The existence of the Dave Matthews Band as the stadium rock band of the 1990s and early 21st century seemed unlikely when the quintet first emerged from the fertile Charlottesville, Virginia scene over a decade ago. But there they were?a jazz and African-groove influenced acoustic rock band?filling up mammoth arenas, releasing multi-platinum records, and providing the soundtrack to hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of suburban coming-of-age stories, frat parties, and everything in between. Fronted by Matthews' uniquely nuanced voice, distinctive rhythm guitar, and abstractly personal songwriting, the band has etched a firm place in American music.

Last year, Matthews released Some Devil (RCA), his first formal
solo effort. For the accompanying tour that followed, Matthews recruited some of the musicians who had filled out the sound on the album?such as Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio and the heavyweight jazz rhythm section of drummer Brady Blade and bassist Tony Hall. Also bringing on a host of new collaborators, including alt-country legend Emmylou Harris, and Trey Anastasio Band keyboardist Ray Paczkowski. The setlists for the tour were dotted with new Matthews' originals, duet sets by Dave and longtime collaborator Tim Reynolds, as well as a selection of classic covers by Matthews' inspirations, including Bob Dylan, The Band and The Beatles.