Dave Matthews Band closed their summer tour with their annual Labor Day run at George, WA’s The Gorge. After performing their 2009 release Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King in its entirety and welcoming opener Stephen Wilson Jr. to the stage Friday, the surprises continued on Saturday.
First, Tatiana Hargreaves, one of several fiddlers who has sat in with Dave Matthews Band this summer, emerged for “Satellite” and “Grace is Gone.” Then, Pearl Jam guitarist and Seattle music hero Mike McCready took the stage with Dave Matthews Band for the first time since 2022 for Led Zeppelin’s “Fool in the Rain,” and Casey Driessen, another fiddler who has sat in with DMB this year, appeared on “Pig” and “Lie in Our Graves.” Just as surprising, Driessen remained on stage while Hargreaves returned for some double-fiddle action on a set-closing “Ants Marching” as well as an encore of Bob Dylan’s “Oh, Sister,” which hadn’t been played by the full Dave Matthews Band since June 3, 2015.
For the tour-closing gig on Sunday, Dave Matthews Band invited Jesse Welles and Sierra Hull to supply support duties. Welles returned to the stage during the headliner’s set eight songs in for a memorable cover of Daniel Lanois’ “The Maker,” while Hull appeared a bit later on the country classic “Long Black Veil,” “Spoon” and an extended “The Last Stop.” Driessen also dropped in on “Spoon” and Hargreaves took the stage soon after for “Cry Freedom.” Then both players helped the band out on the violin showcase “Tripping Billies.”
Near the end of the night, Matthews brought Hull, Driessen and Hargreaves back one final time during his encore, asking them to join him for “Papertown,” a track he wrote for a new documentary of the same name, in his usual solo spot. Dave Matthews Band will appear at Ocean City, MD’s Oceans Calling festival on September 25.
