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Dave Matthews Band July 15, 2018 Quebec City Summer Festival, Plains of Abraham, Quebec City, Quebec Ants Rating: |
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User: dumoulip
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Hey fellow Daveheads, I don’t get a chance to see the band so much anymore, so here’s a long winded review of last night’s show in Québec city. I’ve been a fan for 20+ years. This was my 12th show over the last 17 years and my 8th venue.
The Venue: As far as outdoor venues go, the plains of Abraham are pretty awesome. Wish you could see the river from the concert area, but nonetheless, it’s really cool. It’s no Gorge, but it must be close to what Central Park must feel like as a concert venue. The giant screens made it easy to see the band if you couldn’t get close enough and the sound was pretty decent, improving over the first two or three songs as is usually the case. The camera crew did a good job even though it sometimes felt like the director just alternated band members rather than concentrate on specific performances at key points in some songs
The Band: The gang was in good spririts and Dave made a point of complimenting the city. Québec is a gorgeous, historic place, and I’m happy that the guys seemed to be able to put in a bit of sightseeing in a particularly hectic week with 5 shows in 6 days. As far as I can tell, this was the band’s first time in Québec city. Dave’s voice was a bit tired (for obvious reasons), but he still managed to pull off a pretty decent show.
The Setlist: They also played in the context of the summer festival so I have a feeling that this had a huge impact on the setlist. The people there basically bought passes to the whole week’s shows to discover artists they don’t necessarily know, rather than buying tickets to specific artists. What resulted was a conservative mix of new stuff and sure-fire crowd pleasers with no extended jams, which, in retrospect, was a smart thing to do if you are trying to ingratiate yourself to a new crowd, even though it might be a bit disappointing to hard core fans. The only surprise was “Lying in the hands of God” which was probably considered the bathroom break song by a good part of the crowd. Dave smartly multiplied the “Merci beacoup!”’s, an acknowledgement of local French Canadian culture that is always appreciated here.
The Playing: Is it just me or are the guys playing a bit more loose than they used to? Following what I consider major blunders during the SPAC Night 2 stream (screw ups in the chorus to Two Step, Bartender plus the missed outro punch to Steady as we go), I was surprised to see a few other “mistakes” they used to be much better at smoothing over. For example, transitions into the chorus of Come on Come on were extended to give a chance to everyone to sync back up, and I noticed Dave searching for Chords on occasion, most clearly on LITHOG. I think this may be due to the fact that he seems to now be playing it on a baritone acoustic rather than a standard 6 string, meaning the original Bm to G shapes become Em to C shapes. The new songs sound good enough, however, I still feel like Come On Come On specifically lacks a bit of the punch it has on the album.
Boyd: I thought that, generally, the band had been pretty good at transitioning away from Boyd’s fiddle being a core part of the sound, however, if there was one element that could’ve sparked a love affair with the locals last night, it would’ve been Boyd. The fiddle looms large in traditional French Canadian music and culture, and seeing Boyd tear it up would surely have been a hit with the audience.
The Verdict: very happy to see the guys last night in a great setting with great weather. Montreal doesn’t get as much love as it used to, so I’ll get my dose where I can. As a fan, I would’ve appreciated a more adventurous show, but I get what the guys did and why they did it and they have every right to.