Dave Matthews Band Saratoga Performing Arts Center review | Music

Friday evening was the dreaded kind of summer day; H-H-H: hazy, hot, and humid. That didn’t stop the die-hard Dave Matthews fans (is there any other kind?) from assembling into long, serpentine lines that wound themselves well into the great lawn of the Hall of Springs. The parking lot at Saratoga Performing Arts Center was a sea of dancing lady decals, rolling in in waves to witness the first of two evenings of one of the legends of the jam band genre.

Any 518er knows that Dave Matthews is a summer staple, and his cult following in the Capital Region brings him year after year, for multiple nights, to the amphitheater in Saratoga Springs. Do I understand why the Capital District in particular has such an affinity for Dave Matthews? No, absolutely not. Do I love that I, as a well-traveled road-tripper, never see those rear window decals en masse like I do here? Absolutely yes. Maybe Atlas Obscura should take note of the way Capital District summers are so closely intertwined with the band. Just a thought.

Sans an opening act, the guy from that one episode of “House MD” took the stage at just about 7:45 p.m., strutting about the stage with arms spread wide and grinning wider, before taking his place behind the microphone center stage. He and the band launched into “Pantala Naga Pampa.”

Even though I’ve never actually seen a Dave Matthews show, I found myself somewhat astonished at how I was already acquainted with his own distinct way of dancing with his guitar. Who knows, perhaps I’ve absorbed some small bits of Dave Matthews cultural (emphasis on the cult?) knowledge via osmosis over time as a lifelong 518er. That’s to say, I wasn’t surprised by the somewhat manic way he danced — a rapid and dramatic shimmying or gyrating of the hips that coincided with strumming the strings with fingers splayed wide, and overexaggerated expressions as he sang out his lyrics. It was a lot of fun to watch.

A cloud of smoke settled over the sold out crowd, and the smell of marijuana permeated every single one of my pores. That was no small feat, mind you, given the sheer amount of moisture already slicking my skin from sweat and the dew point. But the weed seemed to be the vice of the evening, and in lieu of cans of beer, I glimpsed plenty of cans of Liquid Death (canned water, for those who don’t know what that is) clutched in the hands of patrons.

As I listened to Matthews, I realized I wasn’t really listening to him. The sound mixing was terrible. He was distorted and clipped, a jumble of sounds that had me wondering if the guy at the soundboard had forgotten to take his ear plugs out. I couldn’t understand a word or two Matthews said, be it spoken or sung. It was a mess, and really ruined the musical experience for me. After hearing (no pun intended) about the dysfunctional sound mixing at the Hozier concert in May, I’m forced to wonder if this is going to be a season-wide issue. Given, I’ve only been to two shows at SPAC so far this summer, but being 0 for 2 is not exactly instilling any confidence  — though I’m not sure whether the venue itself or the band handled the sound mixing for either show.

If the audience cared about the subpar auditory experience, you’d be hard pressed to find evidence of it. During the crowd favorite “Grace is Gone,” couples were holding hands, swaying, and the entire audience could be heard singing along. In what is apparently a seldom-played jam, a cover of David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance,” the audience jumped to their feet and did just that — dance. The energy of the evening was joyful, and positivity radiated from every viscid body in the venue even more than body odor did.

Dave Matthews closed out their set with two songs, a solo performance by Dave of Pearl Jam’s “Just Breathe” and their song “So Damn Lucky.”

The audience clearly loves the band, and they flock to see him year after year, night after night. The band clearly knows how to put on a vibrant show, and their love of being on stage reflects in their seasoned stage presence. But I left the show disappointed — but not in Dave Matthews.

I left disappointed because of the longstanding venue that should know how to do better. The venue let the band down with the levels for the vocals and instruments cranked to the max, leaving nothing but muddy sounds that deafened me without actually ever hearing exactly what it was that destroyed my eardrums. I don’t know who is to blame for this, but they really need to get it together. Paying customers deserve better when they come to see their favorites.

Dave Matthews Band setlist

Patala Naga Pampa, Warehouse, Dancing Nancies, Seek Up, Seven Fool to Think, Spoon, Grace is Gone, Let’s Dance (David Bowie cover), JTR, Monsters, So Much to Say, Anyone Seen the Bridge, Too Much, Digging a Ditch, Crush, Come On Come On, Typical Situation, Kill the Preacher, Why I Am. Encore: Just Breathe (Pearl Jam cover), So Damn Lucky