Apr. 25, 2023 By Tammy Scileppi
One of the biggest names in music today, rockin’ Dave Matthews Band is still going strong! You can catch the ’90s hitmakers on June 9 at historic Forest Hills Stadium, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary and the 10-year anniversary of the venue’s renovation.
After playing a trio of dates in Mexico, the band will kick off its U.S. tour in The Woodlands, TX, on May 19. The string of headlining dates will include their first show at the stadium. The concert tour will conclude with their traditional Labor Day weekend bash at The Gorge, in George, WA.
Grammy Award-winning Dave Matthews Band (DMB) will be debuting their 10th studio album “Walk Around The Moon,” which is set to drop May 19 on RCA Records. The new LP is preceded by epic lead single “Madman’s Eyes,” which adds an Eastern vibe to DMB’s folk-rock, jam-band sound, weaving rich Middle Eastern textures with heavy horns and strings, as Matthews audaciously asks, “When it’s too late to untwist the knife / How do we face hatred with the love inside us?”
Accented by what has been described as lush chords, siren-sound guitar wails, and a steady groove, DMB’s eerie single “Monsters” – from their new album – evokes old-school images and offers nostalgic lyrics. Matthews sings, “Chutes and ladders / Pick up sticks / Counting cards and counting bricks / Driving past that old five and dime / Can’t get nothing for a nickel since a long, long time.” Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds debuted “Monsters” earlier this year during their annual Riviera Maya concerts in Mexico.
Mike Luba, the executive who produces concerts at Forest Hills Stadium in coordination with The Bowery Presents, and is responsible for the venue’s rehabilitation, told QNS, he is “super-thrilled for DMB to be coming to the stadium this summer!”
“Way back in 1992, I was a sophomore in college and had the good fortune to book DMB at my school for a free afternoon gig,” he recalled. “There is a cassette recording of the gig, somewhere and it opens with my roommate, who was studying to be a broadcaster, announcing the band and yelling at kids on their way to class, to come check them out.”
“The band was so incredible, that afternoon I decided I wanted to spend the rest of my life putting on concerts … and here we are, 30-plus years later,” he continued. “DMB is even more incredible now and knowing that about 100,000 people tried to get tickets for the Forest Hills show, it’s clear that they have made a lot of people happy over the years — and they continue to do so. I hope they keep doing it for another 30 years.”
Most of the 12 original songs on DMB’s new album were recorded with producer Rob Evans, including “Madman’s Eyes.” Longtime collaborator John Alagia, served as executive producer of “Walk Around The Moon.”
Following the band’s chart-topping 2018 album “Come Tomorrow,” the new LP took shape during the pandemic and is as much a reflection on the current times, as it is an urge to find common ground.
Dave Matthews’ ongoing partnership with The Nature Conservancy has resulted in 3 million trees being planted since 2020. This year’s continued partnership will bring the total to four million trees. Fans can join in this mission by adding an optional donation of $2.00 per ticket to plant a tree with The Nature Conservancy’s Plant a Billion Trees campaign – a major forest restoration effort, with the goal of planting a billion trees around the world by 2025. For additional details, visit www.dmbtrees.org.
The band has sold more than 25 million tickets since its inception, making them the second largest ticket-seller in history, and has sold a collective 38 million CDs and DVDs combined.
Tickets are on sale now at foresthillsstadium.com. Doors are scheduled to open at 5:30 p.m. and the show starts at 7 p.m.
Forest Hills Stadium is conveniently located just steps from the E, M, F, R subway trains at Forest Hills-71st Ave., as well as the Forest Hills Long Island Railroad station.