Growing up in The Woodlands, it was mandatory that every high school student attend the two-night back-to-back performances of the Dave Matthews Band at The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion.

If you’re pretentious AF, you refer to him simply as “Dave” and that’s why your Facebook friendship request has been in limbo for nine years.

I TRAVELED THROUGH TIME LAST WEEK.

Maybe it just felt like it. I don’t know.

I say I traveled through time because of the nostalgia that washed over me like room-temperature beer clumsily spilled from an Aggie’s pitcher as they attempt their ring dunk ritual but are a tad too excited to gracefully execute. Both the covered seating area and the famous Pavilion lawn were almost at capacity for the show, though it was not a sell-out; such are things when “Before These Crowded Streets” recently turned twenty years old and the new generation of “Dave” fans know his newer material better than I ever will.

Subsequently, songs like “Recently” and “One Sweet World” get luke-warm reception from many of the fans (Note: “I’ve liked DMB for wayyyy longer than you, bro. Therefore, my opinion of what is ‘good Dave’ is much more valid than yours, or whatever.”)

Dave Matthews Band has existed since 1991.

That’s a twenty-seven year run, for those of you about to ask Alexa what 2018 minus 1991 is.

With experience such as that, it becomes difficult to NOT put on a top-notch performance. Frankly, in my opinion they were putting on that level of show with only 10 years under their belt. Any DMB fan knows what they’re going to get at a live show, and Mr. Matthews is aware of this and delivers appropriately.

Despite their ever-growing career and ever-increasing number of revolutions around the Sun, Dave and his bandmates bounce, girate, move and SMILE on stage more than a group with half their experience and twice their blind excitement.

Half of the show is a big sing-along at this point; “Don’t Drink The Water”, “What Would You Say?”, “Crush”… all are 4-minute chunks of music that many suburbanites have been singing along to in cars for the last two decades.

Feed a 40 year-old mother of two a few glasses of over-priced Pino, take her sandals off, put her on the lawn and wait for the intro to “#41”. Then watch her arms instinctively shoot into the air as she closes her eyes and tilts her head back and smiles from ear to ear.

Funny enough, that scenario applies to a bunch of “bro” husbands too.

Though the days of 2-night tour stops might be a thing of the past, the energy, memories, good times and perfect weather were enough to compensate with just the one evening.

– Elliott Soeder