Matthews long and strong

May 3rd, 2007

SAM KELTON

A full house at the Festival Theatrer gathered to witness the Dave Matthews and his elite backing band in their first visit to Adelaide.

Xavier Rudd and his workshop of bells and whistles warmed the crowd nicely, but there was one man the crowd were waiting for.

From the moment the tiny Matthews walked on stage the vocal crowd were on their feet, even shouting requests before the show had begun.

With the crowd still getting over their anxiety of seeing the U.S. singer/songwriter he jumped right into arguably his most romantic and popular hit Crash Into Me.

With extended jams on every track the band played, the concert lingered on close to three hours, giving the Adelaide crowd even more to be excited about.

Drum solos, trumpet solos, organ and, yes, who could forget the Rick James lookalike on violin who nearly stole the show with his fusion dancing.

A great atmosphere all night proving again The Festival Theatre is capable of producing one of the best live venues for sound Adelaide has to offer.

After a long and earnest set Matthews returned for a few encores including Everyday and the always magical Ants Marching.

Appreciative of the crowd for their silence whilst playing, Matthews was thankful he had such a respectable audience.

Enjoyed by all but no more than one special group in the audience declaring 'God bless you, Dave, and God bless you for coming to Adelaide".