REVIEW: Dave Matthews Band Plays 50th Show at SPAC
07/17 @ Saratoga Performing Arts Center
Photos by Maggie Aulman
“The band continues to evolve, experiment, push limits, rearrange songs, invite guests and take risks.”
Dave Matthews Band returned to SPAC for their 50th show at the venue on July 17. For nearly every summer since 1994, SPAC has been one of the epicenters of the DMB community. When the band is in town, the joy of this music touches every corner of Saratoga Springs so much so that there should be a DMB holiday here at this point.
I attended my first SPAC DMB show when I was five years old when my cousin-in-law, who is one of the biggest DMB fans ever, couldn’t make it and gave his tickets to my mom and I. This was August 14, 2007, and what a great show that was, with a special guest appearance from Toots Hibbert. It was also famously the first sober performance from Trey Anastsio after his 2006 arrest in Whitehall, NY, joining the band on “Lie in Our Graves”.
Before this year’s show I met up with my cousin-in-law who reminded me before the show that I drew a picture of Dave from the 2007 show and gave it to him, and he still has it. He sent me the drawing and I think that is the first live music event I ever documented. It felt like a great full circle moment to return with my camera, to document DMB again, almost 20 years later.
A highlight for me was when the band kicked into an instrumental “Anyone Seen the Bridge” jam, referencing Robert Plant’s lyric from Led Zeppelin's “The Crunge.” This foreshadowed another more recognizable Zeppelin reference featured a bit later in the set — a full cover of “Fool in the Rain.”
Fiddle player Jake Simpson, who typically tours with Lucas Nelson, joined the band for the second half of the show. Simpson was welcomed with the loudest cheer from the crowd of the whole night. A fiddle adds an important layer to DMB’s story, legacy and live shows and Simpson honored this brilliantly.
Whether you’ve seen the band hundreds of times or it’s your first show, you’re going to get a unique performance. The band continues to evolve, experiment, push limits, rearrange songs, invite guests and take risks. DMB isn’t the only band doing this, but it’s a reminder that that is what musicianship is about — constantly trying to do something new, improve your sound, and seek creative ways of connecting your music to audiences. As a listener I want to be challenged and surprised, and that is what makes DMB followers one of the most loyal and passionate fanbases in the world.
Often throughout the night, I couldn’t help but stop looking at the stage and instead watch the fans. From their DMB-themed outfits to their memorization of every lyric, the DMB at SPAC community is as much of a spectacle as is the band on stage. The fans are as much a part of Dave Matthews’ storytelling as are the songs.
