Show Review - Dave Matthews Band 6/14/23 Corfu, NY

Dave Matthews Band brought their 2023 summer tour to Darien Lake, NY last night for an energetic show on a cool Wednesday evening. Throughout the 19-song show, the septet delivered songs from across their catalogue, including a handful from their recently-released album Walk Around The Moon.

It was my second time seeing DMB – the first being just over a decade ago on 5/28/13 in Toronto. Needless to say, I was excited to experience the group again as an adult AND with the new addition of keyboards that they lacked in 2013.

Opening with a great pairing of “When The World Ends” and “Stay or Leave,” Matthews greeted the crowd with his trademark off-beat speech before jumping into “Funny The Way It Is.” Keyboardist Buddy Strong surfaced from the slightly muddy mix for a funky synthesizer solo with liberal use of pitch bend.

Matthews took a moment to talk about their new album before starting up “All You Wanted Was Tomorrow.” Probably my favourite of the newer material played last night was “Madman’s Eyes,” which contained a nice spacey intro with sprinkles of piano from Strong and reverb-heavy soprano saxophone from woodwind player Jeff Coffin. The song itself had a heavier and darker vibe, offering a nice contrast to the more upbeat and major-key music of the opening few songs.

Next up was “So Damn Lucky,” which saw some fun crowd participation in a singing of Sly and the Family Stone’s “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again)” as guitarist Tim Reynolds laid down repeated and soaring arpeggios. Recently revived tune “Busted Stuff” came next and showcased the night’s MVP (in my opinion) with a phenomenal Coffin soprano sax solo.

“Grey Street” followed with more horn excellence – trumpeter Rashawn Ross threw in a “Ghostbusters” tease for good measure as well. I was pleasantly surprised to be able to pick up on numerous teases throughout the night, something I LOVE to do at other shows but was not expecting from DMB.

Matthews introduced “Looking For A Vein” as a “tiny, tiny little song,” and the first real cool-down of the night. The music continued with a nice extended and dark intro to “Don’t Drink The Water.” Matthews did some of his scatting into the microphone while drummer Carter Beauford alternated between drums and percussion, setting up a mellow vibe for Reynolds, bassist Stefan Lessard, Strong, and the horns to sprinkle effects-laden notes into the air. Beauford especially shone throughout the entire night – the legendary drummer’s ear-to-ear grin and constant joy was evident throughout the whole show.

A rhythm section fist-bump after the aggressive “DDTW” led to “Space Between” and then one of the songs I had been most hoping to hear – “Lie in Our Graves.” The full crowd felt the same way, as they absolutely ERUPTED to the opening notes. While Reynolds has somewhat of a reputation for taking loud and screechy solos that aren’t as pleasing to the ear, his turn on “LIOG” was beautiful, patient, and soaring. Strong picked up the outro of the song with a jazzy piano solo before the final chorus.

At this point, I was thoroughly enjoying the more music-focused (rather than lyrics) turn the setlist was taking – though was still a bit frustrated by the less-than-ideal sound quality in the venue. Reynolds, Strong, and the horns were only clearly audible when taking solos and I barely heard a note of bass the whole night – but focusing clearly on each member gave me an insight into what they were playing and helped me enjoy the show.

“Walk Around The Moon” saw an excellent Coffin flute solo before another one of my favourites, “Louisiana Bayou,” was tapped. I think I need to start a “People for a Louder Buddy” campaign, because although the keyboardist was having an absolute ball ripping up his Hammond B3 during this tune, it was sadly buried in the mix.

Strong’s Rhodes solo on “Break Free,” however, was VERY clear throughout the venue, and he took his time to develop a melodic vibe that sounded absolutely amazing. “You Might Die Trying” pumped the energy back up and saw Coffin get into his bag of effects on tenor sax, building riffs on top of Beauford’s tight beat.

The main set closed with classic DMB banger “Jimi Thing,” featuring a trade-off between Reynolds and Strong in the first solo section. Lessard threw in a “Walk on the Wild Side” tease before the third verse, taking Matthews by surprise and resulting in a funny moment between the two musicians. In the horn section, Ross and Coffin riled the crowd up with their trades, the trumpeter working in both “Rhapsody in Blue” and “Shout” within his solo. The latter tease prompted some crowd participation as the music peaked and ended. A partial “Brick House” cover out of the end of “Jimi” with Ross taking lead vocals ended the set with a bang.

“You Never Know” began the encore with yet another amazing Coffin soprano sax solo ahead of a “Shake Me Like A Monkey” closer.

While the sound mix may not have been the ideal, Dave Matthews Band put on an amazing show at Darien Lake last night, and being part of a crowd that knew every single word to every song and sang them like their lives depended on it was truly awesome. I can’t wait for the next time they come through the area so I can see another show!

DMB summer tour continues tomorrow night in Bangor, ME.