Last night, Dave Matthews Band kicked off their annual Labor Day run at George, WA’s The Gorge. Infinity Song and Stephen Wilson, Jr. opened the night and the evening’s headliners began their set with one of their earliest jam vehicles, “Seek Up.” The group then surprised fans by debuting “Grux,” the instrumental invocation to their 2009’s LP, Big Whiskey & the GrooGrux King that served as one of founding saxophonist LeRoi Moore’s final recordings and an enduring tribute to the late musician, who passed away in 2008. Continuing the surprises, DMB then proceeded to run through the rest of Big Whiskey & the GrooGrux King in its entirety—“Shake Me Like a Monkey,” “Funny the Way It Is,” “Lying in the Hands of God,” “Why I Am,” “Dive In,” “Spaceman,” “Squirm,” “Alligator Pie,” “Seven,” “Time Bomb,” “Baby Blue” and “You & Me”—for the first time. After performing each of those numbers in their proper running order, the ensemble capped off the sequence with “Corn Bread,” which is included on the European version of Big Whiskey & the GrooGrux King and then closed their set with the classics “Crush,” “#41” and “The Best of What’s Around.” For their encore, Matthews delivered a solo version of “Some Devil,” before bringing the rest of the band back for a show-closing “Recently.”
Observant fans following along with Dave Mattews Band’s setlists this summer may have called their decision to play Big Whiskey & the GrooGrux King in its entirety. This summer’s run has been highlighted by several notable song bust outs, including a few from the LP, and last summer DMB performed 1998’s Before These Crowded Streets in full at the Gorge, later officially releasing the recording. However, DMB’s live take on Big Whiskey & the GrooGrux King still included several twists. During “Lying in the Hands of God,” they wove in elements of their own “American Baby Intro” and Master P’s “Bourbons & Lacs” and Wilson returned to the stage to sing the second and third verses of “Time Bomb.” Matthews also offered “Baby Blue” as a duet with Tim Reynolds, instead of as a solo number as he has recently.
Dave Matthews Band will return to the Gorge this evening.
