While exiting Citi Field after the first night of Dave Matthews Bands’ two night stay, from July 16 to July 17, the crowd erupted in familiar local battle cries: “Let’s Go Yankees!” and “Let’s Go Mets!”
One thing both sides of the fence would be able to agree with is the amount of energy the band brings to their live shows.
“I don’t care where I see him; I’d see Dave anywhere on the planet,” said Yankee fan Chris Hogan, a resident of New Jersey. “They put on the best live show on earth.”
The Dave Matthews Band is the second act to perform a concert at Citi Field. As the Mets opened their new home last season, Paul McCartney took to the stage.
Since their inception in 1991, the Dave Matthews Band has been a staple summer touring act, selling out stadiums from coast to coast on a yearly basis. It has been announced that 2011 will be a well-deserved year off from touring, but not before they rocked Queens on a humid summer night.
“Citi Field is a great venue,” said Vin Taurassi, 27, of Manhattan. “The acoustics sounded sublime . . . There wasn’t a bad seat in the house. I’m sure he’ll be back in 2012.”
About 40,000 fans from across the country filled the Mets home field to see the Dave Matthews Band with opening act Zac Brown Band. The two combined to produce four hours of live music on July 16 and 17. The stage was set up in the outfield, part of which was also used for a general admission section.
The Dave Matthews Band played standards like “Rapunzel,” “Don’t Drink the Water” and “Jimi Thing.” Among many other songs, they also performed “Lying in the Hands of God” off last year’s Grammy award winning album “Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King,” which featured a Jeff Coffin saxophone solo behind the driving drums of Carter Beauford.
