Dave Matthews Band Welcome Joe Lawlor for “Rhyme & Reason” in New Hampshire
Dave Matthews Band, photo by Bill Kelly
Last night, July 23, Dave Matthews Band took the stage in Gilford, N.H., to wrap the penultimate stop on their summer tour’s East Coast leg. After making history and honoring the late Ozzy Osbourne with a solo acoustic debut cover of Black Sabbath’s “Changes” on Tuesday night, the septet kept the energy high for their follow-up, which featured energetic treatments of a litany of setlist staples. The evening’s highlight came towards the end of the show, when Matthews and his ensemble welcomed a sit-in from longtime collaborator Joe Lawlor.
Dave Matthews Band set off their performance on Wednesday night with the 1996 Crash standout “So Much to Say,” then moved into its traditional “Anyone Seen the Bridge” segue and a fake-out of the long-running album pairing of “Too Much.” After hitting an early “Ants Marching,” the band blazed into the merged pair of “Big Eyed Fish” and “Minarets,” followed by a cascade of standalone fan favorites like “Stay or Leave,” “Say Goodbye,” “Madman’s Eyes,” “Typical Situation” and “Word Up!,” the 1986 Cameo electro-funk hit they’ve covered 14 times since their April 27 debut.
After hitting “Old Dirt Hill (Bring That Beat Back) for the first time since May 27, DMB waded through “Louisiana Bayou” before arriving at the 1994 Under the Table and Dreaming classic “Rhyme and Reason.” For that second-to-last track in their main set, the band welcomed Joe Lawlor, who serves as the group’s live recording engineer, archivist, and meticulous setlist tracker, to lead with an electric guitar intro. Lawlor’s sit-in was his second this year, following an appearance in Richmond, Va. last week, and his 49th since he first signed on in 2006. Matthews and his group closed out their set with “Warehouse,” then the bandleader returned for a solo encore of “Take All Day” before welcoming the whole company back for the “Lie in Our Graves” reprise, delivered without the dull song for the first time since June 2013, and “Halloween,” a tour debut last performed in June 2024.
Dave Matthews Band will return to the spotlight tomorrow for the first of two nights at Camden, N.J.’s Freedom Mortgage Pavilion, then head west to Big Sky, Mont. for Matthews’ solo shows at Big Sky Events Arena and the band’s West Coast leg. Find tickets and more information here.
Read on for the full setlist from Wednesday night.
Dave Matthews Band
BankNH Pavilion – Gilford, N.H.
7/23/25
Set: So Much to Say » Anyone Seen the Bridge » Too Much [fake], Ants Marching, Big Eyed Fish » Minarets, Raven, Squirm, Stay or Leave, Say Goodbye, Madman’s Eyes, #27 » Typical Situation, Black and Blue Bird, Crush, Word Up!, Old Dirt Hill (Bring That Beat Back), Louisiana Bayou, Rhyme & Reason, Warehouse
Encore: Take All Day, Lie in Our Graves [reprise] » Halloween
