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Friday, June 17: Dave Matthews Tribute Band at Bluefield Arts Center

Come out, come out… no use in hiding – the Buffalo, New York-based Dave Matthews Tribute Band is coming to Bluefield’s historic Granada Theater on Friday, June 17!

Since 2003, The Dave Matthews Tribute Band has played over 1,500 shows in eight countries around the world, including performances in 48 of the 50 United States. This June show show marks the band’s first performance in West Virginia in more than five years. 

For nearly two decades, The Dave Matthews Tribute Band has been a rotating five-person ensemble of the country’s most talented musicians.

For nearly two decades, The Dave Matthews Tribute Band has been a rotating five-person ensemble of the country’s most talented musicians.

“There is an amazing network of musicians all over the country that travel with the band as needed when we are in their region, but we have a few full-time members as well,” Dave Matthews Tribute Band Production Manager David Suriani shared with HashtagWV. “Our new lead singer, Gary Wilkinson, has been with the band for just over a year now. He’s taken the lead role covering the Dave Matthews guitar and vocals part and has been doing fantastic!” 

 In addition to his responsibilities as production manager, Suriani is also the band’s current full-time drummer. 

“I’ve been with the group since 2017,” Suriani told us. “Many of our other part-time performers have played with the group since 2003 and still gig with us to this day!”

With “Shotgun” and “Ants Marching” being among the most requested songs at their shows, The Dave Matthews Tribute Band stays true to the authentic live experience.

“We don’t add our own verses, or anything,” Suriani added. “But when it’s time for the solo sections, the soloist can express himself and jam out – and we build the tune from there.”

“We just love making music and are the best of friends on stage, and we hope that feeling portrays to the audience and that they have a great time with us!”

Thus far, the band has played shows all across the eastern United States, with the Granada Theatre performance marking their fifteenth of the year. And with rotating set-lists that include songs such as “What Would You Say,” “Grey St.,” “Trippin’ Billies,” “Too Much” and “Satellite,” The Dave Matthews Tribute Band offers something for everyone.

“I Believe all people can enjoy our show,” Suriani concluded. “The musicianship and attention to detail that it takes to do DMB music justice is an elegant and interesting art form that anyone can appreciate. That said, I think the die-hards can leave our show and go ‘woah! I can’t believe they played that one deep track from so-and-so year!’ while the casual concert goer might go ‘wow, I didn’t know many DMB tunes but I had so much fun watching that band jam.’  And that’s the thing, we don’t want to pretend to be anything more than what we are, which is the nerdiest fans of DMB you’ll ever find. We know you can go see the real DMB, and we hope people do. We just love making music and are the best of friends on stage, and we hope that feeling portrays to the audience and that they have a great time with us!”

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Matthew Young has been a resident of Lewisburg, WV since December 2019. Prior to arriving in West Virginia, Matthew resided in the Philadelphia area, where his reporting, commentary, and editorials have been featured in numerous local and regional publications. Previously, he has served as a scriptwriter and consultant for television, radio, and various other short-form digital-media platforms, both within the United States and internationally. Since moving to the Mountain State, Matthew spent eighteen months as senior writer/managing editor for the West Virginia Daily News and is currently an active journalist with the West Virginia Press Association.