DALLAS – It's fitting that blustery storms preceded the Dave Matthews Band's Saturday night performance at Superpages.com Center.
Ominous clouds of a different sort scudded across DMB’s otherwise sunny existence last year, when founding member and saxophonist LeRoi Moore died, succumbing unexpectedly to injuries sustained in an ATV accident.
Matthews and his remaining bandmates forged ahead for more than two hours Saturday, braving turbulence of the spiritual and literal sort (the driving rain held off until late in the evening, but those on the lawn found themselves scrambling for cover before the encore began).
Moore’s absence was inescapable – former Bela Fleck collaborator Jeff Coffin has taken over sax duties; trumpeter Rashawn Ross and long-time DMB cohort, guitarist Tim Reynolds, also pitched in – but Matthews didn’t address it until halfway through and even then, did so very simply. "We always think of our good friend," Matthews said, before the band launched into Why I Am, a new tune Moore helped pen before his death.
DMB’s brief spring jaunt comes ahead of Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King, the rock fusionists’ latest studio effort and Moore's swan song. Aside from Why I Am, two more fresh cuts – lead single Funny the Way It Is and Spaceman – made an appearance.
The rest of the night was given over to staples (Warehouse, Crash Into Me, Crush) and a terrific reading of Daniel Lanois’ elegiac The Maker. While Matthews and company certainly didn’t shy away from dazzling flights of musical virtuosity, much of the performance seemed workmanlike. Playing through the pain, ultimately, trumped pausing to remember.
Setlist:
Bartender
Stay or Leave
Where Are You Going
Funny the Way It Is
You Might Die Trying
Spaceman
Corn Bread
The Maker
Why I Am
Crush
When the World Ends
Dancing Nancies
Warehouse
Crash Into Me
Grey Street
Encore:
Ants Marching
All Along the Watchtower
