On Saturday night, Dave Matthews Band and renowned banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck graced the stage together at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in New York. The four-song reunion marked Fleck’s first appearance with Dave Matthews Band since 2015–which took place at the same venue and saw Dave Matthews Band’s debut performance of the Grateful Dead’s “Friend of the Devil.”

Dave Matthews Band kicked off the evening at the iconic performance space with favorites like “So Right,” “Pig,” and “Jimi Thing,” along with newer songs like the title track from his latest release, Walk Around the Moon. Amidst the core of the main set, Fleck his entrance from the wings, adding his frenetic fingers to the mesmerizing tune of “Cha Cha,” a song was penned by Dave Matthews Band in 2016 but saw its live debut in June.

Staying true to the magic of the night, Fleck continued to weave his banjo prowess throughout the concert, with the band’s first rendition of “Spaceman” since Aug. 11, 2021, and an extended version of “Lie in Our Graves.” Along with Fleck’s reunion with his friends in Dave Matthews Band–with whom he has shared the stage since ’96–the concert brought Fleck back together with saxophonist Jeff Coffin, a longtime member of Béla’s Flecktones.

The exceptional collaboration reached its climax with “Don’t Drink the Water” which included a “This Land Is Your Land” interpolation before Dave Mathews Band rounded out the frame with “Typical Situation” and “So Damn Lucky.”

Watch a video of Béla Fleck and Dave Matthews Band’s reunion below.

Dave Matthews Band
Saratoga Performing Arts Center – Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
July 15, 2023

Set: So Right, Pig, Hello Again, It Could Happen, Idea of You, Minarets, Walk Around the Moon, She, Samurai Cop (Oh Joy Begin), Jimi Thing, Brick House (Commodores), Cornbread [1], Monsters, You Might Die Trying, Cha Cha [2], Spaceman [2], Lie in Our Graves [2], Don’t Drink the Water [2] [3], Typical Situation, So Damn Lucky [4]

Enc.: #40 [5] [6], Funny How Time Slips Away (Willie Nelson) [6], Grey Street

[1] w/ Joe Lawlor

[2] w/ Béla Fleck

[3] w/ “This Land Is Your Land” interpolation

[4] w/ “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)” interpolation

[5] Partial

[6] Dave solo