DMBanjo: Watch Béla Fleck Join Dave Matthews Band For 1st Time Since 2015

Banjo player Béla Fleck has a long history with the Dave Matthews Band dating back to when he first sat in with the group in 1996. On Saturday night at SPAC in Saratoga Springs, New York, Fleck once again shared the stage with DMB, marking his first guest spot with the group since 2015.

Fleck’s appearance was also a reunion with Dave Matthews Band saxophonist Jeff Coffin, who was a longtime member of Béla Fleck & The Flecktones.

The recently debuted DMB original “Cha Cha” (also known as “Only Takes A Moment”) was the first song to feature Fleck on banjo. The first Dave Matthews Band performance of “Spaceman” since August 11, 2021 was the next song to include Fleck.

The guest spot continued with Fleck augmenting a jubilant “Lie In Our Graves.” The collaboration ended with “Don’t Drink The Water,” which featured Fleck on the studio version recorded for DMB’s third album, 1998’s Before These Crowded Streets. Frontman Dave Matthews infused a verse of “This Land Is Your Land” inside “Don’t Drink The Water.”

View audience-captured video of Fleck’s extensive sit-in on Saturday at SPAC below:

Prior to Fleck’s sit-in, frequent Dave Matthews Band collaborator Joe Lawlor emerged to accompany the group on “Corn Bread,” which was infused with “Freeway Jam” and “Down by the Riverside” interpolations.

Dave Matthews Band’s Summer Tour 2023 continues on Tuesday, July 18 at PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey. Fleck’s touring schedule keeps him busy with various projects throughout the coming months.

Setlist (via DMBAlmanac.com)

Set: So Right, Pig, Hello Again, It Could Happen, Idea of You, Minarets, Walk Around the Moon, She, Samurai Cop (Oh Joy Begin), Jimi Thing » Brick House, Corn Bread, Monsters, You Might Die Trying, Cha Cha, Spaceman, Lie in Our Graves, Don’t Drink the Water, Typical Situation » So Damn Lucky

Encore: #40 [partial], Funny How Time Slips Away, Grey Street