Wednesday, September 1, 2010 at 7:49PM This video was released on Zac Brown Band official website. This is from a show where Zac guested with the Dave Matthews Band on the Willie Nelson cover: Funny How Time Slips Away.
Sunday, July 4, 2010 at 12:13PM 
Alpine Valley. There is no greater venue for the Dave Matthews Band that I have been to. Alpine is an entire event onto itself that is planned months in advance. This is my sixth straight year. My first show here was 7.23.05 and I said I would never miss one after that.
SHOW #101 Alpine Valley 7.3.10
“People ask us all the time...."What's your favorite place to play?" Now, you got your Gorges and you got your Red Rocks and so on, but there's an inexplicable magic that envelopes Alpine Valley.”
-DMB Road Page
There is no arguing that. I get chills every time I enter the gate at the top of the hill and look down at the amazing venue that is Alpine. 40,000 of the most hardcore DMB fans eagerly await the next 3 hours. Everyone has the same hopes that something special is going to happen tonight.
With the entire section 100 as GA PIT, we sat in section 202. It’s a really perfect spot in the steep wall of seemingly endless fans. With a long opening act, DMB didn’t start playing until 8:40pm.
That wall of fans erupt as the guys take the stage. The mini 12 is on the stand so Squirm is going to be the opener. I really like Squirm to start. The only disappointment comes with the fact that Alpine routinely gets some unique openers. Hopefully that will happen N2. Squirm was fantastic, and the ending of the song gets better every time I hear it.
The big 12 comes out and I am guessing JTR. Instead it is Big Eyed Fish. Another one of my favorites from one of their most underrated albums. The only thing I really didn’t care for was Tim Reynold's harmonics that he added. It sounded more like feedback than anything else.
At the end of BEF Dave goes for a guitar switch which I assume will be the Drop D 12, but instead it is the raised B. Ahhh, something different. Instead of the usual Bartender, BEF goes straight into Stay of Leave. A song that I enjoy more each time I hear it live. The crowd was so LOUD singing this song. Another reason I just love Alpine.
Next up is my number one highlight of the night. Dave starts the riff to what I would argue is their best song both lyrically and musically: The Stone. What an experience being in the center of Alpine and listening to one of my all-time favorite songs.
Dave’s voice sounds really great this tour, and the song builds up so nicely. The ending was much different than any other version I have gotten. Jeff Coffin just goes OFF at the end of it. So much so that the other guys were looking for him to break it down, but JC just kept on going. I was loving it.
The Stone breakdown goes into the crowd singing Elvis’ Can’t Help Falling in Love outro. The only problem was the lawn peeps were off by a verse, so it sounded like a round. Either way getting The Stone is an event in itself for me, and it already made my night just four songs in.
Proudest Monkey is up next which is a song that opened a year ago. I always enjoy it and it of course it normally goes into Satellite. However, like BEF…the guys mix it up and instead it segues into Seven.
Seven is always a highlight for me even as much as it gets played. Normaly Seven is played so early that the screens aren’t usually up. Not the case tonight. They showed the wings of a jet up on the video. No idea why, but it was kinda cool
After Seven, Dave acknowledged the opening act: Zac Brown Band. They were pretty solid. All of their songs were about cold beer and America. They did a lot of covers. Dave joked that he and Zac were going to mud wrestle later.
The guys did the same Stand Up/Corn Bread/Recently that they started at Deer Creek. This one wasn’t nearly as smooth. Recently was rough all the way around. They were not in sync in the intro, the jam seemed off, and Dave did not do pretty pretty girl. I think they just wanted to bail on that song and put it behind them.
Nancies into Warehouse was another sequence that had the Alpine crowd rocking. So glad to see these fan favorites married once again. After Nancies, Dave was all the way to the far left corner of the stage when he started the passion intro. It was very cool, and I am so glad Warehouse has returned!
The only tour debut tonight totally came out of nowhere. Blue Water! Really? Dave started it on guitar, and it took the crowd a bit to realize what it was. There was some sort of loud popping noise right before Dave was to sing and it clearly startled him. Not sure if it was firework, or a light exploding. He backed off while continuing to play guitar. After a minute he got back into it. It was just a partial, and went to the line: Completely True. This song has not been played in full by the band since February of 1995.
Eh Hee had a different intro. Dave did it solo then the full band came in. That was pretty nice. For whatever reason, there were no video screens during Eh Hee. It went into Can’t Stop. The only clunker in my opinion of the night. The pitch of Dave’s voice during Can’t Stop didn’t seem right.
It was great hearing the song that started it all for me: What Would You Say. It is hard to believe I haven’t seen this song since Berkeley back in 2008. Tim needs to dial it down on Dave’s small solo! He stepped all over Dave. There are some parts of songs that are distinctly acoustic and need nothing electric. That is definitely one of them (same for intro to Recently).
Shake Me closed. Once again I will reiterate this song is not strong enough to close! They don’t even jam it out.
In the encore Dave does a solo of Little Red Bird. That is the first time I have gotten it live. It definitely has some Neil Young flavor to the song.
The second best highlight for me came on the final song. Two Step is just a MONSTER. It is really cool to see how this particular song has really evolved. It has so much more testosterone without the keys of Butch Taylor and the addition of Tim. TR just crushed his solo. Not to be upstaged, Carter Beauford put together one of the best solos I have ever seen him do. Not just in length, but in his approach to his overall solo. It was really powerful with no lulls. It was awesome and a perfect way to end a show. I can’t imagine a Two Step coming close to that one, but I am sure they will.
I again had a blast. Me, Ryan, Jason, and Kyle are ready for Night Two! Thanks to Chris Drews for the tickets. I heard some of his tape last night and it sounds great as usual.
I am guessing we will get a crowd started Thank You tonight with possibly a Star Spangled Banner and Watchtower. I am hoping to finally catch Busted Stuff. This might be my last legitimate shot. I am hoping for Pig, Hello Again, So Right and maybe even Sweet Up and Down if I can get greedy!
I hope everyone has an awesome 4th of July!