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| Without wings, without wheels | added on 6/27/2020 | This past Monday, DMB management announced the fifty-second installment in the Live Trax series, which was recorded at Darling's Waterfront Pavilion in Bangor, Maine, on June 6, 2014, toward the beginning of the band's two-year foray into two-set, acoustic/electric shows.
This show marked the band's return to Maine after skipping over it for nearly thirteen years (their previous show in the state was at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland on October 11, 1996). While the band or Dave & Tim played Maine twice yearly from 1994–96, it's likely that they simply outgrew the state's venues by the time Before These Crowded Streets was released in 1998 (Dave & Tim played a show at UMaine in 1997, and the band played an extremely abbreviated summer tour that year). While Darling's Waterfront Pavilion was built in 2010, it was a relatively small venue originally, seating just 8000, well below the capacity of the larger pavilions and stadiums DMB was playing at the time. It was expanded to 15,000 seats in 2013, however, and DMB took advantage. They returned in 2016 but have not played in Maine since.
There were rumors in late 2014 that this show was set to be released as Live Trax Vol. 32, but the second night of the three-night 2014 run at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, California, was released instead. If those rumors were founded, it's possible that it was a last-minute switch and that this show has been ready to release ever since. Here is a brief comparison of these two shows:
Included on both releases are Ants Marching, Grey Street, If Only, One Sweet World, Recently, The Space Between, Warehouse, and You & Me. Although Ants Marching and One Sweet World were played at both shows, they were in opposite sets: both are in the electric set of the Bangor show but in the acoustic set of the Berkeley show. While most of the other songs from the Bangor show's acoustic set have seen 2014 acoustic releases on various compilations, this show marks the first acoustic two-sets–era releases of I'll Back You Up and Two Step. While there is a decent amount of overlap between these two shows (as well as with Live Trax Vol. 36, from the 2015 two-set tour), it is worth pointing out that the Bangor show comes from early in the 2014 tour, when the band was still experimenting with the acoustic set format, so even the duplicate performances from the acoustic set aren't entirely the same arrangements.
This show has the lowest rarity ranking of the 2014 tour, meaning that it is the most representative show of the tour as a whole. Despite this relative lack of rare performances for the year, though, it is notable for having 2014's only (partial) performance of Blue Water, which wouldn't be revisited again until 2019.
Here is management's official write-up:
"On June 6, 2014, Dave Matthews Band returned to the state of Maine for the first time since 1997. With an acoustic set to open the show, fans got a taste of classic DMB tunes in stripped down arrangements. An intimate Oh and Bartender kick off the evening with Dave and Tim. By the end of set 1 it’s all hands on deck for an acoustically joyful Tripping Billies, gearing the crowd up for the electric second set. This show from the Summer of 2014 touches upon all eras of the DMB catalog from the radio hit, Crush, to the hard hitting Drive In, Drive Out.
This item is available for pre-order and will ship on or around July 29. Downloads will be available on July 31."
You can pre-order it here.
Here is an update of our table of full shows that have been released:
| # | Date | Show Type | Venue | City, State | Release Type | Release Date | | 1 | 8.15.95 | DMB | Red Rocks Amphitheatre | Morrison, CO | standard | 10.28.97 | | 2 | 2.6.96 | Dave & Tim | CFL Auditorium (Luther College) | Decorah, IA | standard | 1.19.99 | | 3 | 9.11.99 | DMB | Continental Airlines Arena | East Rutherford, NJ | standard | 11.23.99 | | 4 | 12.19.98 | DMB | United Center | Chicago, IL | standard | 10.23.01 | | 5 | 7.11.01 | DMB | Folsom Field (UC-Boulder) | Boulder, CO | standard | 11.5.02 | | 6 | 9.24.03 | DMB | Central Park | New York, NY | standard | 11.18.03 | | 7 | 6.11.04 | Dave & Friends | Bonnaroo Music Festival | Manchester, TN | download | 6.12.04 | | 8 | 9.6.02 | DMB | The Gorge Amphitheatre | George, WA | standard | 6.29.04 | | 9 | 9.7.02 | | 10 | 9.8.02 | | 11 | 12.8.98 | DMB | Worcester Centrum | Worcester, MA | Live Trax 1 | 11.2.04 | | 12 | 9.12.04 | DMB | Golden Gate Park | San Francisco, CA | Live Trax 2 | 12.17.04 |
| 13 | 8.27.00 | DMB | Meadows Music Theatre | Hartford, CT | Live Trax 3 | 3.17.05 | | 14 | 4.30.96 | DMB | Classic Amphitheater | Richmond, VA | Live Trax 4 | 9.2.05 | | 15 | 9.9.05 | DMB | Red Rocks Amphitheatre | Morrison, CO | standard | 11.29.05 | | 16 | 9.10.05 | | 17 | 9.11.05 | | 18 | 9.12.05 | | 19 | 8.23.95 | DMB | Baldwin Memorial Pavilion (Oakland University) | Rochester Hills, MI | Live Trax 5 | 5.26.06 | | 20 | 7.7.06 | DMB | Fenway Park | Boston, MA | Live Trax 6 | 9.26.06 | | 21 | 7.8.06 | | 22 | 12.31.96 | DMB | Hampton Coliseum | Hampton, VA | Live Trax 7 | 12.12.06 | | 23 | 8.7.04 | DMB | Alpine Valley Music Theatre | East Troy, WI | Live Trax 8 | 3.20.07 | | 24 | 3.23.07 | DMB | MGM Grand | Las Vegas, NV | Live Trax 9 | 6.5.07 | | 25 | 3.24.07 | | 26 | 4.22.07 | Dave & Tim | Radio City Music Hall | New York, NY | standard | 8.14.07 | | 27 | 9.8.07 | DMB | Piedmont Park | Atlanta, GA | standard | 12.11.07 | | 28 | 5.25.07 | DMB | Atlantic Pavilion | Lisbon, POR | Live Trax 10 | 11.6.07 | | 29 | 8.29.00 | DMB | Saratoga Performing Arts Center | Saratoga Springs, NY | Live Trax 11 | 3.25.08 | | 30 | 5.5.95 | DMB | L.B. Day Amphitheater | Salem, OR | Live Trax 12 | 7.8.08 | | 31 | 6.7.08 | DMB | Busch Stadium | St. Louis, MO | Live Trax 13 | 10.14.08 | | 32 | 7.20.08 | DMB | Dick's Sporting Goods Park | Commerce City, CO | standard | 12.16.08 | | 33 | 4.22.93 | Dave & Tim | Prism Coffeehouse | Charlottesville, VA | DMBlive 1 | 12.19.08 | | 34 | 4.26.94 | DMB | Town Point Park | Norfolk, VA | DMBlive 2 | 12.19.08 | | 35 | 10.22.94 | DMB | Blue Note | Columbia, MO | DMBlive 3 | 12.19.08 | | 36 | 10.24.02 | Dave solo | Benaroya Hall | Seattle, WA | DMBlive 4 | 12.19.08 | | 37 | 3.29.03 | Dave & Tim | Holmes Convocation Center (Appalachian State) | Boone, NC | DMBlive 5 | 12.19.08 | | 38 | 1.9.04 | Dave solo | China Club | New York, NY | DMBlive 6 | 12.23.08 | | 39 | 6.28.08 | DMB | Nissan Pavilion | Bristow, VA | Live Trax 14 | 3.24.09 | | 40 | 8.9.08 | DMB | Alpine Valley Music Theatre | East Troy, WI | Live Trax 15 | 6.2.09 | | 41 | 3.26.94 | DMB | Irving Plaza | New York, NY | DMBlive 7 | 7.22.09 | | 42 | 6.26.00 | DMB | Riverbend Music Center | Cincinnati, OH | Live Trax 16 | 9.15.09 | | 43 | 4.10.93 | DMB | The Bayou | Washington, DC | DMBlive 8 | 9.16.09 | | 44 | 5.10.95 | DMB | Warfield Theatre | San Francisco, CA | DMBlive 9 | 9.16.09 | | 45 | 1.27.93 | DMB | The Flood Zone | Richmond, VA | DMBlive 10 | 11.30.09 | | 46 | 6.26.09 | DMB | Brixton Academy | London, ENG | standard (DVD) | 12.22.09 | | 47 | 7.5.09 | DMB | Piazza Napoleone | Lucca, ITA | standard | | 48 | 12.12.09 | Dave & Tim | Planet Hollywood Theater | Las Vegas, NV | standard | 2.9.10 | | 49 | 10.24.96 | DMB | Frank Erwin Center | Austin, TX | DMBlive 11 | 2.25.10 | | 50 | 7.6.97 | DMB | Shoreline Amphitheatre | Mountain View, CA | Live Trax 17 | 5.4.10 | | 51 | 12.21.92 | DMB | The Bayou | Washington, DC | DMBlive 12 | 6.8.10 | | 52 | 6.4.96 | DMB | GTE Virginia Beach Amphitheater | Virginia Beach, VA | Live Trax 18 | 8.31.10 | | 53 | 2.25.95 | DMB | Kirby Fieldhouse (Lafayette College) | Easton, PA | DMBlive 13 | 9.14.10 | | 54 | 9.30.08 | DMB | Vivo Rio | Rio de Janeiro, BRA | Live Trax 19 | 11.9.10 | | 55 | 7.17.10 | DMB | Citi Field | Flushing, NY | standard | 11.9.10 | | 56 | 11.26.94 | DMB | Backstage Theatre | Seattle, WA | DMBlive 14 | 1.19.11 | | 57 | 8.19.93 | DMB | Wetlands Preserve | New York, NY | Live Trax 20 | 5.15.11 | | 58 | 9.17.10 | DMB | Wrigley Field | Chicago, IL | standard | 5.31.11 | | 59 | 9.18.10 | | 60 | 7.20.95 | DMB | Mud Island River Park Amphitheatre | Memphis, TN | DMBlive 15 | 9.29.11 | | 61 | 9.9.96 | DMB | Oak Mountain Amphitheatre | Pelham, AL | DMBlive 16 | 9.29.11 | | 62 | 6.26.11 | DMB | Bader Field | Atlantic City, NJ | standard | 12.16.11 | | 63 | 8.4.95 | DMB | SOMA | San Diego, CA | Live Trax 21 | 2.28.12 | | 64 | 6.13.93 | Dave & Tim | Memphis | Richmond, VA | DMBlive 17 | 3.15.12 | | 65 | 7.14.10 | DMB | Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain | Scranton, PA | Live Trax 22 | 6.12.12 | | 66 | 3.2.94 | DMB | Masquerade Nightclub | Tampa, FL | DMBlive 18 | 6.20.12 | | 67 | 2.19.96 | Dave & Tim | Whittemore Center Arena (UNH) | Durham, NH | Live Trax 23 | 12.11.12 | | 68 | 2.8.97 | Dave & Tim | Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium | Spartanburg, SC | Live Trax 24 | 12.11.12 | | 69 | 4.7.95 | DMB | Cameron Indoor Stadium (Duke) | Durham, NC | DMBlive 19 | 5.1.13 | | 70 | 5.30.06 | DMB | UMB Bank Pavilion | Maryland Heights, MO | Live Trax 25 | 5.21.13 | | 71 | 3.25.95 | DMB | The Revolver Club | Madrid, ESP | DMBlive 20 | 5.29.13 | | 72 | 7.30.03 | DMB | Sleep Train Amphitheatre | Wheatland, CA | Live Trax 26 | 8.6.13 | | 73 | 2.8.95 | DMB | Palace Theatre | Albany, NY | DMBlive 21 | 8.15.13 | | 74 | 10.14.10 | DMB | Luna Park | Buenos Aires, ARG | Live Trax 27 | 11.12.13 | | 75 | 11.19.10 | DMB | John Paul Jones Arena (UVa) | Charlottesville, VA | Live Trax 28 | 12.17.13 | | 76 | 3.3.99 | Dave & Tim | Kingsbury Hall (U of U) | Salt Lake City, UT | DMBlive 22 | 1.14.14 | | 77 | 6.1.13 | DMB | Blossom Music Center | Cuyahoga Falls, OH | Live Trax 29 | 4.15.14 | | 78 | 7.28.92 | DMB | Trax | Charlottesville, VA | DMBlive 23 | 6.12.14 | | 79 | 6.30.00 | DMB | Soldier Field | Chicago, IL | download | 2014* | | 80 | 6.23.01 | DMB | Tweeter Center | Camden, NJ | Live Trax 31 | 9.16.14 | | 81 | 8.23.14 | DMB | Greek Theatre | Berkeley, CA | Live Trax 32 | 12.9.14 | | 82 | 4.5.95 | DMB | The Academy | New York, NY | DMBlive 24 | 3.25.15 | | 83 | 1.31.95 | DMB | Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel | Providence, RI | Live Trax 33 | 5.5.15 | | 84 | 6.24.99 | DMB | Deer Creek Music Center | Noblesville, IN | Live Trax 34 | 7.17.15 | | 85 | 10.14.94 | DMB | Georgia Theatre | Athens, GA | DMBlive 25 | 9.3.15 | | 86 | 6.20.09 | DMB | Post-Gazette Pavilion | Burgettstown, PA | Live Trax 35 | 10.16.15 | | 87 | 11.30.98 | DMB | First Union Center | Philadelphia, PA | DMBlive 26 | 12.9.15 | | 88 | 7.26.15 | DMB | Alpine Valley Music Theatre | Elkhorn, WI | Live Trax 36 | 12.11.15 | | 89 | 2.22.94 | DMB | Trax | Charlottesville, VA | DMBlive 27 | 3.3.16 | | 90 | 11.11.92 | DMB | Trax | Charlottesville, VA | Live Trax 37 | 4.15.16 | | 91 | 6.8.96 | DMB | Saratoga Performing Arts Center | Saratoga Springs, NY | Live Trax 38 | 7.15.16 | | 92 | 4.14.96 | Dave solo | Sweet Briar College | Sweet Briar, VA | standard | 8.19.16 | | 93 | 4.6.94 | DMB | Georgia Theatre | Athens, GA | DMBlive 28 | 10.17.16 | | 94 | 10.31.98 | DMB | The Arena in Oakland | Oakland, CA | Live Trax 39 | 11.4.16 | | 95 | 12.21.02 | DMB | Madison Square Garden | New York, NY | Live Trax 40 | 12.9.16 | | 96 | 10.3.96 | DMB | Madison Square Garden | New York, NY | DMBlive 29 | 12.16.16 | | 97 | 3.13.99 | Dave & Tim | Berkeley Community Theater | Berkeley, CA | Live Trax 41 | 5.12.17 | | 98 | 9.14.07 | DMB | Sound Advice Amphitheatre | West Palm Beach, FL | Live Trax 42 | 7.21.17 | | 99 | 7.9.95 | DMB | Lac de Malsaucy | Belfort, FRA | DMBlive 30 | 8.2.17 | | 100 | 7.27.04 | DMB | HiFi Buys Amphitheatre | Atlanta, GA | Live Trax 43 | 9.22.17 | | 101 | 9.4.16 | DMB | The Gorge Amphitheatre | George, WA | Live Trax 44 | 12.8.17 | | 102 | 6.29.13 | DMB | Susquehanna Bank Center | Camden, NJ | Live Trax 45 | 8.10.18 | | 103 | 7.7.18 | DMB | Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center | Noblesville, IN | Live Trax 46 | 12.7.18 | | 104 | 6.8.97 | DMB | Meadows Music Theatre | Hartford, CT | Live Trax 47 | 3.29.19 | | 105 | 12.14.18 | DMB | John Paul Jones Arena | Charlottesville, VA | download | 4.12.19 | | 106 | 7.24.18 | DMB | PNC Music Pavilion | Charlotte, NC | download | 6.6.19 | | 107 | 8.25.94 | Dave & Tim | The Birchmere | Alexandria, VA | Live Trax 48 | 9.13.19 | | 108 | 6.18.19 | Dave & Tim | CMAC Pavilion | Canandaigua, NY | Live Trax 49 | 9.13.19 | | 109 | 9.10.18 | DMB | Hollywood Bowl | Hollywood, CA | standard | 12.6.19 | | 110 | 7.10.04 | DMB | Hersheypark Stadium | Hershey, PA | Live Trax 50 | 12.20.19 | | 111 | 8.10.07 | DMB | Post-Gazette Pavilion | Burgettstown, PA | Live Trax 51 | 5.8.20 | | 112 | 6.6.14 | DMB | Darling's Waterfront Pavilion | Bangor, ME | Live Trax 52 | 7.31.20 |
*This show was released sometime in 2014, but as it was released pretty quietly, it's been tough to pinpoint an exact release date. |
| | Liberation List -- NEW LIBERATION -- | added on 2/28/2020 | Here is the updated liberation list, including the most recent liberation. There are 107 total qualifying songs, 46 of which are not currently on the list. Additional qualifying songs are Again and Again, Alligator Pie, Belly Belly Nice, Black and Blue Bird, Break Free, Burning Down the House, Can't Stop, Christmas Song, Come On Come On, Come Tomorrow, Digging a Ditch, Dreamgirl, Drunken Soldier, Fly Like an Eagle, Gravedigger, Hello Again, Help Myself, Hunger for the Great Light, If I Had It All, I'll Back You Up, Kill the King, Mercy, Old Dirt Hill (Bring That Beat Back), Runnin' Down a Dream, Samurai Cop (Oh Joy Begin), Satellite, Save Me, Shake Me Like a Monkey, She, Sister, Sledgehammer, Sleep to Dream Her, Smooth Rider, Space Between, The, Spaceman, Stay (Wasting Time), Steady As We Go, Sweet Emotion, That Girl Is You, Time Bomb, Time of the Season, Virginia in the Rain, When the World Ends, Where Are You Going, Why I Am, You & Me |
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| | It's been seven hours and thirteen days since you took your love away | added on 10/16/2019 | One of the most important characteristics the Almanac attempts to maintain is objectivity. Something that comes up often in discussion about Dave Matthews Band is ranking things: which songs are best, which shows are best, which tours are best, etc. Clearly, the concept of "best" is an inherently subjective one, but are there any objective ways of ranking tours? From an "on-paper" perspective, there are two variables that tend to come up when people discuss which tours are better than others: song selection and setlist variation. Quality of song selection is obviously not possible to quantify objectively, but it does seem possible to do so with setlist variation. A common observation about the band's setlist variation is that they don't vary their setlists as much as they used to. Is that true? Let's see if we can find out.
Different Songs Played
The easiest way to rank tours against one another is to look at how many different songs were played over the course of each.
Here are the rankings (with total different songs played in parentheses):
1 Summer 2015 (116)
2 Summer 2013 (110)
3 Summer 2014 (107)
4 Summer 2012 (99)
T-5 Summer 2018 (97)
T-5 Summer 2019 (97)
7 Summer 2010 (96)
8 Summer 2016 (88)
T-9 Summer 2008 (78)
T-9 International Summer 2009 (78)
T-11 Summer 2006 (72)
T-11 International Fall 2015 (72)
13 Summer 2007 (71)
14 Summer 2003 (68)
T-15 Spring/Summer 2001 (61)
T-15 Summer 2005 (61)
17 Spring 2002 (57)
T-18 Summer 2000 (56)
T-18 Summer 2002 (56)
T-18 Summer 2004 (56)
T-21 Fall 1998 (50)
T-21 Summer 1999 (50)
23 Summer 1998 (44)
24 Fall 1996 (42)
25 Summer 1995 (41)
26 Spring 1998 (39)
27 Fall 1994 (37)
T-28 Spring 1994 (34)
T-28 Winter 1995 (34)
T-28 Spring 1995 (34)
31 Summer 1997 (33)
32 Winter 1994 (31)
There are some problems with this way of comparing tours, namely that the band's song catalog has grown greatly in the 28 years they have been playing together, so it is not really fair to compare a 1994 tour to a 2015 tour. Another problem is that the band often plays some songs only one or two times on a tour but plays others far more often; this means that a higher number of songs does not necessarily indicate greater setlist variety.
Percentage of Catalog Played
To overcome the size-of-catalog problem, let's rank the tours by the percentage of the then-current catalog that was played on the tour. Here we are excluding defunct songs once their evolved versions debuted, and we're excluding one-off covers and the like, but otherwise, we're including nearly all songs that had been played up through the end of each tour.
Here are the same tours ranked by total percentage of catalog played (with total played/catalog size and percentage in parentheses):
1 Summer 1995 (41/55; 74.5%)
2 Fall 1994 (37/50; 74.0%)
3 Spring 1994 (34/47; 72.3%)
4 Summer 2000 (56/78; 71.8%)
5 Fall 1998 (50/70; 71.4%)
6 Summer 2003 (68/98; 69.4%)
7 Fall 1996 (42/61; 68.9%)
8 Summer 1999 (50/73; 68.5%)
9 Winter 1995 (34/50; 68.0%)
10 Winter 1994 (31/47; 66.0%)
11 Spring/Summer 2001 (61/93; 65.6%)
12 Spring 1995 (34/53; 64.2%)
13 Summer 1998 (44/69; 63.8%)
14 Summer 2015 (116/193; 60.1%)
T-15 Spring 2002 (57/97; 58.8%)
T-15 Summer 2013 (110/187; 58.8%)
17 Summer 2010 (96/166; 57.8%)
18 Summer 2002 (56/98; 57.1%)
19 Summer 2006 (72/127; 56.7%)
20 Summer 2014 (107/189; 56.6%)
21 Spring 1998 (39/69; 56.5%)
22 Summer 2012 (99/183; 54.1%)
23 Summer 2004 (56/104; 53.8%)
24 Summer 2008 (78/146; 53.4%)
25 Summer 1997 (33/62; 53.2%)
26 Summer 2007 (71/137; 51.8%)
27 Summer 2005 (61/120; 50.8%)
28 International Summer 2009 (78/163; 47.9%)
29 Summer 2018 (97/204; 47.5%)
30 Summer 2019 (97/205; 47.3%)
31 Summer 2016 (88/197; 44.7%)
32 International Fall 2015 (72/193; 37.3%)
Looking at the tours this way makes it slightly more apples-to-apples when comparing an early tour to a more recent one, but it still doesn't account for the band's tendency to play certain songs far more often than others, thus causing the number-of-songs-played figure to be a bit misleading. Furthermore, it creates a new problem: the band played about 75% of its catalog on the Summer 1995 tour, which required them to play 41 different songs; by comparison, they would have had to have played 142 different songs in 2015 in order to play the same percentage of their catalog. Finally, it's a bit subjective to determine which songs should count as being "in the catalog" at the time: do songs from Some Devil count, even if they've never been played at a DMB show? Does Captain count from 1996 onward, or only from 2000, 2001, or 2002? It's certainly a judgment call.
Average Rarity
Since adjusting for one skewed variable creates another skewed variable, and vice-versa, let's take a different approach. Our website assigns each show a rarity index number, which represents how often the average song in that show's setlist was played on the tour. For example, if a show has a 2.000 rarity, that means that the average song in that show's setlist was played once every 2.000 shows on that tour. Averaging all of the rarity index numbers for a given tour provides a rarity value for the entire tour.
Here's what the rankings look like this way (with average rarity in parentheses):
1 Summer 2013 (3.341)
2 Summer 2015 (3.198)
3 Summer 2012 (3.048)
4 Summer 2014 (2.978)
5 Summer 2019 (2.956)
6 Summer 2016 (2.783)
7 Summer 2018 (2.731)
8 Summer 2003 (2.665)
9 Summer 2010 (2.634)
10 Summer 2006 (2.581)
11 Summer 2008 (2.452)
12 International Fall 2015 (2.253)
13 Summer 2007 (2.234)
14 Summer 2002 (2.213)
15 Summer 2005 (2.204)
16 Summer 2000 (2.190)
17 Summer 1999 (2.147)
18 Spring 2002 (2.101)
19 International Summer 2009 (2.066)
20 Spring/Summer 2001 (2.047)
21 Summer 2004 (1.943)
22 Fall 1998 (1.805)
23 Spring 1994 (1.764)
24 Fall 1994 (1.759)
25 Winter 1995 (1.746)
26 Summer 1998 (1.657)
27 Spring 1995 (1.623)
28 Summer 1995 (1.540)
29 Winter 1994 (1.527)
30 Spring 1998 (1.476)
31 Fall 1996 (1.470)
32 Summer 1997 (1.321)
This is a fairly objective comparison of setlist variety; however, it still is skewed in favor of more recent tours due to the increasing size of the band's catalog over time. It would not have been feasible for the band's setlists to have been as varied in the early days as they are today, so we again have an apples-to-oranges comparison.
Average Rarity vs. Maximum Average Rarity
It is possible to calculate a maximum average rarity value for each tour, based on the total number of songs available in the band's catalog at the time and the average number of songs played at each show. In simpler terms, the maximum average rarity is what the average rarity index for the tour would be if the band played 100% different setlists every night of the tour, to the greatest extent possible given the size of their catalog at the time. Because this value has increased as the band's catalog has grown, comparing tours by the difference between the maximum average rarity and the actual average rarity accounts for that skew.
Here are the rankings using this way of reckoning (with the maximum, actual, and difference in parentheses):
1 Fall 1994 (3.372 – 1.759 = 1.613)
2 Winter 1994 (3.408 – 1.527 = 1.881)
3 Summer 1995 (3.526 – 1.540 = 1.986)
4 Fall 1996 (3.697 – 1.470 = 2.227)
5 Winter 1995 (4.197 – 1.746 = 2.451)
6 Spring 1994 (4.283 – 1.764 = 2.519)
7 Summer 1997 (3.868 – 1.321 = 2.547)
8 Summer 2000 (4.750 – 2.190 = 2.560)
9 Spring 1995 (4.327 – 1.623 = 2.703)
10 Summer 1999 (4.889 – 2.147 = 2.743)
11 Spring/Summer 2001 (4.890 – 2.047 = 2.842)
12 Summer 1998 (4.513 – 1.657 = 2.855)
13 Spring 1998 (4.351 – 1.476 = 2.874)
14 Summer 2003 (5.795 – 2.665 = 3.130)
15 Fall 1998 (4.979 – 1.805 = 3.174)
16 Summer 2002 (5.639 – 2.213 = 3.426)
17 Spring 2002 (5.537 – 2.101 = 3.435)
18 Summer 2006 (7.191 – 2.581 = 4.610)
19 Summer 2004 (5.820 – 1.943 = 3.876)
20 Summer 2005 (6.096 – 2.204 = 3.892)
21 Summer 2014 (8.008 – 2.978 = 5.030)
22 Summer 2015 (8.308 – 3.198 = 5.110)
23 Summer 2007 (7.370 – 2.234 = 5.135)
24 Summer 2008 (7.905 – 2.452 = 5.453)
25 Summer 2010 (8.610 – 2.634 = 5.976)
26 Summer 2013 (9.331 – 3.341 = 5.990)
27 Summer 2012 (9.516 – 3.048 = 6.468)
28 Summer 2018 (9.549 - 2.731 = 6.818)
29 International Summer 2009 (8.888 – 2.066 = 6.821)
30 Summer 2019 (10.284 - 2.956 = 7.328)
31 Summer 2016 (10.218 – 2.783 = 7.435)
32 International Fall 2015 (10.472 – 2.253 = 8.219)
The main problem here is that DMB has never and probably will never play its entire catalog on a single tour, and the likelihood of that happening decreases as time goes on and the catalog grows. Furthermore, they have never and probably will never play all of their songs as infrequently as would be required for a tour's average rarity to approach its maximum average rarity—to do that, they'd essentially have to fail to repeat a single song all tour until they had played every song in their repertoire.
Conclusion
So what's the takeaway here? Are the band's recent setlists as varied as they were in the early days? Yes and no. Depending on which of the above methods you use, you'll believe that the tours with the most varied setlists are either from 1994, 1995, 2013, or 2015. Method #3 (Average Rarity) seems to be the most objective comparison, and it shows that the band's more recent tours have featured far more varied setlists than did their early tours; however, as mentioned above, this objectivity does not necessarily mean it's a fair comparison. There is no single best way to objectively compare one DMB tour to another. Each of the methods described above has its flaws. Moreover, these statistics aren't what truly matter for most people—what matters is the actual performance, and that would be nearly impossible to quantify.
Stray Observations
Please note that the data above feature only tours with 20 or more shows whose setlists are known. Short tours over- or underinflate certain statistics, so we have chosen to ignore those tours. Additionally, some of the data above have been adjusted to account for unknown setlists.
Even though we omitted the 28 tours with fewer than 20 shows, some of the data for those tours are still interesting. When including those tours, the following end up first and last:
Different Songs Played: 1 Summer 2015 (116); 60 Europe 1995 Summer (18)
Percentage of Catalog Played: 1 Summer 1995 (74.5%); 60 Latin America Fall 2019 (22.0%)
Average Rarity: 1 Summer 2011 (3.444); 60 New Years Run 1995 (1.135)
Average Rarity vs. Maximum Average Rarity: 1 HORDE 1994 (1.220); 60 International Fall 2015 (8.328)
We often see people misinterpreting our site's rarity index numbers and rankings as a qualitative assessment of the show. Just because a show has the highest rarity index number for its tour does not necessarily mean it was the best show of the tour. That's for you to decide. It just means that the songs at that show weren't played as often as the songs at other shows.
The most recent major tour whose average rarity index value is less than 2 is Summer 2004 (1.943), when Crazy Easy, Hello Again, Joyride, and Sugar Will were all played at nearly every show. Summer 1997 has one of the lowest average rarity index values of all time (1.321), due mostly to nearly every encore being identical. Many people consider these two tours among the best the band has done, which is good evidence that rarity (and, by extension, variety) isn't everything.
The single rarest show of all time is 9.1.13, with a rarity index of 5.025. Remember, though, that a show's rarity index number is only good for comparing a show to others from the same tour. We made a big deal about the rarity index value for 9.8.02 back when that show became the rarest of all time; its score is a meager 3.825! |
| | It's a Music Town | added on 4/16/2019 | The following shows have been added or updated based on the items displayed in Charlottesville’s It’s a Music Town exhibit. Nearly all of these dates come directly from the Trax booking calendar. Dates with no notes are completely new. Notes with question marks are unconfirmed:
10/19/91
10/3/92
10/11/92 - Native American Indian benefit w/ TR3 and Darrell Rose
10/13/92 - removed
10/17/92
10/20/92 - cancelled
10/21/92 - took place at the Flood Zone after all?
10/26/92 - Kelly O'Hara benenfit w/ Indecision
10/29/92
11/7/92
11/10/92 - changed date from 11/11/92
11/11/92 - changed venue from Trax to Flood Zone
11/15/92 - Andersons benefit w/ Cactus Pie and Belligerent Bros.
12/5/92
12/22/92 - took place at Trax after all?
12/23/92 - took place at the Flood Zone after all?
4/6/93
4/13/93
4/20/93
4/27/93
5/9/93
5/11/93 - new, cancelled show
5/18/93 - new, cancelled show
7/28/93 - new, cancelled show
9/26/94 |
| | It's all the same... | added on 1/25/2019 | Over the years, many venues have undergone name changes, mostly due to corporate naming rights changing hands. While we keep our venue names current on this site, many people tend to refer to venues by either the city name ("Camden") or by their original, non-corporate name ("Deer Creek"). Here's a guide to venues' name changes, highlihting the ones that the band has played most often (15+ shows):
Charlottesville, VA - Trax
1982–2001: Trax
Richmond, VA - The Flood Zone
1985–1997: The Flood Zone
George, WA - The Gorge
1986–present: The Gorge Amphitheatre
Noblesville, IN - Deer Creek
1989–2001: Deer Creek Music Center
2002–2011: Verizon Wireless Music Center
2012–2017: Klipsch Music Center
2018–present: Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center
Saratoga Springs, NY - SPAC
1966–present: Saratoga Performing Arts Center
Hartford, CT - Meadows
1995–2000: Meadows Music Theatre
2001–2005: ctnow.com Meadows Music Theatre
2006–2008: New England Dodge Music Center
2009–2013: Comcast Theatre
2014–present: Xfinity Theatre
Camden, NJ - Camden
1995–2000: Blockbuster–Sony Music Entertainment Center at the Waterfront
2001–2007: Tweeter Center at the Waterfront
2008–2015: Susquehanna Bank Center
2016–present: BB&T Pavilion
West Palm Beach, FL - Coral Sky
1996–1999: Coral Sky Amphitheatre
2000–2002: MARS Music Amphitheatre
2002–2003: Coral Sky Amphitheatre
2004–2007: Sound Advice Amphitheatre
2008–2014: Cruzan Amphitheatre
2015–2017: Perfect Vodka Amphitheatre at the South Florida Fairgrounds
2018–present: Coral Sky Amphitheatre at the South Florida Fairgrounds
Mountain View, CA - Shoreline
1986–present: Shoreline Amphitheatre at Mountain View
Elkhorn, WI / East Troy, WI - Alpine
1977–present: Alpine Valley Music Theatre
Burgettstown, PA - Star Lake
1990–1999: Coca-Cola Star Lake Amphitheatre
2000–2007: Post–Gazette Pavilion at Star Lake
2008–2009: Post–Gazette Pavilion
2010–2016: First Niagara Pavilion
2017–present: KeyBank Pavilion
Mansfield, MA - Great Woods
1986–1997: Great Woods Performing Arts Center
1998–2008: Tweeter Center for the Performing Arts
2009–2013: Comcast Center
2014–present: Xfinity Center
Bristow, VA - Nissan
1995–2009: Nissan Pavilion at Stone Ridge
2010–present: Jiffy Lube Live
The Woodlands, TX - The Woodlands
1990–present: The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
Cincinnati, OH - Riverbend
1984–present: Riverbend Music Center
Raleigh, NC - Walnut Creek
1991–1998: Hardee's Walnut Creek Amphitheatre
1999–2007: Alltel Pavilion at Walnut Creek
2008: Walnut Creek Amphitheatre
2009–2013: Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion at Walnut Creek
2014–2016: Walnut Creek Amphitheatre
2017–present: Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek
Charlotte, NC - Charlotte
1991–2000: Blockbuster Pavilion
2001–2013: Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre Charlotte
2014–present: PNC Music Pavilion Charlotte
New York, NY - MSG
1968–present: Madison Square Garden
Maryland Heights, MO - Riverport
1991–2000: Riverport Amphitheatre
2001–2006: UMB Bank Pavilion
2007–2014: Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre St. Louis
2015–present: Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
Virginia Beach, VA - Virginia Beach
1996–2000: GTE Virginia Beach Amphitheater
2001–2010: Verizon Wireless Virginia Beach Amphitheater
2011: Virginia Beach Amphitheater
2012–2015: Farm Bureau Live at Virginia Beach
2016–present: Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater at Virginia Beach
Atlanta, GA - Lakewood
1989–1999: Coca-Cola Lakewood Amphitheater
2000: Lakewood Amphitheater
2001–2007: HiFi Buys Amphitheater
2008: Lakewood Amphitheater
2009–2015: Aaron's Amphitheater at Lakewood
2016–2017: Lakewood Amphitheater
2018–present: Cellairis Amphitheater at Lakewood
Columbus, OH - Polaris
1994–2002: Polaris Amphitheatre
2003–2007: Germain Amphitheatre
Cuyahoga Falls, OH - Blossom
1968–present: Blossom Music Center
Tinley Park, IL - Tinley Park
1989–1999: New World Music Theatre
2000–2005: Tweeter Center Chicago
2006–2015: First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
2016–present: Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
Dallas, TX - Dallas
1988–1997: Coca-Cola Starplex Amphitheatre
1998–1999: Starplex Amphitheatre
2000–2007: Smirnoff Music Center
2008–2010: Superpages.com Center
2011–2016: Gexa Energy Pavilion
2017: Starplex Amphitheatre
2018–present: Dos Equis Pavilion
Clarkston, MI - Pine Knob
1972–2003: Pine Knob Music Theatre
2004–present: DTE Energy Music Theatre
Wantagh, NY - Jones Beach
1952–1993: Jones Beach Marine Theater
1994–2001: Jones Beach Amphitheatre
2002–2005: Tommy Hilfiger at Jones Beach Theater
2006–2016: Nikon at Jones Beach Theater
2017–present: Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater
Darien Center, NY - Darien
1993–present: Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
Chula Vista, CA - Chula Vista
1998–2007: Coors Amphitheatre
2008–2012: Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre
2013–2016: Sleep Train Amphitheatre
2017–2018: Mattress Firm Amphitheatre
2019–present: North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre
Hershey, PA - Hershey
1939–1967: Hershey Stadium
1968–1970: Hershey Park Stadium
1971–present: Hersheypark Stadium
Toronto, ON - Molson
1995–2010: The Molson Amphitheatre
2011–2016: Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
2017–present: Budweiser Stage
Tampa, FL - Tampa
2004–2010: Ford Amphitheater at the Florida State Fairgrounds
2011–2012: 1-800-ASK-GARY Amphitheater at the Florida State Fairgrounds
2013–present: MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre at the Florida State Fairgrounds |
| | N1 vs. N2: Rarity | added on 1/23/2019 | Are you planning to go to one of the venues that has more than one show but can only afford to go to one of them? Do you prefer to get lawn seats for one show and pavilion/pit for the other? Do you like to indulge in tailgating for one show but be able to remember the other one very clearly? Do you just like comparing DMB shows for comparison's sake? Here's Part 1 of a look at the band's history playing multiple shows at the same venue.
The following is a breakdown of which night of a two-night show has had the rarest setlist for that tour. (NOTE: As we often try to point out, rarity does not necessarily mean quality!) The "all-time" stats are for all two-night shows the band has played from 1996–2018.
Alpine:
3 with a more rare N1
12 with a more rare N2
On average, Night 2 ranks 12 places higher in rarity than Night 1.
Camden:
3 with a more rare N1
12 with a more rare N2
On average, Night 2 ranks 15 places higher in rarity than Night 1.
(2001 and 2002 left out because they were 3-night shows)
Deer Creek:
3 with a more rare N1
13 with a more rare N2
On average, Night 2 ranks 10 places higher in rarity than Night 1.
(1999 and 2000 left out because they were 3-night shows)
Fiddler's:
0 with a more rare N1
2 with a more rare N2
On average, Night 2 ranks 20 places higher in rarity than Night 1.
The Gorge:
0 with a more rare N1
3 with a more rare N2
14 with a more rare N3
On average, Night 3 ranks 3 places higher in rarity than Night 2 and 15 places higher in rarity than Night 1.
On average, Night 2 ranks 12 places higher in rarity than Night 1.
(1999 and 2003 left out because they were 2-night shows)
SPAC:
4 with a more rare N1
11 with a more rare N2
On average, Night 2 ranks 11 places higher in rarity than Night 1.
West Palm:
4 with a more rare N1
10 with a more rare N2
On average, Night 2 ranks 9 places higher in rarity than Night 1.
All-Time:
26 with a more rare N1
94 with a more rare N2
As you can pretty clearly see, if rarity is your preferred measure of a show, you're almost certain to prefer night 2. Next up, we'll look at show length. |
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