Dave Matthews Band Honors Brian Wilson & Sly Stone At Jones Beach
The concert also featured saxophonist Dave Pietro joining in on “Jimi Thing.”
By Andy Kahn Jun 13, 2025 • 10:51 am PDT
Dave Matthews Band paid tribute to Brian Wilson and Sly Stone during their concert Wednesday at Jones Beach in Wantagh, New York. The show also featured saxophonist Dave Pietro sitting in on “Jimi Thing.”
Brian Wilson, the highly influential member of The Beach Boys, died on Wednesday at age 82. Sly Stone, the highly influential leader of Sly & the Family Stone, died on Monday at age 82. Both were musical geniuses who revolutionised popular culture and struggled with the resulting fame.
In the middle of the Jones Beach set, Dave Matthews took a solo diversion into one of Wilson’s most impressive compositions, The Beach Boys’ standout “God Only Knows.” Prior to the abbreviated tribute, Matthews spoke to the audience, stating:
“I think we should take care of each other more than anything else. And everybody that’s not us is our neighbor, so we should look after everybody. And when we do otherwise, it makes me think we’re not really worth it. But I think we are. I think deep down we’re all good, and we just get lost.
“But what’s happening in Los Angeles right now and all over the streets of this country is just terribly, terribly sad because it feels like we’re going in the wrong direction. And I don’t know what the goal is other than to be cruel, other than to make us full of fear, other than make us stay quiet and make us lie down when we should be standing up for each other.”
After playing part of “God Only Knows,” Mathews said, “Sometimes you just wing it,” and shared condolences for Wilson. Watch the touching tribute to the late musical icon below:
Dave Matthews Band ended Wednesday’s set with a complete run through Sly & The Family Stone’s classic “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin).” DMB has covered the feel-good favorite numerous times and often partially interpolates the funk classic. Mathews praised Stone before leading the band’s full take on “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin).”
Click below to see the Sly Stone tribute:
Along with the tributes to Wilson and Stone, Dave Matthews Band also welcomed saxophonist Dave Pietro for “Jimi Thing.” The show started with DMB’s first time selecting “Drunken Soldier” as an opener.
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Setlist
- Drunken Soldier
- Grey Street
- The Stone
- The Only Thing
- Big Eyed Fish
- Bartender
- Stay or Leave
- So Right
- God Only Knows
- Crash Into Me
- Jimi Thing
- Everyday
- Do You Remember
- Rhyme & Reason
- Spoon
- What You Are
- Tripping Billies
- Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)
- Peace on Earth
- Two Step
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