Dave Matthews Band Brings Out Béla Fleck & The Flecktones, Rick Mitarotonda & More At 2025 Gorge Run

From a steady flow of guest appearances to several breakouts and a full-album performance, Dave Matthews Band's 2025 Labor Day Weekend run at The Gorge had it all. The septet closed out their year in fine fashion in Washington state with help from Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, Goose guitarist Rick Mitarotonda and fiddler Jake Simpson.

The surprises came right from the start on Friday, as “Seek Up” filled the opener slot for the first time since May 17, 2022. A few songs later, DMB offered the tour debut of “Break Free.” Yet that was only a warmup for what would soon follow, as “I Did It” was liberated. The single from 2001’s Everyday was last performed on July 21, 2015.

Late in the set, unannounced guest Jake Simpson emerged to add fiddle to “Lie In Our Graves” and “Ants Marching.” Jake Simpson recently teamed with Dave Matthews at Montana's Wildlands Festival. Simpson was on hand in Montana as a member of Lukas Nelson's band, which he joined after The Lil Smokies went on hiatus.

The 18-song main set on Friday closed with “Joyride” and “So Right.” Dave Matthews performed a solo “Some Devil” to get the encore underway before the band returned for the show-closing “Two Step.”

Dave Matthews Band shocked fans by kicking off Saturday’s show with “All Along The Watchtower,” something they hadn’t done as a full band since June 21, 1993. Next up was “You Never Know” and then longtime crew member Joe Lawlor added a third guitar to “Corn Bread” before the group went it alone for the tour’s first “It Could Happen.”

Béla Fleck & The Flecktones, who opened the concert on Saturday, came out for an extended “#41.” The performance marked the first time all of The Flecktones performed with Dave Matthews Band since August 6, 2006, which was during Howard Levy's hiatus from the band.

DMB rolled through the “Pantala Naga Pampa”/”Rapunzel” pairing next. When “The Last Stop” followed, it started to become clear the band was performing the 11 songs from their 1998 record, Before These Crowded Streets, in the order they appear on the album. The point was hit home when Béla Fleck returned for banjo-fueled versions of “Don’t Drink The Water” and “Stay (Wasting Time).”

Bassist Stefan Lessard revealed on Bluesky that the band hadn’t learned they were performing the album until four hours before the show. While many of the tracks have been tour staples, several were more rare. “Halloween” saw action for only the second time this tour and was played mid-set for the first time at a DMB show since 2012.

Jake Simpson reemerged for “Pig,” the penultimate song on Before These Crowded Streets. The fiddler stuck around as Béla Fleck came back out for the album’s closer, “Spoon.” Both musicians also contributed to the classic “Satellite” that followed the full LP performance. DMB punctuated the set with a “Tripping Billies” featuring Jake Simpson. The encore consisted of Dave’s “Rye Whiskey” cover and fan-favorite “What Would You Say.”

Goose played a support set on Sunday at the picturesque Washington state venue. The eight-song performance concluded with an “Arcadia” featuring DMB’s Jeff Coffin on saxophone and Rashawn Ross on trumpet.

Dave Matthews Band welcomed Goose’s Rick Mitarotonda early in their set to shred on a cover of Daniel Lanois’ “The Maker.” More breakouts came towards the middle of the performance, as Dave Matthews Band dusted off “American Baby” and “Mercy” for their first full band performances since May 30, 2014 and March 6, 2019, respectively.

Jake Simpson made appearances at all three nights of Dave Matthews Band’s 2025 Gorge run. On Sunday, he took the stage after the double dose of rarities to perform “Grace Is Gone” and “Warehouse” with the ensemble.

After closing the set a few songs later with “Grey Street,” Dave delivered his recently debuted “Peace On Earth” in the solo slot that typically begins each encore. The band came back to finish the “Lie In Our Graves” started two nights earlier and said farewell with “The Best Of What’s Around.”

Watch more fan-shot video from DMB’s 2025 Gorge Weekend below:

Setlists (via DMBAlmanac.com) & Photos

Friday, August 29

Set: Seek Up, The Song That Jane Likes, Big Eyed Fish, Bartender, Drive In Drive Out, Say Goodbye, Break Free, So Much to Say » Anyone Seen the Bridge » Too Much [fake] » Word Up!, Lover Lay Down, I Did It, Dancing Nancies*, Lie in Our Graves*, Ants Marching, Gravedigger, Everyday, Joyride, So Right

Encore: Some Devil, Two Step

* – w/ Jake Simpson

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Saturday, August 30

Set: All Along the Watchtower » Stairway to Heaven [partial] » All Along the Watchtower [reprise], You Never Know, Corn Bread^, It Could Happen, #41^^, Pantala Naga Pampa » Rapunzel, The Last Stop^^^, Don’t Drink the Water^^^, Stay (Wasting Time), Halloween, The Stone, Crush, The Dreaming Tree, Pig*, Spoon**, Satellite**, Tripping Billies*

Encore: Rye Whiskey, What Would You Say

• ^ – w/ Joe Lawlor
• ^^ – w/ Béla Fleck, Futureman, Howard Levy & Victor Wooten
• ^^^ – w/ Béla Fleck
• * – w/ Jake Simpson
• ** – w/ Béla Fleck & Jake Simpson

Note: All 11 tracks from Before These Crowded Streets were performed in order. The only previous time the band has played an entire studio album at a show was 11.30.12, which featured all of Away From the World, albeit with other songs interspersed and with the songs slightly out of album order.

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Sunday, August 31

Set: Drunken Soldier, Hunger for the Great Light, Loving Wings, Walk Around the Moon, Minarets, The Maker*, Shotgun, Jimi Thing » So Damn Lucky, Lying in the Hands of God » American Baby Intro, American Baby, Mercy, Grace Is Gone^, Warehouse^, Typical Situation, Kill the Preacher, Why I Am, Grey Street

Encore: Peace on Earth, Lie in Our Graves [reprise], The Best of What’s Around

• * – w/ Rick Mitarotonda
• ^ – w/ Jake Simpson