First off, I'm a huge DMB fan. Dave Matthews Band is my favorite band; anyone who knows me from school would be able to tell you that, as well as anyone at work, since I've always got my 15 DMB discs with me. :-) However, even if I wasn't such a devout follower of DMB, I'd still have to give this album an extremely high rating, if nothing else because of the amount of energy put forth at this concert.
This album, which is also available on video and DVD, is nothing short of incredible. It features 20 songs, 10 on each disc, which is impressive, considering that 2 of the songs are just intros (the first track is 6 minutes of the band just playing, a light song that sounds pretty cool; the second intro is the bassist doing some cool stuff), and the album, although a live concert, features 3 new brand new songs.
DMB appears to have boundless energy for this concert, which is just as apparent in the video as it is on the CD. They play every song with all of their heart, and jam a lot of the time. Not only do they do crowd-pleasers like Crash Into Me and Don't Drink the Water, it also features 2 covers: Long Black Veil (one of the new songs) and All Along the Watchtower, which has appeared on three DMB albums now. The concert also boasts three extra-long songs that DMB fans have come to expect from a live show: #41 (the name of the song) weighs in at about 10 minutes, Jimi Thing is 13 and a half, and Two Step (with an ass kicking solo by the guest keyboardist) is 14 and a half minutes long.
All in all, this is an awesome album. Not only does it feature brand new songs and kick ass instrumentals, it allows you (the viewer) to see DMB in their native element; the live performance. Since the band was pretty much born from live shows, they do their best work there. Their enthusiastic mood is infectious, working the crowd over, making them hungry for more. They are more than happy to oblige.