DMB- More funky then You think.

As I have previously disclosed on the SCOPE of the Scene-- I am a fan of the often-abbreviated-generic-college-band. With that being said, I think a lot of people who are not fans would have enjoyed the concert last night in Bridgeview, Illinois. If not for the Dave Matthews Band, then definitely for the musicians joining them last night. 

READ ON- I promise you won't be disappointed ! 

**Before I discuss Dave, I will mention that Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings played "so funky you could smell it" to quote Buddy Guy. They were awesome and really set the tone for the night, not to mention Sharon Jones knows how to shake that booty! If you are headed to Lollapalooza this summer DEFINITELY check them out, they are so much fun. 

The keyboardist for DMB, Butch Taylor, recently resigned his position and left the band without a "jam leader" so to speak. And who better to fill in that position then guitarist and longtime friend of Dave's Tim Reynolds. Tim played electric guitar all night, and it truly shook up the jams to the songs, and made them quite a bit more funky. The addition of electric guitar was an exciting change from other DMB shows. Also joining the band was banjo player... Bela Fleck !!  We heard the banjo during "Cornbread" during the soundcheck and went nuts. Bela is an incredible musician and really spiced up the set, playing on old classics, "#41" "Don't Drink the Water" and the ever-famous "Ants Marching", and also played "Cornbread" which is a fantastic summer jam. (Forgive the video quality- but love the solo)

Another exciting feature of this set was the covers. Also during soundcheck we heard "Long Black Veil", a country tune from the 1950's by Lefty Frizzell, and more famously covered by Johnny Cash, and by DMB at the Johnny Cash tribute concert. The song is pretty rare, so we didn't expect to hear it during the concert, but they played in during the encore and it was really amazing. (Forgive the video quality)

 

The encore also contained a cover of one of my favorite bands, Sly and the Family Stone.  They cover "Thank You (Falenttinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" (or "for lettin' me be myself again" as it is interpreted) which is considered one of the first "funk" songs ever. They very rarely play this song, and it was incredible. The crowd at this show was 90% high school kids making out (or maybe I'm just getting old?) which is to be expected at a Dave show, but even they took a breather to join Dave and crew to sing " Thank you for lettin' me be myself again". This was easily the best part of the show for me, because as you may have read, I love funk music. The other cover of the night was "Money" by Pink Floyd. I'm not really a PF fan, but the song sounded great and the older crowd was definitely excited. 

Overall the set list was extremely well rounded- a few really great covers, DMB jam classics, a few songs from Dave's solo album, a few good make out songs for the kiddies, and Bela Fleck and Tim Reynolds. I couldn't ask for more. I really hope after reading this, a few of you may consider Dave in a new light. The band is truly not just a college jam band, but are a group of great musicians who not only play fun songs, but also are very music savvy and play with other extremely talented musicians and have the talent and love for all kinds of music to really mix it up. 

Okay- now you can start ripping me apart with comments.