Photo by  Sanjay Suchak via DMB’s Facebook page

Robert Randolph and members of Dumpstaphunk augmented Dave Matthews Band during their first two nights at George, Wash.’s The Gorge this weekend. As previously reported, shortly before his set on Friday, Dave Matthews announced from the stage that co-founding members Carter Beauford and Stefan Lessard would be sitting out this weekend’s performances after testing positive for COVID-19; a message posted on social media by the band promised that DMB would perform in “an alternate format.”

The collaborations kicked off early on Friday, when DMB horn players Jeff Coffin and Rashawn Ross emerged during opening act Dumpstaphunk’s set for “Soul Vaccination.” Soon after, Matthews started his group’s headlining set with a three-song solo sequence consisting of  “Grey Street,” “Ants Marching” and “Virginia in the Rain.” The next “alternate format” turned out to be a duo set featuring Matthews and Tim Reynolds, boasting acoustic versions of the classics “Two Step,” “Lie in Our Graves” and “Crush.”  Then, Ross, Coffin and DMB keyboardist Buddy Strong emerged for a few more standards: “Warehouse,” “What Would You Say,” “Everyday” and “Tripping Billies.”

However, the night’s most unique offerings came next. As luck would have it, Dumpstaphunk bassist Tony Hall played with Matthews and Reynolds in the short-lived Dave Matthews & Friends project from 2003-2006. So Strong switched over to drums and the bassist joined the members of Dave Matthews Band for a stretch of covers and originals from that tour and its associated studio album, Some Devil, including Daniel Lanois’ “The Maker,” “Save Me,” “Gravedigger,” “Stay or Leave” and a take on “So Damn Lucky” that segued into Sly & The Family Stone’s “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin).” The rest of Dumpstaphunk also emerged for the Sly Stone cover and remained on the stage for a set-closing version of Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer.” The sit-in marked the first time that Hall has performed with Matthews in 15 years. 

For his encore, Matthews offered a solo run through the new original “Singing from the Windows” and a duet with Reynolds on “Dancing Nancies.”

Saturday’s show  contained its share of surprises, too. Ruston Kelly and Robert Randolph & The Family Band shared opening duties and Matthews once again opened his set with a few solo tunes: “Best of What’s Around,” the traditional “Rye Whiskey,” “Mercy” and Neil Young’s “The Needle and the Damage Done.”  He was then joined by Reynolds for a few numbers, including “Don’t Drink the Water,” “Samurai Cop (Oh Joy Begin),” “The Stone” and “Corn Bread.” 

In a slight turn from Friday’s format, Strong then joined in on “Grace is Gone,” before the horn section augmented the trio on a “Proudest Monkey” that morphed into “Satellite.” Though Dumpstaphunk were not on the night’s bill, Hall stuck around to help out and emerged for “You Might Die Trying,” “Lying in the Hands of God,” “Crash into Me,” “#41” and DMB’s debut take on The Beatles’ “Come Together.” (The Let it Be track has previously been played by Reynolds solo during Dave & Tim shows and by Lessard’s Secret Stash winter-sports band.) The stretch of songs, which were not part of the Dave & Friends repertoire, found Cage once again on drums and his tech Elijah filling in on keyboards. 

As expected, Randolph also lent his services, appearing on “Louisiana Bayou,” a track he frequently guests on. The members of The Family Band then slid onto the stage to help the ad-hoc version of DMB out on a  set-closing take on  Sly & The Family Stone’s “I Want to Take You Higher,” which featured Randolph on lead vocals. While Dave Matthews Band has never performed the funk classic live, Matthews has joined Trey Anastasio Band for the cover on two separate occasions.

Matthews and Reynolds then encored with acoustic versions of “Oh” and their signature take on Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower.”

Dave Matthews Band will close their Gorge run on Sunday night.