Watch Dave Matthews Band’s Gorgeous Tribute To Jimmy Buffett At The Gorge

Dave Matthews Band kicked off the second night of their annual Labor Day Weekend three-show run at The Gorge last Saturday by paying tribute to Jimmy Buffett, who died on Friday, September 1 at age 76. The band opened the concert by debuting a cover of “A Pirate Looks At Forty.”

“Whether planned or coincidence, every time I ran into Jimmy it was like seeing an old friend,” frontman Dave Matthews wrote. “He was brilliant and a genuinely good and generous man. We didn’t know each other that well. We weren’t old friends, but that’s how I felt around him. He is loved by so many because that’s how he made us all feel … It would be nice to run into him again.”

In May 2017, Matthews and DMB guitarist Tim Reynolds performed “A Pirate Looks At Forty” with Buffett joining the pair during their performance at Jazz Fest in New Orleans. Matthews also previously played the song on two occasions in 2008 joining Jack Johnson in Hawaii.

Watch an audience-shot video of Dave Matthews Band debuting “A Pirate Looks At Forty,” which appeared on Buffett’s 1974 album A1A, below:

Saturday’s concert at The Gorge also featured DMB covering The Band’s “The Weight.” That cover was seemingly performed in honor of Robbie Robertson, The Band guitarist who recently passed away. At the start of the encore, Matthews mentioned the show’s tributes and that he hoped the night was not “too blue.” He then launched into a solo rendition of Pearl Jam’s “Just Breathe,” marking the first time he played the song.

Setlist (via DMBAlmanac.com)

Set: A Pirate Looks at Forty, Big Eyed Fish > The Stone, Bartender, Help Myself, Madman’s Eyes, Looking for a Vein, Joyride, Rhyme & Reason, The Weight, You Might Die Trying, Gravedigger, Louisiana Bayou, Jimi Thing > Brick House, Busted Stuff, Spaceman, Granny, Pantala Naga Pampa > Rapunzel

Encore: Just Breathe, Two Step