Dave Matthews Band Celebrates 25th Anniversary With Debuts & Prince Tribute In Charlottesville

The Dave Matthews Band celebrated their 25th anniversary with a hometown benefit show at the John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Virginia on Saturday night. DMB debuted three songs, busted out an old gem, honored Prince and shared the stage with an old mentor as part of the band’s first show of the season.

Matthews and his mates opened with “The Song That Jane Likes” marking the tune’s first appearance in that slot since November 3, 1994. A few songs later DMB unveiled the first of three originals they would debut in their hometown, “Samurai Cop.” Next up was “Don’t Drink The Water” which was followed by the debut of “Bob Law” featuring Matthews on piano. The evening’s final debut, “Bismarck,” came a few songs later.

After a few years of using a two-set format, last night’s show contained one long set and a three-song encore. Saturday’s Bama Works benefit saw a few bust outs from DMB as they played the first full band “Sugar Will” since March 7, 2010 within the main set and the first “The Last Stop” since November 20, 2010 as part of the encore. Another highlight came towards the end of the main set when the band welcomed trumpeter John D’Earth to share the stage on a “Jimi Thing” that featured interpolation of Prince’s “Sexy MF” to honor the late Purple One. D’Earth is a jazz musician whose band often included LeRoi Moore before the late saxophonist joined DMB. The Dave Matthews Band now heads to Wichita, Kansas for a show at Intrust Bank Arena on Wednesday night.

Videos

[Bob Law | Captured by Danielle Riley]

[Samurai Cop | Captured by Danielle Riley]

[Jimi Thing + Sexy M.F. | Captured by Jordan Norris]

[Bismarck | Captured by Jordan Norris]

[Intro > Song That Jane Likes | Captured by Jordan Norris]