Dave Matthews Band

July 15, 2022 – Freedom Mortgage Pavilion, Camden NJ

Review & Photography by Estelle Massry

I pride myself a big Dave Matthews fan, but I’ll admit it’s been a while and once I arrived at the show my assumptions were confirmed. I knew immediately I had a lot of catching up to do.

I looked around in astonishment on what seemed to be a huge get together of thousands of very close friends, but in reality, they were all complete strangers. However, as the bands live shows have proven in the past, fans are brought together and completely connected by the magic of Dave Matthews and his welcoming and inclusive, “feel good” music.

Tonight was night-one of their two night run at the Freedom Mortgage Pavilion in Camden, NJ. Known for their astonishing live performances, the Grammy-winning Rock band from Virginia captivated fans for nearly 3 hours, delivering melodic vocals combined with hypnotizing light shows. I’ve been to countless live shows in my time as a professional photographer and this stunning production design by lighting and visual designer Fenton Williams and programmer Aaron Stinebrink made me feel as if I were an excited 10yr old in a planetarium gazing at the lights of the universe. It was spectacular!

It was hard to distinguish which song was the more popular amongst the bands devoted fans as every single person in the entire arena mirrored every lyric Dave sang and cheered to each songs conclusion as if it was their favorite.

Dave only played two classic hits, so if you are a first timer, don’t expect to hear the songs that occupy your playlists as this show focuses on his new songs, promoting his new album. That being said, there were no breaks, as the band played straight through the entire show.

Dave was a man of few words tonight but pleased the crowd by playing a song that has not yet been released entitled, “Walk Around the Moon” – and as he introduced the song he stated, “I like it a lot. If you don’t, get right!”

The Dave Matthews Band consists of Dave Matthews, Carter Beauford (drums), Stefan Lessard (bass), Rashawn Ross (trumpet), Jeff Coffin (horns), Tim Reynolds (guitar) and Buddy Strong (keys) – all expert and passionate musicians.