Dave Matthews Band bassist Stefan Lessard and drummer Carter Beauford rejoined the group for two performances in Irvine, Calif. The pair took a hiatus from the band’s last four shows after the musicians tested positive for COVID-19.

The band announced Beauford and Lessard’s condition before their three-show run at the Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Wash., and a show at the Les Schwab Amphitheater in Bend, Or. The shows featured special lineups in leu of Lessard and Beauford’s presences on stage.

The usual Dave Mattews Band configuration of Dave Matthews, guitarist Tim Reynolds, keyboardist Buddy Strong and horn players Rashawn Ross and Jeff Coffin were joined by Beauford and Lessard when the band took the stage at Irvine’s FivePoint Amphitheatre. Complete with all its members the band opened with “Seek Up.” They performed together throughout the show sending classics through the speakers over the evening with beloved originals and covers. They closed with “You & Me” and “Louisana Bayou.”

The band came back the next night on Sept. 11 to deliver a diverse performance of the band’s discography along with some covers and improvisational jams. They opened with a rendition of their 1999 track “One Sweet World,” then  “You Never Know,” “So Much To Say” which lead into “Anyone Seen The Bridge” into “Too Much.” They kept the night balanced between hits and mindful classics as they played together. Dave Matthews Band played a cover of “All Along the Watchtower” that interpolated in and out of Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven,” before they The closed with “Everyday” into “Ants Marching.”

They encored with a rendition of “Sister” featuring Beauford, Matthews, Ross and Reynolds. The rest of the band joined them to close the evening with “Why I Am.”

Dave Matthews Band
Five Point Amphitheatre Irvine, CA
Sept. 10, 2021

Seek Up, Funny the Way It Is, Grace Is Gone, Can’t Stop, Sweet, Warehouse, That Girl Is You, What Would You Say, Do You Remember, When the World Ends, Lying in the Hands of God, Rooftop, Walk Around the Moon, Jimi Thing > I Want a New Drug > Sexy M.F. [partial], Sledgehammer, Dancing Nancies, You & Me, Louisiana Bayou

Enc: Some Devil, Don’t Drink the Water

Dave Matthews Band
FivePoint Amphitheatre Irvine, CA
Sept. 11, 2021

 One Sweet World, You Never Know, So Much To Say > Anyone Seen The Bridge > Too Much, Squirm, Where Are You Going, #41,(Pantala Naga Pampa) > Rapunzel, Stay Or Leave, Say Goodbye, Samurai Cop (Oh Joy Begin), #27, Pig, I’ll Back You Up, Grey Street, All Along The Watchtower, Corn Bread, Everyday > Ants Marching 

Enc: Sister, Why I Am 

Watch DMB perform “Grace Is Gone” from Friday’s performance.