Muddy toes gathered on the lawn for the first night of the highly anticipated Dave Matthews Band Caravan in Atlantic City June 24, 2011. Last year, Dave Matthews decided to take a little break from the 20 year touring gig to spend some much needed time with family. However, knowing how insanely dedicated his fans were, Dave and the gang decided to “caravan” it up this summer allowing four mini festival stops, with the first being in the great Atlantic City.
The set opened up with a killer version of “Don’t Drink the Water” which totally got the crowd roaring with Jeff Coffin and Rashawn Ross blowing out the song . The intensity kept roaring into the second song of the set, “You Might Die Trying”, then mellowing out into the ever-popular “Proudest Monkey” and of course “Satellite.” But it wasn’t until the fifth song of the set that lit the crowd on fire.
Dave’s voice captured the timeless wonder of “Captain” which hasn’t been played since 2004. The song surprised the fans and aroused quite the curiosity of what would be dug up next. A rowdy “Corn bread” followed up the greatly missed “Captain” and plowed straight into a sexy version of “Seven.” Tim Reynolds shredded his guitar like usual.
David Ryan Harris took the stage to join the boys during a slamming version of “Jimi Thing” which of course led into the Sexy MF partial outro. Sexiness turned serious when Squirm and Buena (a first timer) then the classically charming, “Crash Into Me” finished the sequence.
“Shotgun” really shocked the audience since the last play was in 2009. (Well, let’s just get for real. This song is a rarity.)
It wasn’t until Dave really shook up the audience with the cover of, “A Whiter Shade of Pale” in the encore that made people realize that this band was into it. The melancholy song set the mood for the much loved, “Stay or Leave” and “Grey Street.”
The only way Dave could successfully close the night was to end it with a cover or “Good Times Bad Times” to send the crowd into a full tailspin.
Night one was truly an experience for the caravaners. Atlantic City night one was just the start. How could it get better than that?
Below are downloadable MP3 highlights of the weekend, all in one convenient file for you!
Download link (all 3 nights included): http://www.megaupload.com/?d=N6WSKIAZ
Night 1 downloads> Captain, Buena (Morphine cover), Shotgun, A Whiter Shade of Pale (Procol Harum cover), and Good Times, Bad Times (Led Zeppelin cover)
Night 2 downloads> Break Free, The Idea of You, and #41 featuring Warren Haynes (well worth the listen for the Tim/Warren duel towards the end).
Night 3 downloads> Kill The King, Raven, So Much To Say > Sweet Emotion > Too Much, Some Devil, (Ants Marching) > Halloween > Ants Marching, Thank You.
