Dave Matthews Band, FirstMerit Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island, Chicago, Illinois

America’s birthday would mark my ninth time seeing Dave Matthews Band, stretching back 15 years to 1999 in Hershey. I realized when counting up my shows that it had been almost four years since I had seen him last. It’s also worth noting that I have a recording of every one of the nine shows.


My list includes:

1999-08-04 - HersheyPark Stadium, Hershey, Pennsylvania
2000-08-23 - HersheyPark Stadium, Hershey, Pennsylvania
2001-08-01 - HersheyPark Stadium, Hershey, Pennsylvania
2004-07-11 - Nissan Pavilion, Bristow, Virginia
2008-06-28 - Nissan Pavilion, Bristow, Virginia
2009-08-08 - Nissan Pavilion, Bristow, Virginia
2010-06-13 - Bonnaroo, Manchester, Tennessee
2010-11-06 - Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2014-07-04 - FirstMerit Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island, Chicago, Illinois

We arrived on the lawn of the pavilion half an hour before Dave took the stage. The venue looks west toward the city, so the backdrop of the stage was the sun was setting behind the buildings of the loop. It’s truly one of the most beautiful urban views for any amphitheater. Unfortunately, given the terrain of Chicago, it’s very flat, which doesn’t lend itself well to a good view of the stage from the lawn.

We started as close as we could to the stage, just off to the right and close enough that we could see some figures on stage. However, within a couple of songs, we found this area a bit too crowded and the crowd a bit too chatty. Due to speaker placement, we were hearing more of the conversations around us than the music. As the sun dipped below the buildings, we migrated to right, where we could still see the stage but we were in a less crowded section right below a speaker, so we could hear much better, though we couldn’t see the only lawn jumbotron screen well. Finally, we moved to nearly the back of the lawn, right underneath another speaker and with a great view of the screen, the city backdrop, and access to the bathrooms and beer stands. This would be our spot.

The band played two sets, one acoustic and one electric. The first set consisted of slower, more relaxed songs as compared to the electric set. The exception to this was “One Sweet World,” which I was a bit surprised to hear included as part of the electric set. However, other than Stefan Lessard and Tim Reynolds playing acoustic vs. an electric instruments, most of the band already play acoustic instruments most of the time, so the difference in sound between the two sets isn’t as significant as it would be for some bands. Other than this minor detail, the show was very much the same Dave Matthews Band that I remembered – an unpredictable setlist, extended jams, and audience participation. I believe the lineup is the same as when I previously saw the band, including Tim Reynolds, Jeff Coffin, and Rashawn Ross as members of the band. Also present were The Lovely Ladies on backing vocals.

The evening included staple songs that I had previously heard several times before but always enjoy, including “Ants Marching,” “Crash Into Me,” “Don't Drink the Water,” “Tripping Billies,” “#41,” and “Grey Street,” though I did like getting to see acoustic versions of several. It was also my first time getting to see live performances of “Long Black Veil” and “The Space Between.” This marks a total of 177 songs, including 88 unique songs, that I have now seen live. Two songs that still elude me are “Halloween” and “Typical Situation.” Both songs have worked their way into setlists more recently after not getting much play for a number of years.

Acoustic Set:
So Damn Lucky
Stolen Away on 55th & 3rd
Crash Into Me
Sugar Man (Sixto Rodriguez cover)
Ants Marching
Sweet
Take Me to Tomorrow (John Denver cover)
What Would You Say
Electric Set:
#41
So Right
Don't Drink the Water
If Only
One Sweet World
Satellite
Belly Belly Nice
Seven
So Much to Say
Anyone Seen the Bridge
Too Much intro
Tripping Billies
Drunken Soldier
Save Me
Long Black Veil (Lefty Frizzell cover)
Sledgehammer (Peter Gabriel cover)
Encore:
The Space Between
Grey Street