Dave Matthews Band will release ‘Take Me Back Live From The Gorge’, a landmark live album recorded during their annual Labor Day weekend 2025 at the Gorge Amphitheatre in Washington state. The weekend marked the first time that Dave Matthews Band played ‘Before These Crowded Streets’ in its entirety in concert. The project will be available digitally on February 6th, with CD and LP editions arriving May 22nd via ATO Records. Released on April 28, 1998, and now certified quadruple platinum, ‘Before These Crowded Streets’ was the band’s first album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200. As the sets unfolded last Labor Day weekend, fans slowly realized they were witnessing something unprecedented: song after song from ‘Before These Crowded Streets’, performed in sequence. Hearing it performed in full at the Gorge created a moment that many fans immediately recognized as historic.
‘Take Me Back’ captures the Saturday, August 30, 2025 performance, the only rendition of ‘Before These Crowded Streets’ in its entirety, which unfolded over a 95-minute set marked by bold improvisation and renewed exploration of the 1998 album. The show kicked off with a rare set-opening rendition of Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower,” followed by “You Never Know” and “It Could Happen,” before Béla Fleck & the Flecktones surprised the crowd with an early appearance on “#41.” The band then launched into album opener “Pantala Naga Pampa,” stretching and reshaping the material with expansive instrumental passages. Fleck returned for dynamic takes on “The Last Stop” and “Don’t Drink the Water,” and the long-rumored, rarely performed album closer “Spoon” marked a defining moment of the evening. The band welcomed Jake Simpson on violin for “Satellite” and “Tripping Billies,” before closing with an encore of “What Would You Say.”
From February 13-15, the three 2025 Gorge shows will air for the first time on Volta, where fans can watch the Director’s Cut or take control with Volta’s multiview feature. Dave Matthews Band returns to the Gorge September 4-6 as part of their summer US headline tour, with supporting acts including Stephen Wilson Jr. and Infinity Song on Friday, Watchhouse and Jonah Kagen on Saturday, and Jesse Welles and Sierra Hull on Sunday. Kicking off May 8th at The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in The Woodlands, Texas, the tour includes a milestone run marking the band’s 50th headlining performance at Saratoga Springs’ SPAC and Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre in Greenwood Village, Colorado.