8.15.2006 - Atlanta, GA

A back & forth day, weather wise, the skies cleared up and the air cooled down as the Dave Matthews Band took stage at HiFi Buys Lakewood Amphitheatre. Starting off the show, the band ripped into Pantala Naga Pampa»Rapunzel. The strong beginning musically and the warm up on Dave's vocals showed for a promising evening. Crash Into Me came next. This came at an odd position, but was welcomed by the crowd. Next begins the drum solo from Carter as he lays down a mellow, but energetic groove before Leroi adds in a touch of flute and then culminates with the band busting into Say Goodbye as the curtains fall and the screens and light rig is presented in full for the first time of the evening. Dave's vocals were on fire in this performance right up through the falsetto "say goodbye" at the end. To follow the powerful laid-back groove of the evening, the band plays Satellite and again, Dave shows off his vocals. Now the real fun begins as Dave introduces and the crowd welcomes Jeff Coffin (of Béla Fleck & the Flecktones) on stage. The band then continues the groove with new song The Idea of You. Dave sounded great vocally on this and the band was flawless. Afterward Dave, in a strange voice, tells the crowd, "I like that song!" The evening pushes onward with Hunger for the Great Light, which Dave introduces as a little love song. The horns on this song prove that Coffin is adding to the sound for the night. Louisiana Bayou starts off with a vocal intro from Dave, in that strange voice again, telling about the boys lying on the side of the road. "They're not sleepin'." The band is on fire in this one. Boyd blows the crowd away with a ferocious fiddle solo as the three horn players blast away a new sounding line and the whole band comes back together for a powerful ending. Dave & crew tackle You Might Die Trying, which has taken a much tighter sound. Carter's drums sound very organic and Butch's effects are less noticeable. When the jam starts, Boyd starts it nice and Dave adds more then the horns come back full swing to take it out until Carter breaks it down. To finish it off, Dave starts playing a modulation of the main guitar riff and sings "if you live/if you give" and then finally "'Cause you might die trying." Next, Dave introduces the new song Break Free and the band is on fire again. The lights were a blue-purplish, which helped to relax the listener to just feel the groove and dance. It was a lot like two years ago when the band played Sugar Will. Jeff Coffin and Rashawn Ross really shined on this one. Dave added to the jam as well with his vocals and yells. The energy could be felt throughout the amphitheatre, lawn and pavillion. The theme of the evening is energy and fun. This continued as the band drove into So Much to Say»Anyone Seen the Bridge?»Too Much. The horn solos during the bridge were spectacular. Short as they may be, Coffin & Ross really beamed with their horn talent. New song, Can't Stop, featured only Stefan, Carter, Boyd, and Dave (on vocals). Of almost all versions of this new tune, Dave did a really excellent (and best yet I might add) job on vocals. The "So hungry..." was dead on in his falsetto just as all others previously in the night. When this one ended, Dave went straight into Warehouse. Now, this was a beast! Coffin, Ross, and Moore were all over this song. The band and audience felt the fun being had, especially in the Louie Louie sing-a-long just before the latin stop-time jam which culminated with the band coming back together and finishing with so much fire in their souls. Now, the winds shifted a little after this. The next song, though a tour debut, might be called "the calm before the storm." As Stefan & Butch begin playing an intro, Dave steps up and cues the band with his hand as the band harmonizes the first "Yeah, yeah yeah" going into Dreamgirl. The jam on this one is considerably shorter and the band finalés with two runs of the a cappella "yeah's." As I said, this was the calm before the storm. Road crew is seen scurrying around bringing equipment on stage and then Dave introduces the guests coming on stage. Three-fourths (Coffin already on stage) of Béla Fleck & the Flecktones had arrived! Béla on electric banjo and Future Man, dressed like a pirate, sits on a rectangular wooden box. Watching Dave's finger positions, while the bands say their hellos to each other, I expected what I had been dreaming for all summer...#41! Boy, did it pay to wait all this time to get my first #41 performance. Both bands were in full swing as Dave's voice pulled through and shined again with only a couple hints of strain which were conquered quickly. Both bands were having a marvelous time. After a long Jeff Coffin solo, Dave uses his arms to introduce Béla and could be seen mouthing "do what you do." The groove of the jam flowed nicely into a Sojourn of Arjuna interpolation and then broke down with Future Man playing the box like a wooden bongo, first using a hand and a brush, but soon giving up on the brush and using two hands. As Boyd added some nice violin lines over Future Man's groove, Béla and the horns teased the Sojourn of Arjuna interpolation again until the band came back together to once again raise the roof and bring the house down. It ended with a mellow vibe from an Everyday outro which was concluded with a Béla sales pitch from Dave for their show at Chastain Park the next evening. #41 went straight into Carter's snare intro for Ants Marching, which closed the set. Both bands brought the audience a powerful and fun performance with lots of additions from Béla, Future Man and Jeff Coffin. The breakdown jam included Béla's fantastic banjo pickin' under Boyd's tremendous fiddle playin'. What a way to end the set! Even after the bands left the stage and Carter was done handing out his drum sticks, the crowd continued to get louder for the Dave Matthews Band. A Dave chant started and lasted a few minutes until Dave once again graced the stage. He came alone and told his heartfelt story of his relationship with his sister Jane. Once he finished, he performed the new song Sister on a standard guitar with a capo to raise to a high B tuning. The crowd must have been riding on the many waves from the main set, as they were very attentive and amazed by the performance. They gave a loud cheer as he concluded and the band (sans Coffin) returned for two more. Dave switched to his jumbo body all walnut Taylor 12-string and I knew what was coming. Something I never thought I'd see live came forth right in front of my eyes, JTR! Dave and the band were on fire once more with nice little intricacies that brought the fullness of this song to life. Dave's voice was again in full swing, shining forth with his chant, "Rain, rain, rain down on me..." The horns got to shine through on the first breakdown then Boyd played a marvelous solo on a verse jam right before the ending breakdown. The band broke apart and pulled back together so nicely, it was like a a rough version of ballet. As I had picked up on JTR, I knew Tripping Billies was to close. Wow, what a POWERHOUSE! Dave and the band took the night and the energy to another new level that somehow had not been reached earlier. Who knew they could even top themselves with this one performance after all those other amazing performances. Dave and Carter ripped it up vocally and rhythmically and Boyd journeyed everyone with amazing fiddling. The "new" horn line near the end of the jam from Ross and Moore adds such a nice touch to the song. With Butch's piano roll, the band came back together and finaled BIG with the ending. The house was on fire and the band knew it. What an evening. Dave thanked the crowd and the lights went up and the evening came to a close. This night will definately stay in my memory for a very long time!

Mike C. Nichols (8.18.2006)