Dave Matthews performed an intimate solo gig Wednesday night at New York City’s Irving Plaza, a venue he’s been playing since the mid-’90s.
“This place was huge,” Matthews told the crowd about his first experience standing on the Irving Plaza stage 30 years ago. That debut performance at the venue took place on April 21, 1993, when Dave Matthews Band opened for the alt-rock band the Samples.
Now, with 10 studio albums to his name and thousands of live shows under his belt, Matthews said the stage seemed a little smaller. The crowd roared with approval for that statement as every fan in attendance knew how lucky they were to see him perform such a personal concert, which also featured a few songs that had never been performed solo before: “Looking for a Vein,” “Walking Around the Moon” and “Pantala Naga Pampa.” (The event, titled Dave Matthews: Live & Acoustic, was presented by SiriusXM and was simulcast on the Dave Matthews Band Radio channel.)
While the show ran nearly two hours, a decent amount of that time featured Matthews chatting with the crowd, telling stories about songs, being a little too honest about how tired he was from that morning’s appearance on The Howard Stern Show and regaling fans with a hilarious story about getting high at Willie Nelson’s 90th birthday party at the Hollywood Bowl in April.
As Matthews described it, his friend Woody Harrelson handed him a joint — “It was superweed” — and then “we ran out onstage and suddenly I’m just blazed. The audience is fired up … some of them looked at me and were like, ‘Man, you’re fucking high’ … I felt good but also I felt really scared.”
That story came after Matthews covered Nelson’s “Funny How Time Slips Away”; when he wrapped it up, he introduced his next song, “Crush,” by saying, “I stole the beginning of this from Willie.”
The night concluded with a powerful three-song encore, with the audience dialed into every note and word coming off the stage. You can see the set list and photos from the concert below.
Dave Matthews, 6/7/23, Irving Plaza, New York
1. “So Damn Lucky”
2. “Looking For a Vein”
3. “Save Me”
4. “#41”
5. “Walk Around the Moon”
6. “Stay or Leave”
7. “Something to Tell My Baby”
8. “Grey Street”
9. “Monsters”
10. “Old Dirt Hill” / “Pantala Naga Pampa”
11. “Gravedigger”
12. “Break Free”
13. “Funny How Time Slips Away”
14. “Crush”
15. “Don’t Drink the Water”
Encore
16. “Some Devil”
17. “Crash Into Me”
18. “Dancing Nancies”
Dave Matthews Play Irving Plaza in New York City – June 7, 2023
Dave Matthews performs an intimate solo concert at Irving Plaza in New York City on Wednesday, June 7, 2023.
