Those of us that bought tickets for all three nights of the Dave Matthews Band Caravan Festival shows at Governors Island became quasi-meteorologists for the week preceding the shows. With Hurricane Irene looming in the Atlantic and the city preparing for the worst, it quickly became evident that the long-awaited weekend of eating, drinking and being merry was on the brink of total annihilation. And when the mayor shut down all transportation services, the light grew even dimmer.
When the official DMB tour website announced that not only would Friday’s all day festivities take place, but they would also accept single day tickets for Saturday and Sunday’s postponed shows, even the most jaded veteran show-goers raised their expectations: a classic mistake.
“The best way to go into a show is with zero expectations,” said Josh Clark who travelled with his soon to be wife, Jordan from Charlotte, North Carolina. After taking an early morning ferry from Battery Park, they waited all afternoon and part of the evening to get front row, center amenities at the ‘Hudson’ main stage. “I haven’t listened to Dave in four weeks. I haven’t checked any set lists from this summer…Tonight will be amazing. No doubt about it.”
Expecting a Dave Matthews Band summer tour has become synonymous with the sunrise over the better part of the 20 years, but in 2011, the band only scheduled four cities, three shows each and they brought their friends along for the ride. Most notably are O.A.R. (short for Of a Revolution), a tight jam act featuring soaring melodies and sing-a-long choruses. Their set included a cover of Billy Joel’s The Downeaster ‘Alexa’ and finished with college-anthem “That Was a Crazy Game of Poker.” Other acts include the jazzy head-nodders Soulive who can usually be found rocking clubs in Brooklyn and moe. who have headlined their own festival in New York every year since 2000. When Dave Matthews and company took to the main stage at 8:30 p.m. they got first dibs on bringing the storm to New York.
One of their favorite openers “Don’t Drink the Water” started the night off, but not before concert-goers collectively voiced their opinion about the whirling squall that had just touched down hours earlier in North Carolina. Before jumping into crowd-favorite “Grey Street,” Dave assured that they would be back to Governors Island to complete the final two shows prompting a roar from the tens of thousands on hand.
As the night progressed, those expecting a night of rare songs and old-time favorites were running out of luck. Their newest album “Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King” dominated the setlist much to the delight of some but forcing others to groan with frustration. After seven full-length albums, 17 released live shows and a hat full of unreleased tracks in their arsenal, the ability to please everyone has grown increasing difficult over the course of their career that started in a whiskey bar in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1991.
Founding members, Dave Matthews, drummer Carter Beauford and the late saxophonist Leroi Moore began experimenting Matthews’ songs when he was a local bartender. After adding then 15-year-old bass phenom Stefan Lessard and classically-trained violinist Boyd Tinsley, the band went on to sell millions of records while consistently packing arenas and stadiums with fans young and old. Their current line-up includes long-time collaborator Tim Reynolds on electric guitar, Rashawn Ross on Trumpet and Jeff Coffin, who seemed to have no problem playing two saxophones at once during the jam in Jimi Thing, one of the highlights of the evening. When Moore died from complications surrounding an ATV accident in 2008, Coffin became the permanent replacement for the soulful saxophonist. Though the argument is mainly semantics, he has not been formally named a member of the band making him somewhat of a black sheep with large shoes to fill. But no one can question his ability as a musician.
Other show highlights included the Led Zeppelin cover of “Good Times, Bad Times,” the haunting groove of “Crush” and showstopper and popular closer “All Along the Watchtower.” For an encore, Matthews soloed Neil Young’s “Like a Hurricane,” an apropos debut for the ensuing storm. They finished with “Time Bomb” from their album “GrooGrux” with bellowing vocals that might have been heard in the concrete jungle across the Hudson River. The lyrics, Baby when I get home/I want to pick up the pieces/Hammer in the final nail/I want to believe in Jesus reprised in the night’s final song “Two Step” which featured an extended drum solo from Beauford.
The consensus in the buzzing crowd during the long wait for ferries back to Manhattan and New Jersey was that they were saving the crowd-favorites for the yet-to-be announced make-up dates for the final two shows of the tour. Others, like Cheryl Taurassi – a pediatric subspecialist in Manhattan who has been going to shows since the mid-1990s – have a different take on seeing the band.
“Sometimes I wonder, ‘is this it?’ Am I too old to go to a concert?” said Taurassi. “And then I get there and see the crowd variety – young, old, hippie, jock, it really doesn’t matter. They are all there because that’s how good this band is. When the music starts, there are some old favorites, but also many surprises. It’s a stage full of talented musicians. The vocals, the melodies, the jams…They all get better with time.”
