make it go from hard to hear, to impossible. Now I understand the European ideal of a crowd being silent during a song.

The performance itself seemed to be somewhat of a deviation from a normal DMB set. Typically they hit the ground running with a rocking opener, but "Seek Up" was more of a mellow choice. Perhaps I couldn't hear enough of it to tell.

I really enjoy "The Idea of You" and am hoping that it finds its way onto the next studio album. "Lousianna Bayou" is well on its way to becoming an instant classic, I think that is my favorite song off of Stand Up, and Boyd was really rocking.

The people in our area of the lawn seemed to think that it was the worst DMB show they had ever been to, but I think that its just the evolution of the band. First off, I think that lots of people still want a mix of UTTAD and CRASH in concert, and to hear a setlist of only hits. However I think that tonights show really demonstrated the growth of the DMB as artists, in that they aren't soley singning tunes about smoking, drinking, and banging. If you listen to the lyrics of "Shotgun"... its a deep song with serious connotation and implications.

And what a finale... Dave solo on "Some Devil was amazing, and I am really glad they have incorporated his solo skills into the act. The "American Baby" intro has really evolved from a silly album track overlayed with sound effects that seemed tacked on by a producer, to a neat little piece of music that serves as a perfect transition from Dave solo to the entire band. And of course from the minute that the spot hit Stefan, we new that it was Watchtower that was going to play us home.

And after all that people were upset that we only got one night, and that it wasn't a night full of Ants, Crash, Nancies, ect...

I'll finish with a quote from my grandmother... "Be grateful for what you have because it might be the last time you get it,"

Jerry K.
My family and myself attended the show at Star Lake in Pittsburgh. To be honest the band worked their ass off but the support staff left them down. The speakers that were to feed the lawn were not on so I cannot review the first three songs. Anytime Dave sang we could barely hear Dave's voice. Friends told us they had a better experience up front because the stage monitors were on for every song. I know you will not post this review but in all honesty this was the worst show I have ever not heard in the over 25 shows I have attended. My family and I traveled over 5 hours to attend the show and celebrate my wife's birthday. Halfway through the show the audio got better and we enjoy the show to the end. I love DMB but there isn't any reason the audio should be that bad. In my profession everyone associated with the audio would have been replaced.

William
This was my 7th Dave show in eight years and I hate to say it but this was by far the most disappointing I have seen. Usually Dave and the boys play a great setlist in Pittsburgh, but this year wasn't the same. After looking at the setlists for the previous two shows of the tour I was excited and anxious to get to the pavilion; the pre-game was great, the crowd vibes were good, and unfortunately the Band didn’t come through as they normally do. From the sound errors at the beginning to the predictable encore the show seemed to be missing a key element.

I understand that the band has been trying new things recently, but I feel that the show lacked the usual classics that are to be expected, we got no ants, no two step, no #41, no lie in our graves, no everyday, no dreamgirl, no jimmy thing, no warehouse, no tripping billies and no crash. Grey Street, Crush and Stay were great crowd boosters and the band played them awesome, but I wish they had delivered more of an upbeat set list. The middle of the concert seemed to be filled with low excitement and fans growing weary in anticipation for the next song.

I am a die hard Dave fan and I understand the band doesn’t always want to play the usual or most popular songs, but I feel that the loyalty the fans of Pittsburgh have shown the Band was ignored on Friday and a mediocre show was performed. I hope the Band returns next year ready to compensate for one of the worst Dave concerts in Pittsburgh history.

Jonwvu
i have to disagree with the previous posts. we got to see boyd jam on at least 4 or 5 songs and steffan do a couple of solos too where he danced around the stage. the crowd was really into it and the sound was great. i can understand that when you cant hear the first couple of songs it kind of brings you down a little, i can honestly say i probably would have felt the same way, but overall this show was better than the next night at nissan because of the jams with boyd and steffan. hopefully they will be back next year with 2 shows. i have to say out of the 12 shows i've seen and being a fan since 1995, this was one of the best....

Joe M.
i'm 28, i tailgate hours before the shows, and i usually hit both shows, so it was a huge disappointment not to be staying at the campsite to hit 2 dave shows this year...i'll just have to go to the cleveland show, or possibly west palm beach florida!

i loved the show!, but i could watch dave play anything live and love it, so my opinion is bias...the setlist was a bit different than usual, but it wasn't a bad different at all

i missed SEEK UP because i was still trying to drink that last beer in the parking lot, but would have loved to hear it live again...the number 2 spot was good positioning for YOU MIGHT DIE TRYING...right before dave played HUNGER FOR THE GREAT LIGHT, he said, "this is a love song", we all had a good laugh considering the song is all about going down on your significant other...#27 was ok, i still need to hear it a few times to really enjoy it though, but it did sound like his older stuff...DON'T DRINK THE WATER is what it is...CORNBREAD was awesome, it was the first time i heard it (i didn't want to ruin it by downloading it first), and i instantly fell in love with it...my girlfriend enjoys THE IDEA OF YOU, so i didn't mind hearing it...i enjoyed how dave started ANYONE SEEN THE BRIDGE by itself....and the "slow" part in TOO MUCH got super slow this year...i went to the restroom during SISTER...loved GREY STREET and LOUISIANA BAYOU, as usual...never was a big fan of SHOTGUN, but it sounded like it changed since last year...i cheated and knew he'd be playing SWEET UP AND DOWN, so the shock factor wasn't there, but loved to hear it live...CRUSH was perfect since i was with my girlfriend...and STAY is STAY, just nice to hear........ENCORE.......SOME DEVIL was ok, i went to alot of the dave & friends shows, so i didn't need to hear it live again...dave did the AMERICAN BABY INTO into two step last year, so it wasn't a surprise to see him use it to go into ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER this year

overall, great show!...he didn't play his "cash cows" (nancies, jimi thing, warehouse, two step), but missing those this year will just make me crave them next year....thanks dave!!

Jim O.
Much to my dismay, bad traffic combined with a terrible parking spot caused me to miss the better part of "seek up" but the rest of the set cleaned my clock. "You might die trying" and "hunger for the great light" are two of favorites from stand up, the latter of which was rocked quite hard. "Don't drink the water" was the first one that rolled around that let us see if dave would use falsetto or be attacking full voice that night; I was very happy to see it was the full voice <- on "don't...", the american baby intro, and warehouse especially he held nothing back (he even threw in the "fire" line)

As far as newer stuff, I was incredibly happy. "Cornbread" especially, is infectiously catchy and I can't wait for it to be on an album. "Shotgun" is an outstanding song, along with "the idea of you" but "sister" was just plain beautiful (and this is from someone who isn't always crazy about his slower tunes live).

All in all i think the best way to describe the set itself was "refreshing." It was nice to hear some of the "populars" in the place of the "classics." I.E. going to a concert and hearing "grey street" "stay" and "too much" but not "ants" "jimmy thing" or "what would you say" was great. They're fantastic songs, but they get taken for granted if we always hear them.

To sum up my thoughts immediately leaving: the new stuff sounds just as good as the first two albums, boyd was REALLY on his game, and my gf who had been to the tweeter the wednesday prior argued with me the whole way home over which show was better: after hearing the whole recap, although i'd have loved to call off work and see both, the only thing i'd have swapped would have been "tripping billies," but that's only because it's my personal favorite tune of his...

Kevin
This was my 8th or 9th Dave show in Pittsburgh and for the first time I was disappointed by the concert. The band played well; however, the setlist was terrible. Like others have stated, I looked at previous nights setlists and was very excited for the concert, only to be let down. Greystreet was great as always, but the rest of the concert was lacking. By the time he finished with crush, stay, and watchtower, I was so dissapointed that it ruined those songs. You expect to hear one of three songs every year... if not 2 and those songs being 2 step, ants marching, and 41. If you dont get those songs you at least expect warehouse, trippin billies, granny,big eyed fish, etc. He did not play any of them and it was extremely disappointing. I am not sure if I will go to another dave concert after this one. It is always the highlight of my summer and I feel really let down.

Zac Z.
The 8/10 show at Post-Gazette Pavillion was my 19th DMB show since 2002. Overall it was a very fun and entertaining concert but ranks in the lower half of the DMB shows I have attended. The set kicked off with SEEK UP. A great opener and one of the highlights of the night. It really seemed to get the crowd into the show early, more so than other shows I have seen with Seek Up openers. Overall a really good opener. Next came a less than stellar slew of Stand Up songs and new songs. YOU MIGHT DIE TRYING carried over the energy from Seek Up, but the HUNGER/#27 run was a big downer for me and what seemed to be the majority of the crowd. DDTW was decent but I prefer it as an opener. It didn't seem to flow right with its position in the set. CORN BREAD came up next. This was the first time I had heard the song and I really enjoyed it. For a new song it really got the crowd up and dancing. It was another highlight of the night. The excitment and energy from Cornbread was quicky dissipated with the IDEA OF YOU--->SISTER run of songs. I am not a fan of IOU or SISTER, especially as midset songs. They really are crowd killers. Plus I am sick of TOO MUCH, which I have seen at I would guess 15 of my 19 shows. It needs a little hiatus. The overall run from Hunger----> Sister was the downside of the show and what kept it near the bottom of my list. GREY STREET was next. It seems to me that this has become one of their most passionately performed songs and is definately a perminent concert staple. I enjoyed this one, as I always do, and it helped to get the crowd back into the set. LOUISIANA BAYOU came next and was, in my opinion, their best performed song of the night. Rashawn+Lerio=musical orgasm. I think I actually perfer this song without Robert Randolph, and that says alot. SHOOTGUN came next. I'm not a fan of this song. It seems like a re-worked, poor man's version of Sugar Will. They sound eirely similar and even the lighting has notable similarities. The only difference is I liked Sugar Will much more. SWEET UP AND DOWN came next. I have been waiting to hear this song for years, as it is one of my favorites from LWS and has been gone for so long. It was good but seemed really short. I would like to see some jamming in it. CRUSH was nice, always an enjoyable tune. STAY closed at the set. I have seen Stay either close the set or encore at more shows than I can count. It needs a little break from these two position. Its a good song, but is getting played out as a set closer, especially when there are options like Billies, Ants, Nancies, Warehouse and numerous others that are much better songs than Stay. I really expected another song after this one, but it ended the set (and I might add much earlier than the other shows I have seen at Post-Gazette) around 10:00pm. The encore began with SOME DEVIL. I enjoy Dave coming out to perform a solo song in the encore, as long as its followed by two more songs. It was, so I was not disappointed. AMERICAN BABY INTRO was the next encore song. I have said it before and I will say it again, Intro is the best thing DMB has done since BTCS. The passion, energy, and musicianship displayed in Intro is absolutly incredibly. I love this song. It was, however, noticable shorter than the other American Baby Intros I have seen performed live. Stefan Solo---> ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER ended the encore. I hadn't heard Watchtower live in a few shows, so it was good to hear it again. They tore it up, as always, and ended the show right. Overall, the encore was another highlight for me. As a whole the show was very fun and well done. Dave's voice sounded better than it has in a while, and he sang every song with intense passion. Carter was great as ever. Boyd seemed to be somewhat reserved, or rather the setlist was not Boyd heavy. But the songs he did solo on he performed very well. Butch was Butch and, Stefan was, well, Stefan (which I think could be much better but thats a whole nother topic). The Rashawn/Lerio combo is absolutely amazing. These guys go together like peanut butter and jelly. They are a real treat. The new lighting/stage set-up is phenominal. Kudos to those invovled who make the DMB stage the best in the business. The setlist was, as a whole, just ok with the weak mid-show run and closer but the strong opener and encore. It was also noticabley shorter than every other full band DMB show I have attened, with it ending aroudn 10:30. It was not the best DMB show I have seen but was still an amazing time and DMB still puts on one of the best shows in the business.