DM and the B will be at Sprint Center on Sept. 30 in support of a new studio album, due this summer. Robert Randolph and the Family Band will open. Other stops: Maryland Heights (near St. Lou), June 17; Des Moines, Sept. 25; Little Rock, Sept. 29; and Tulsa, Oct. 2, the last date of the tour). Online ticket requests start Feb. 26 right here. Tickets will go on sale to the general public starting March 12.
| David Frese, The Star
Not going to Sandstone huh? That's interesting.
Posted by: Charley. | February 18, 2009 at 05:23 PM
great, the sprint center is going to reek of weed, bare feet and suck!
Posted by: tcdc | February 18, 2009 at 05:48 PM
Sandstone is no longer part of the "Live Nation" so you won't see DMB there in the foreseeable future. Looking back on the re-vamping or whatever of Sandstone, this is one of the concerts that they lost, they played Sandstone consistently for about 6 years or so, you could count on them coming through in the summer. When DMB announced the dates for their spring tour, I thought they were going to pass KC by, but nice to see them coming to Sprint Center.
Posted by: Jason | February 18, 2009 at 08:09 PM
Jason: You're not exactly right. Sprint Center isn't exactly part of the "Live Nation" because AEG runs the facility. Sandstone is no more or no less Live Nation affiliated than Sprint Center is. In fact, DMB were in talks with Sandstone about a summer tour stop last year as they particularly liked Sandstone's green initiatives.
David: It's frustrating when people, especially journalists, refer to DMB as just DM. Yes, you do clarify in the opening sentence, but a headline reading "On the way: Dave Matthews" is really inexcusable.
Posted by: Jack | February 18, 2009 at 09:53 PM
How about just "Ol' Davy and the Lackeys", Jack?
Posted by: MikeA | February 18, 2009 at 10:04 PM
Jack: I don't know about "inexcusable," but, if I wasn't locked out of TypePad at the moment for whatever reason, it's easily fixable. Please accept my most humble apologies; I'll fix it when I get back to work in the morning.
Posted by: DF | February 18, 2009 at 10:46 PM
DMB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Probably the best show yet. If you haven't seen these guys the last 2 years, it is really worth going
Posted by: JG | February 19, 2009 at 12:09 AM
Jack: I made that change to 'Dave Matthews' when I added the Robert Randolph Band as the opener. D.Frese had Dave Matthews Band in the original post. Headlines are short-hand, you know (as in 'Robert Randolph'). And most of the DMB fans I know just refer to the band as 'Dave.'
Posted by: Tim Finn | February 19, 2009 at 07:01 AM
I couldn't name one guy in that band besides Matthews.
Posted by: It's your birthday | February 19, 2009 at 07:43 AM
Tim: Thank you for the change. I do both understand and appreciate shorthand. However, it's really the same thing as announcing an STP show saying Scott Weiland is on his way to KC. Since Scott Weiland has a solo career as well, the headline is misleading. D does in fact have a solo career, and curiously tours under the moniker "Dave Matthews." And honestly, 'fans' that call the band "Dave" aren't true fans. True fans would give the band credit too, maybe even more so than D. D would certainly want it that way.
I'm more just causing trouble than anything else. I love reading rockville. Keep it up.
Posted by: Jack | February 19, 2009 at 08:43 AM
You should know Carter Beauford. Best drummer since Neil Peart.
Posted by: Zod | February 19, 2009 at 08:47 AM
Jeez, now I guess I'm not a real fan because I sometimes refer to Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band as simply "Bruce".
Posted by: pellboy | February 19, 2009 at 09:03 AM
Nothing against Robert Randolph and the Family Band (who I've never seen before), but I wish we were getting The Hold Steady as openers like St. Louis/Maryland Heights is.
Posted by: Paul J. | February 19, 2009 at 09:20 AM
Pellboy: Don't you see how that is insulting to little steve or clarence by saying you're going to see bruce?
Posted by: Jack | February 19, 2009 at 09:46 AM
tcdc, have you been to a dmb show? there's more yuppies there than 1/2 price day at abercrombie & fitch.
Posted by: save the earth, slap a yuppy | February 19, 2009 at 10:58 AM
Sprint Center does have an agreement of some sort with Live Nation (second evil axis of live music), as many of the shows that roll through there are part of the Live Nation portfolio.
My guess as to why DMB didn't come through is because of the riciculous removal the seats in the first terrace and making it a GA section. The fan club distributes tickes based on seniority, rewarding those who have been members for the longest, and generously gives them the best seats. If you allow GA up front this negates that.
My thoughts on Sandstone have changed substiantally over the years. It used to be a good venue, but has grown delapidated and out of date quickly. The wait for bathrooms and concessions is totally rediculous. I'd much rather see a show at Starlight, which in my opinion has become the premier venue in town.
Posted by: Jason | February 19, 2009 at 11:11 AM
Jack: To my knowledge, there is no implicit agreement with LN to bring shows to the Sprint Center. To be honest, LN co-promotes more shows with Mammoth, who bring shows to Sandstone, than they do with AEG.
Regardless, DMB's choice to play downtown really has nothing to do with who is running the amphitheater. There are many, many forces at work when you're doing tour routing. We may find out in the coming weeks that 9/30 @ the amphitheater has been booked by some other band for some time. Might be a simple scheduling conflict that sealed this deal.
As far as the fan club not being able to get the 'best' seats to fans, that simply isn't true. The 'best' seats aren't always in the front row. In fact, the fan club doesn't even guarantee the first 15. They just guarantee you a close seat with an unobstructed view. Many seats at sandstone behind GA fit that bill.
Posted by: Jack | February 19, 2009 at 12:19 PM
They don't specifically guarantee the front rows, but in the 9 years that I've been a member I've never had a seat outside of the 25th row at Sandstone, and have had seats as good as the 8th row. I can promise there would be a lot of pissed people if they started handing out 2nd terrace tickets for $65, and let GA in the front for less than that, which is what they do now. That whole arrangement makes no sense. What Sandstone needs to do is just go GA everywhere. If you're gonna do it, just do it everywhere.
I'll step down off my Sandstone sucks soap box now.
Posted by: Jason | February 20, 2009 at 09:33 AM
I've got to ask, what's the source on RR & Family opening? It's not listed on DMB's site...
Posted by: John | February 20, 2009 at 04:48 PM
It was on the e-mail press release his pubs sent out Wednesday (and which I can't find right now). However, another site has RRB jumping off the tour two shows before it gets here. ...
Posted by: Tim Finn | February 20, 2009 at 04:55 PM
Right. I wasn't trying to say you were full of it, just wondering where the info came from. I know some folks like Umphrey's McGee but I think the last decent opener we had was back in 2000 with Bela Fleck & the Flecktones. Strangely, the openers before that were decent - Gov't Mule, Poi Dog Pondering and Meshell Ndegeocello. Victor Wooten and G Love were the exceptions in '05 & '06.
Translation: I don't get my hopes up for a kick a$$ opener (which RR&FB would be). See everyone on September 30th!
Posted by: John | February 20, 2009 at 05:12 PM
Willie Nelson & Family are opening the show.
Posted by: DK | February 23, 2009 at 11:07 PM
The Opening Band is Willie Nelson
Posted by: Sean | February 26, 2009 at 09:27 PM
The reviewers have all been raving about the new Dave Matthews Band concerts. He performed last week in his hometown of Charlottesville, VA. It’s a beautiful city and he brings a beautiful sound to it everytime. The performance itself.
Posted by: Dave Matthews Tickets Discounted | May 07, 2009 at 01:18 AM