Flashback | Dave Matthews Band Meets Lettuce At SPAC

On June 8 and 9, 2012 Lettuce celebrated the release of Fly by supporting the Dave Matthews Band for a a pair of shows at the massive Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, NY. While members of Lettuce had sat in with the DMB at various points in the years past, the SPAC ’12 performances marked the first time the funk act opened for the jam-pop titans.

The biggest connections between the bands is that Matthews recruited Lettuce trumpeter Rashawn Ross as a full-time member of the DMB in 2010. Ross paired with his old mates for the opening sets at SPAC and of course performed with DMB for their lengthy shows each night. There were a number of collaborations over the course of the run as Tim Reynolds sat in with Lettuce and members of Lettuce sat in with DMB at both shows. Our favorite moment of the two-night stand took place at the end of the Dave Matthews Band’s 17-song main set on June 9, when Matthews brought out The Shady Horns (Eric Bloom, Ryan Zoidis and James Casey) along with Nigel Hall for “Stay (Wasting Time).”

The addition of the extra horns gives the song a strong boost and then Nigel absolutely steals the show, when he emerges on vocals for the end of the tune. One of the best parts of the sit-in is watching Dave’s reaction to Hall’s soulful yelps. Matthews wore a huge smile and seemed extremely impressed.

Watch screenshot video of the footage displayed on the monitors at SPAC of “Stay”: