On Sunday, Oct. 26, thousands of fans gathered at VCU's basketball arena (Alltel Pavilion at Stuart C. Siegel Center) in Richmond, Va., for a free concert performed by Dave Matthews and his "good friend" Tim Reynolds. Virginia native Matthews is the lead singer of the multi-platinum album selling/legendary touring group, Dave Matthews Band. After his continuously sold out tours during the summer, Matthews and Reynolds have been known to do smaller acoustic shows around the country. These shows rarely disappoint, and the performance on Sunday night was no exception.
Once Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine was finished with his rally-style speech promoting Barack Obama, Matthews and Reynolds took the stage to a roar of adoring fans and began to tear it up like only they know how.
The acoustics were crisp, and there didn't seem to be a bad seat in the house as Matthews and Reynolds made their way through the two and a half-hour set, which included Dave Matthews Band staples such as "Satellite," "Crash Into Me," "Where Are You Going" and "Ants Marching." These songs are always good to hear and definitely brought fans to their feet, but the die hard Dave Matthews Band fans, or "Ants" as they like to call themselves, enjoyed rarer songs like "The Stone," "Stay or Leave" and "The Maker." "Proudest Monkey," a song played acoustically for only the second time in over eight-and-a-half years by they guitar-wielding duo was also a highlight of the night.
Reynolds who is known for his mind-blowing guitar licks was a perfect complement to Matthews as always, even doing a couple of solo songs from his band TR3. Together Matthews and Reynolds completely captured the audience, getting them to sing and clap along throughout the duration of the show.
Although the music itself was the main attraction, Matthews spoke candidly between songs. Anyone who has been to a Dave Matthews concert before knows that he loves to talk to the audience about completely random topics. In fact, this has become so common at his shows that it has been dubbed "Davespeak" by fans. Although he did talk about topics such as loud chewers and chairs that are "too soft," the main focus of "Davespeak" for the evening was on the upcoming election.
The concert Sunday night was officially titled "Last Chance for Change" which was put on by Obama for America, so clearly Matthews supports the Democratic candidate from Illinois. Between songs he would give his opinion on how he hopes the election will go. At one point he said, "I must say it is my opinion that if Obama becomes the next president the screams of celebration that will come from this country will be audible without microphones." Also during the show Matthews made numerous references to how people who are "well compensated for what they do" like he was should pay a little more in taxes so that the majority of people can have a break.
All in all, it was difficult to tell if people were cheering for the content of Matthews' words, or just cheering because they love him. Dave Matthews' fans are known as some of the most loyal of any band so it is easy to see why Barack Obama chose Matthews and Reynolds to support him by playing a show in one of the so-called battleground states.
When all was said and done, Matthews and Reynolds did what they always do, which is give everything they have to their fans and put on an amazing show.
Live shot of Dave Matthew's Band
Live shot of Dave Matthew's Band
Live shot of Dave Matthew's Band
