Dave Matthews Band celebrated violinist Boyd Tinsley’s birthday last night by kicking off their summer tour at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in the Woodlands, TX. As advertised, the band played their first true two-set show since New Year’s Eve 1996, with an acoustic set followed by an electric set. The group will play with the new two-set format throughout their summer run.

The evening started off as Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds took the stage with acoustic guitars for an opening “Bartender” before drummer Carter Beauford joined the fray on a very abbreviated kit for “Stay or Leave.” Stefan Lessard then came out with an upright bass for “Take Me to Tomorrow,” while the full band finally appeared for the “Satellite” that followed. The rest of the first set saw the band bust out its first “Stolen Away on 55th & 3rd” since 2008, as well as its first “Minarets” since 2012. The group also covered Rodriguez’s “Sugar Man” in honor of Searching for Sugar Man director Malik Bendjelloul, who passed away earlier this week.

DMB’s electric set was a bit less unique, as the mostly band stuck to songs that have been in heavy rotation. Nevertheless, it was a change of pace for the group to play two full sets instead of just switching off between acoustic and electric segments during a single set show, as has been the case in recent years. In the end, the show wrapped up with encore takes on the Everyday single “The Space Between” and Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower.” The band also nodded to the recent release of their debut album Remember Two Things by performing three of that album’s jam-vehicle classics: “Seek Up,” “One Sweet World” and “Minarets.” It marked only the third time in 19 years those fan-favorites were performed in the same show.

Dave Matthews Band will continue their summer tour tonight with a concert at the Gexa Energy PAvilion in Dallas.

Here’s a look a last night’s setlist as it appears in our Box Scores section

Dave Matthews Band
Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, Houston, TX

Set I: Bartender*, Stay or Leave^, Take Me to Tomorrow^^, Satellite, Stolen Away on 55th & 3rd, Tripping Billies, #27, Minarets, Sugar Man, Two Step

Set II: Big Eyed Fish > Seek Up, Seven, So Right, One Sweet World, Grey Street, If Only, Don’t Drink the Water, Belly Belly Nice, #41, Pantala Naga Pampa > Rapunzel

Enc: The Space Between, All Along the Watchtower

Notes

  • Dave And Tim

^Carter, Dave and Tim
^^Carter, Dave, Stefan and Tim

Source: Dmband.com