Photo by Sanjay Suchak via DMB’s Facebook page

Last night, Dave Matthews Band returned to New York’s Madison Square Garden for the first of two shows. A few songs into DMB’s show, they performed “Straight Shot,” the new original they debuted a few nights earlier at Uncasville, CT’s Mohegan Sun Arena.

Soon after, Matthews Susan Tedeschi–who was in town for Tedeschi Trucks Band’s Thursday night Fireside Live performance for the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation at Cipriani’s–emerged for a cover of The Band’s “The Weight.” Matthews first played the classic song with moe. in 2003 and the band members have performed it in a few different contexts during the last twenty years, but DMB only debuted their take in September. She remained onstage as her husband and bandmate Derek Trucks emerged for DMB’s trademark cover of Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower.” Trucks then remained for an extended “Lie in Our Graves” that included elements of his old band leader Eric Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight.”

The collaborations continued as the night moved on. SNL bassist James Genus sat in on “41,” Trombone Shorty, who also guested in DMB in their hometown of Charlottesville, VA this run, emerged for the first “Come Together” since 2021 and both Trombone Shorty and Dizzy Gillespie Alumni All-Stars trumpeter Jon Faddis appeared on the classic “Jimi Thing,” which segued into “Brick House.” Jon Faddis stuck around as the sit ins came to a close with “Warehouse.”

Dave Matthews Band will return to the Garden this evening.