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Stephen Thompson | June 27, 2018 — When you go to a Dave Matthews Band concert, you expect a super-sized performance, complete with expansive solos and a nice, long set list. So when Matthews shed his backing players to swing by the Tiny Desk for a solo gig, he couldn’t just knock out three songs and bail. Instead, he played a set so long — so defiantly un-Tiny — that his between-song banter could have filled a Tiny Desk concert on its own.

After a bit of judicious trimming, we’re still left with this warm, winning, utterly game, happily overstuffed performance, which balances songs from Dave Matthews Band’s new album Come Tomorrow (“Samurai Cop,” “Here on Out”) with older material (1998’s “Don’t Drink the Water,” 2012’s “Mercy”) and a deeper cut from his 2003 solo album (“So Damn Lucky”). And, we had to leave in some of Matthews’ banter, which includes a priceless bit in which he enthusiastically illustrates some of the many differences between playing on stage with a band and sitting at an office desk with an acoustic guitar.

SET LIST
“Samurai Cop (Oh Joy Begin)”
“Here on Out”
“Don’t Drink the Water”
“Mercy”
“So Damn Lucky”

MUSICIANS
Dave Matthews (vocals, guitar)

CREDITS
Producers: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson, Niki Walker, Morgan Noelle Smith; Creative Director: Bob Boilen; Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin; Videographers: Bronson Arcuri, Niki Walker, Khun Minn Ohn; Production Assistants: Catherine Zhang; Photo: Samantha Clark/NPR.