Dave Matthews Returns Home...

I have been a DMB fan since high school and have seen him a few times in concert. I have also been able to sway my husband into being a fan. So, when I heard the news that he would be coming to South Africa for a concert, while I am here, I of course jumped at the chance to go. 


Since moving here, I have learned a few things about Dave. If you happen to be a biography fanatic like me, you'll enjoy these few facts about Mr. Matthews. First of all, I never knew that he was born here in SA.  David John Matthews was born on January 9, 1967, in Johannesburg, SA. He traveled around the world a bit with his family. At the age of two, he moved to a suburb of New York. After his father passed away from lung cancer in 1977, he moved back to South Africa to stay with family. Dave then moved back to the US after high school to avoid South African compulsory military service. He later became a bartender at a jazz club in Charlottesville, VA, which lead to him creating his dream of becoming a musician.

After I learned that he was from here, I remember discussing with people when and if he would come here for a concert while we were living here. "Wouldn't it be cool?", I thought. That is when I learned that he had never performed a live show here...ever. I was dumbfounded and said, "Well, now looks like a good time to come, haha". Low and behold, a year later, he announced his tour dates and a stop right here in Johannesburg. 
We had an amazing time at the concert with a large group of friends. We took a double decker party bus, (Like most people in the 30's do going to a concert, right? LOL) and we had so much fun! The performances by Dave and the band were spot on as usual. The best part was at the beginning, he made a little speech and admitted that he was a bit nervous to perform in his home country for the first time and that he surprisingly remembered some Afrikaans while here. My only regret was, that he spent so much time focusing on the instrumentals, which, I can truly appreciate, but I would have liked to hear him sing more. Especially my favourite DMB song, Satellite, which I still have yet to hear him perform live, after seeing him in concert a few times. But, the Ants did go marching, and we crashed, so I was happy overall. (DMB fans will get that reference) Ha ha ha. Here are some pictures from our fun night.