Dave Matthews Band brings brass, energy and a whole lot of fun to Ruoff Music Center

NOBLESVILLE, Ind. – Halfway through their set at Ruoff Music Center Friday, Dave Matthews Band played crowd-favorite “Tripping Billies,” Matthews’ voice blending with the audience as he sang, “Eat, drink and be merry,” with the jam-packed audience.  

If Matthews meant his words as advice, the audience surely took them that way. 

The parking lots at Ruoff were lined with RVs and tents, reminiscent of how a college campus might look on its homecoming game day: grills out and beer in hand. Inside the venue, too, fans were doing just as instructed in “Tripping Billies”: eating, drinking and being merry. 

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One could feel the crowd's anticipation. It'd been nearly a year since Matthews and his band were in Indiana. The lawn was packed with people, so much so that the grass was concealed from plain view. The pavilion, too, was left with hardly any open seats, filled with people wearing DMB merch. 

And here I was, surrounded by people who were my age when the band released their debut album in 1994. 

When the members filed on the stage at 7:55 p.m., the crowd erupted in cheer and applause, forcing the band to wait for the commotion to subside before opening the night with “Pig” – which only garnered more audience acclaim. Notably, the smooth saxophone glided through the robust band, standing out among the otherwise head-banging song.

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It was after “Pig” that Matthews announced the band was missing a member of the family — lead guitarist Tim Reynolds tested positive for COVID-19. Despite Reynolds’ absence, the band continued to rock Ruoff, playing another electrifying, sing-along song, “Granny.” 

After the first two crowd-pleasers, the band played “Walk Around the Moon,” a non-album single they played live for the first time in 2021. While the crowd may not have been as into that song as its more recognizable predecessors, I certainly was. The stunning flute outro cannot go without a mention. 

Matthews sounds incredible. In fact, he sounds better live than on studio recordings. His voice is strong, husky at times, but never faltering. The band, too, is impeccable: Their energy emanates from the stage, infecting the audience with their buoyancy and flair. 

While the first few songs were faultless, it was the fifth song, “Jimi Thing,” that elicited one of the loudest audience responses I’d ever heard. It was almost as if the audience knew the treat they were in for when Matthews brought the brass quartet Preservation Hall Jazz Band on stage.

The epic groove of “Jimi Thing” was aided by stellar keyboarding and truly stunning brass-work provided by Preservation Hall, as each member was able to showcase their chops: I couldn’t erase the smile on my face as the tuba, trombone, saxophone and trumpet each took their moment to shine in the sprawling outro.

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The jazz band accompanied DMB for two more songs in a row, “That Girl is You” and “What Would You Say,” the latter of which gave me an uncontrollable urge to thrash my head. 

Matthews' charm is undeniable, as between nearly every song, he took a moment to address the audience, whether it be behind-the-scenes tidbits about the upcoming song or how he’s ready for this “COVID nonsense” to be over. The crowd agreed with him on that one.

The connection with his fans is surely evident and reciprocated, as I was amazed at how many people knew the words to every single song. The band plays a rotating setlist, too, so it’s not even like they could have prepared. It was near-impossible to distinguish the favored tracks, since each one garnered such a positive response from the nearly sold-out crowd. 

The middle of the set housed most of the mellower numbers, such as “Grace is Gone” and “You & Me.” Sometimes, in the softer songs, I heard notes of Eddie Vedder in Matthews’ voice, and I expected him to croon “Elderly Woman” on more than one occasion.

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But, despite the slower songs, Matthews proved his true idiosyncrasy in the way that he can blend so many instruments and genres together to compose a cohesive sound. 

Take stand-out “Warehouse,” for example. The song starts on the rock route, with its louder, fully instrumented portions bordering on wall-of-sound, before it shifts to highlighting the tribal drum pattern and finally, ending with a seemingly Latin-infused, nearly mariachi outro. 

I found myself shocked at how the song, which started rather dark, ended on such a light, fun note. Much of the 20-song setlist, actually, felt light-hearted and good, an open-call to dance and sing along without a care in the world. It was such a united environment — fans who didn’t come together were singing together, grins plastered on their faces and not missing a single beat in any song. 

While the “Warehouse” outro was welcome, sometimes DMB veered into jam band territory, elongating songs, arguably, past their due. That being said, however, such outros still rang with jubilance and burst at the seams with charisma and talent.

Other set highlights include “She” — which, shockingly, was not written and recorded in the 90s, as it reminded me of “Core”-era Stone Temple Pilots, only not so much “wicked,” but more chipper — and “Can’t Stop.” 

“Can’t Stop” saw the return of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band to aid DMB in bringing one of the funkiest numbers of the night to life. They stayed on stage for the last number before the encore, “Ants Marching,” which upped the funk to the tens. There was not one single body in the venue that was not dancing along. Even the stragglers in the vendor area were moving their bodies and singing along. 

Following its conclusion, the clamor from the audience could be heard from the parking lot. 

Ultimately, Dave Matthews Band put on a fantastic show. It’s empowering to see such an established band with, really, nothing to prove take the stage and deliver a knockout performance that fans seem to find faultless.

While I had no expectations, I had high hopes — some fans may call that “under the table and dreaming” — and, ultimately, Matthews and his band exceeded those hopes in their two-and-a-half hour set.

So, I’ll take that line from “Tripping Billies” as advice. Eat, drink and be merry — you’re bound to have a good time.

Dave Matthews Band is playing a second show at Ruoff Music Center at 7:30 p.m. on June 25. Tickets can be purchased at https://bit.ly/3QNcR7h.

You can reach Pulliam Fellow Griffin Wiles at GWiles@gannett.com or on Twitter at @griffinwiles.