Yes, nothing can heal the hurt that happened on May 4, when Saratoga favorites the Dave Matthews Band (DMB) postponed their entire summer tour until 2021—including their pair of performances scheduled for July at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC). (The band will be honoring this year’s pre-bought tickets next summer, by the way.)
But a rather large consolation came later that day in the form of a new initiative from the band called the “DMB Drive-In.” The band will be streaming a full live show from its archives every Wednesday for the foreseeable future—and the first one takes place on May 6 (tonight!) at 8pm ET at a website DMB’s launched specifically for the event series (check it out here). The first show to be streamed will be from last summer’s tour: June 29, 2019 at the Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center in Noblesville, IN.
The first week’s Drive-In will be presented by lead man Dave Matthews’ own Dreaming Tree Wines, with a $50,000 donation to celebrity chef José Andrés’ nonprofit organization, World Central Kitchen, to which the band is asking for additional donations.
Could an upcoming Dave Matthews Band Drive-In feature a performance at the SPAC? There’s a decent shot: The band has played the Saratoga venue a staggering 37 times in 25 years; and an additional three times, featuring just Matthews and the band’s lead guitarist, Tim Reynolds, as an acoustic duo.