Merriweather Post Pavilion 5/31/25
By: Nasrin Dahlgren
As Dave Matthews said, this night was “a delightful distraction.” We closed out the month of May with a night to remember together celebrating live music by Dave Mathews Band (DMB) and the connectedness of community that comes with it – all within the beautiful Merriweather Post Pavilion. This venue is wonderfully set in the lush Symphony Woods in Columbia, Maryland with artfully designed acoustics that highlight the layered complexities of DMB’s music. It is no secret that DMB definitely brings the masses!
Although parking options around the venue were a breeze, the lines for concessions were very long – DMB brings out the fans rain or shine! The Merriweather staff at all of the security, ticketing, concessions, merch, aisles and walkways were friendly and top notch. Despite the stormy weather and damp lawn situation, the weather did not deter fans from the show. The rain cleared out in the early evening and was a wonderful, and quite breezy night. So as you can imagine, the DMB 2025 tour blanket and sweatshirt sales were on point! “So Right” and the “Best of What’s Around” kicked off the night which were so on theme with extended jams and set the tone and energy for our experience.
Dave sang “Come and relax now, put your troubles down- no need to bear the weight of your worries here. Let them all fall away”. We all obliged- with “Pantala Naga Pampa.” Leading through to “Pig” was a clever segue.
“Funny the Way It Is” extended jam and psychedelic scenes in the background highlighted all of the band members, especially Tim Reynolds with the Gibson SG guitar and rocking solo. Seeing Carter Beauford’s smiling face and on point drumming throughout the night grounds us all.
“The Stone” with its dark and melancholy tones with crunchy thumping basslines by Stefan Lessard and back and forth with Beauford. This song exhibited an extended soprano sax jam by the great Jeff Coffin uplifting into a lighthearted ending with Elvis Presley’s “I Can’t Help Falling in Love With You” – the audience was joyfully singing in unison!
“Where are You Going” offered an incredible visual journey through a pyramid light formation with stunning blue laser lights. I knew exactly where I was going – off into a dreamworld – transported as we all danced! Dave pointed out to us that it was a little cold for June – snuggle up to the person next to you!
A mid-set highlight was “Jimi Thing” which kept us floating for a little while with the extended improvisational jam including Tim Reynolds incredible Stratocaster solo – we all witnessed quite a musical moment when Tim shook hands immediately after the back and forth jam with the keyboardist, Buddy Strong. They were thrilled with that, and so were we!
Dave switched to the soprano guitar for “Idea of You”, then into a lovely and sweet jam “Virginia in the Rain”, sending me into different timelines and reminding me of my own adventures hiking in backcountry Virginia. I also reminisced back to the most memorable DMB show I saw in Bristow, Virginia where it poured the entire time! DMB makes us all feel like a kid again.
I truly felt the emotions Dave put forth in “#41.” Seeing the story in his eyes and through his words brought tears streaming down my face. I really felt into the moment, and it was the first time in a long while that I had experienced that at a show. Continuing with nuanced percussion and an extended Tim Reynolds guitar solo was the icing on the cake.
“Shake Me Like a Monkey” had us all losing ourselves and our minds under the geometric, psychedelic archway light rig. This arrangement was an incredible journey of sights and sounds. Feeling all the light and love – the highlight dance jam of this show. Right into “Crash”, which was obviously the couples’ love anthem- looking all around as the audience hugged, swayed and sang along in unison!
DMB’s production at Merriweather Post Pavilion was so incredibly tight and they played 19 solid jams with no set break – just a brief stage exit and returning with a heartfelt encore of “Peace on Earth” and “Granny.”
Through this experience, Dave imparted on us his wisdom of showing up in life with more empathy, kindness and compassion for one another. He pointed out that lately, these things are seen as NOT the “in thing to do”, while being cruel and hateful is. We need to make this a better place for humanity and prioritize our values. Positivity through music and connectedness is a great start. Thank you, DMB for being a “delightful distraction” in our world.
SETLIST:
So Right
The Best of What's Around
Funny the Way It Is
The Stone
Pantala Naga Pampa (>)
Pig
Where Are You Going
Monsters
Jimi Thing (>)
Idea of You
Virginia in the Rain
#41
Shake Me Like a Monkey
Crash Into Me
Do You Remember (>)
Everyday
You & Me
Lie in Our Graves (>)
Stay (Wasting Time)
Encore:
Peace on Earth (Dave Solo)
Granny 
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