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Liberation History (View Current Songs Eligible for Liberation)

Liberations
One of the most exciting aspects of a Dave Matthews Band show is the possibility that on any given night, just about any given song can be played. Now the reality is that there are songs that are played with far more regularity than others. It has become a bit of a sport for fans to chase song "liberations", which occur when a song has been played for the first time after a lengthy hiatus.

Conditions for Song Liberation
A line has to be drawn somewhere, and after careful consideration, we at Ants have come up with the following criteria for what constitutes a song liberation: 150 shows since last performance - This is the most subjective criteria of the bunch, admittedly. While humans measure time in terms of days, the band's 2017 hiatus and the pandemic response that forced the cancellation of the 2020 tour pushed us to consider "shows since" as our preferred metric for judging song scarcity. For example, should DMB go on a 3-year hiatus, we wouldn't consider every song a liberation upon return. 150 shows is somewhere in the ballpark of 3 years' worth of shows, and that feels about right. Shows must have been performed to be counted (no cancellations), and we ignore shows that have unknown or empty setlists. No Teasing - Must be considered a full performance of the song. Teases and partials will not be considered a valid liberation. Cover Song Minimum: 10 Plays - The band is known for playing lots of covers, but very few stick around for the long haul. Those that do, certainly warrant liberation should they disappear and return at a later date (read: Watchtower, The Maker). Original Song Minimum: 5 Plays - A song should stick around for a few plays before we consider it established enough to warrant a liberation upon its return.

Conditions for Song Liberation

A line has to be drawn somewhere, and after careful consideration, we at Ants have come up with the following criteria for what constitutes a song liberation:

150 shows since last performance - This is the most subjective criteria of the bunch, admittedly. While humans measure time in terms of days, the band's 2017 hiatus and the pandemic response that forced the cancellation of the 2020 tour pushed us to consider "shows since" as our preferred metric for judging song scarcity. For example, should DMB go on a 3-year hiatus, we wouldn't consider every song a liberation upon return. 150 shows is somewhere in the ballpark of 3 years' worth of shows, and that feels about right. Shows must have been performed to be counted (no cancellations), and we ignore shows that have unknown or empty setlists.

No Teasing - Must be considered a full performance of the song. Teases and partials will not be considered a valid liberation.

Cover Song Minimum: 10 Plays - The band is known for playing lots of covers, but very few stick around for the long haul. Those that do, certainly warrant liberation should they disappear and return at a later date (read: Watchtower, The Maker).

Original Song Minimum: 5 Plays - A song should stick around for a few plays before we consider it established enough to warrant a liberation upon its return.

Exclusions
There are, of course, a few exclusions to cover some outlier cases: Album Exclusions - Tim Reynolds originals, True Reflection songs and songs deemed collaborations Intros, Improv & Jams Previous Song Versions - Examples include Don't Burn the Pig, #36 & Leave Me Praying

Shows Since (↓)	Days Since (↓)	Last Played (↓)	Liberated (↓)	Song (↓)	Album (↓)
329 (*)	2814	2015-11-07	2023-07-22	Little Thing	Unreleased
238	1820	2018-07-27	2023-07-21	Hunger for the Great Light	Stand Up
209	1594	2019-03-10	2023-07-21	Help Myself	Unreleased
244	2237	2015-07-22	2021-09-05	Take Me To Tomorrow	Cover Songs
232	2190	2015-09-06	2021-09-04	The Needle and the Damage Done	Cover Songs
231	2187	2015-09-09	2021-09-04	Rye Whiskey	Cover Songs
161	1828	2016-09-02	2021-09-04	Oh	Some Devil
229	2184	2015-09-11	2021-09-03	Thank You	Cover Songs
198	1487	2015-07-29	2019-08-24	Spoon	Before These Crowded Streets
157	1269	2015-06-10	2018-11-30	Cortez The Killer	Cover Songs
626 (*)	4172	2007-03-23	2018-08-24	Time Of The Season	Cover Songs
169	1081	2013-07-09	2016-06-24	Fool to Think	Everyday
477 (*)	2952	2007-05-27	2015-06-26	Down By the River	Cover Songs
165	1364	2010-09-18	2014-06-13	Good Good Time	Unreleased
327 (*)	2076	2007-09-22	2013-05-29	Hunger for the Great Light	Stand Up
248	1455	2008-07-02	2012-06-26	The Space Between	Everyday
207	1368	2008-08-29	2012-05-28	Help Myself	Unreleased
328 (*)	1821	2006-07-01	2011-06-26	Kill The King	Unreleased
296	1746	2006-09-13	2011-06-25	Break Free	Walk Around the Moon
455 (*)	2523	2004-07-27	2011-06-24	Captain	Busted Stuff
226	897	2008-06-06	2010-11-20	Long Black Veil	Cover Songs
178	800	2008-09-10	2010-11-19	Spoon	Before These Crowded Streets
382 (*)	2110	2004-10-02	2010-07-13	Good Good Time	Unreleased
352 (*)	1896	2005-03-27	2010-06-05	Cry Freedom	Crash
190	1014	2007-08-26	2010-06-05	Some Devil	Some Devil
156	721	2008-06-14	2010-06-05	Can't Stop	Come Tomorrow
166	932	2007-11-15	2010-06-04	Dreamgirl	Stand Up
883 (*)	4677	1995-08-21	2008-06-10	Water Into Wine	Unreleased
457 (*)	2569	2000-07-25	2007-08-07	Sweet Up and Down	The Lillywhite Sessions

Shows Since (↓)	Days Since (↓)	Last Played (↓)	Liberated (↓)	Song (↓)	Album (↓)

Shows Since (↓)	Days Since (↓)	Last Played (↓)	Liberated (↓)	Song (↓)	Album (↓)

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