Dave Matthews Band Caravan: The Final Day

pop-break brings you sights and sounds from the final day of the Dave Matthews Band’s traveling summer festival …

Words by Brent Johnson | Photos by Maxwell Barna

Dave Matthews Band have a few attributes that make them ideal for hosting their very own music festival.

A reputation for being one of the most heralded live acts of the last quarter century? Check.

A built-in community of loyal followers, who travel to shows, guess setlists, record concerts and passionately shout lyrics from the crowd? Check.

An eclectic sound that appeals to rock fans, jazz fans, folk fans, country fans, and can attract a wide array of artists to join the bill? Check.

All of that was on display Sunday when Matthews & Co. closed out their massive summer experiment: a traveling festival called the DMB Caravan. Thousands of people packed onto Randall’s Island in New York City to see the fest’s final day, as Matthews and four other acts produced eight hours of live music in the shadow of Manhattan’s skyline. It was a sunny, loose, fun finale.

Even if it wasn’t supposed to end this way. DMB organized the summer shows to celebrate their 20th anniversary, setting up three-day stints in four American cities. New York was third on the list, with guests including The Roots, Gogol Bordello and Robert Randolph & The Family Band. But Hurricane Irene washed out all but one of the dates there.

This weekends’s three Randall’s Island shows were tacked on to the end of the tour as makeups. That’s probably why Sunday’s lineup was filled with less-familiar names: Josh Ritter, From Good Homes, ELEW, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue. Not that it mattered. The music was strong. Fans played hackey sack and frisbee. Countless white people tried to dance. The smell of a certain herb wafted freely. And the crowd was a reminder that DMB always draws a wide demographic — ranging from middle-aged men in plaid shorts that first saw the band in 1994, to teenagers in T-shirts lured by timeless appeal of a saxophone and violin grooving with an acoustic guitar. (Pop-Break chief photographer Maxwell Barna dubbed a portion of the audience ‘Hipsties’ — i.e., a cross between hipster and hippie.)

As for DMB? Fans who came early got to see Mr. Matthews play a funny, cozy acoustic set with guitarist Tim Reynolds. And at the end of the night, Dave and his band played an electric set on the festival’s picturesque main stage, with the East River to their right, the Triboro Bridge to their left, and Manhattan’s skyscrapers rising just above them.

Pop-Break’s Brent Johnson — a longtime Dave Matthews acolyte — and Maxwell Barna were on site the whole day. Below, they bring you words and pictures from the event.

ELEW

Based on name alone, we weren’t sure what to expect. Was ELEW a long-haired jam band? A funk group with a slick drummer? Nope. It was a guy in an afro standing at a grand piano, legs stretched in a half-split, banging out instrumental covers of classic-rock and alternative hits. ELEW, it turns out, is the stage name of Camden, N.J., pianist Eric Lewis. He’s played for the Obamas at the White House, been a contestant on America’s Got Talent, and toured this year with Josh Groban. “I call what I do ‘rock-jazz,'” he told an engaged crowd Sunday, and treated them to thunderous renditions of ‘Mr. Brightside’ by The Killers, ‘People Are Strange’ by The Doors and ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ by Nirvana — sometimes, plucking the strings inside the piano while he pounded the keys. It was like a piano bar on ‘shrooms.

FROM GOOD HOMES

The day’s second act also hailed from New Jersey — albeit with a much different sound. From Good Homes, a veteran band from the northwestern part of the Garden State, were well-suited for the sunny weather and festival crowd. They play pleasant, sometimes bluesy acoustic rock that critics have dubbed ‘hick-pop,’ mixing extended saxophone solos with tinges of mandolin and violin. (It came as no surprise to learn they opened for DMB in the early ’90s.) One of the songs they played Sunday had a chorus that went, ‘Woo-hoo! You know we’re feeling alright.’ The audience clearly agreed — they bopped their heads along to the breezy beat.

DAVE MATTHEWS & TIM REYNOLDS

The crowd in front of the festival’s smaller stage was gigantic for 3:45 in the afternoon. That’s because Dave Matthews was about to show his fully bearded face. Fanatics know there are two ways to see Dave live: 1. with DMB, and 2. with guitar whiz Tim Reynolds. The pair met in Charlottesville, Va., as up-and-coming musicians, and have toured frequently as an acoustic act ever since. In this setting, Matthews gets to prove that his songs are strong and melodic even without his band’s instrumental muscle. Reynolds, meanwhile, gets to color Matthews’ tunes by turning his acoustic guitar into a sonic playground, squeezing out bird-like sounds and seemingly impossible solos from a mere six strings. Sunday’s set included stripped-down versions of ‘Dancing Nancies’ and ‘Typical Situation,’ as well as some of Matthews’ more quiet songs, like the pretty and underrated ‘Little Red Bird.’ It was also a reminder of how rabid Matthews’ fans are. Without a full-band sound filling their air, you could clearly hear hundreds of fans transforming the show into a massive sing-along. They also received a bigger helping of Matthews’ beloved ‘Davespeak’ — i.e., the random, witty between-song banter he often delivers in weird voices. Sunday, he talked about his love for espresso machines and how his 44-year-old self would hit on his 20-year-old self. It was the ultimate intimate Dave Matthews experience. (Also of note: Matthews didn’t have an assistant or roadie drive the golf cart that took him from the small stage back to his trailer. He manned the wheel himself.)

TROMBONE SHORTY & ORLEANS AVENUE

His titular instrument isn’t easy to play, nor is it known to blow away crowds with the power of an electric guitar. But Trombone Shorty plays that horn with gusto — and leads an impressively tight, energetic band. The New Orleans native and his crew managed to do something rare Sunday: captivate a sea of DMB fans eager for Dave to take the stage. They got everyone to dance to their soulful funk-jazz stew. And they may be the only band in the world to cover both Nirvana and James Brown in the same set.

JOSH RITTER

The only time Josh Ritter wasn’t smiling Sunday was when he was imitating a wolf call. The Idaho-born singer-songwriter bounced around the stage with utter glee as he tore into his catchy Americana tunes. He’s is like an American David Gray — a guitar-strumming troubadour with a slightly gruff voice, distinct lyrics and hummable melodies. And yes, on one of his songs — the aptly titled ‘Wolves’ — he steps to the mic and does his best lupine impression. Ritter also performed one of the festival’s highlights: a stomping track called ‘Rattling Locks,’ in which a chorus of guests file on stage to smack together drum sticks and chant the words ‘black hole.’ (Bonus points to Ritter’s bassist, who sported a Rollie Fingers-style handlebar mustache.)

DAVE MATTHEWS BAND

Oh, how time flies. Dave Matthews Band — ’90s indie icons turned stadium-packing superstars — are now two decades into their career. And when it comes to their live shows, that really means two things: 1. The fans who worship them have probably caught a dozen concerts by now. And 2. Those who view them as nothing but an aging jam band probably don’t care to catch their shows at all. But while watching their typically stellar set Sunday, Pop-Break thought of a few reasons why DMB is still a vital live act worthy of anyone’s attention:

1. Set-opener ‘The Stone’ proves something that has always been under-appreciated about Matthews: His songwriting is smart and sophisticated. The song starts out ominously, with a dark, dense verse. But then, it slips into a calm chorus, with a sweet melody that could have been a hit in the 1950s. If you expect nothing but 20-minute jams, expect to be surprised.

2. The band has never been tighter — or more commanding. ‘Don’t Drink The Water,’ a DMB standard, used to be an deliberately paced number with eerie atmospherics. Sunday, it thundered. You could literally feel the force of the drum beats rattle through the crowd. In other words, don’t think their music will stay the same for long.

3. Just watch Matthews’ left hand. He runs it across the neck of his guitar like a dancing centipede, picking out mind-boggling riffs — while managing to sing at the same time. If you’re a guitarist, it’s intimidating to watch.

4. You’d be hard-pressed to find a live act with a more crisp, clear sound system. You could hear every instrument and every lyric.

5. Few fan bases get more charmingly wrapped up in a show. As Dave smacked out the the opening riff to ‘Warehouse,’ thousands of people threw up their hands and shouted out ‘Woo!’ in unison with the breaks in the music. They became a spontaneous choir, with bassist Stefan Lessard conducting them from the stage. Moments like that make live music so thrilling.

NOTE: Since Dave fans are a rabid, insular bunch, we figured we’d offer a few insider notes to those who care:

–Dave played a dark-brown acoustic guitar that he hasn’t featured in past tours.

–Previously portly trumpet player Rashawn Ross lost a massive amount of weight. Congrats to him.

–The gorgeous ‘Lying In The Hands Of God’ is a relatively short song on DMB’s last album, Big Whiskey & The Groo Grux King. But Sunday, it was one of the show’s epic jams, with powerful sax solos from Jeff Coffin. Could this be the new “41”?