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Preston & Steve® | 6am – 10:30am

Jeff Coffin of the Dave Matthews Band – In Studio Friday, 7/19!

Author Nick McIlwain

The evolution of the Dave Matthews Band is a fascinating one. For the most part, four members of the band have been around since its beginning. There’s Dave Matthews himself, Carter Beauford, the drummer, Stefan Lessard, the bassist, and Tim Reynolds, lead guitarist and virtuoso; and Tim tours with the band, too. There have been a few different people who have been with the band for stretches, like Butch Taylor on the keyboards, and more recently, over the last few tours, Buddy Strong.

With the injury and subsequent unfortunate passing of original saxophonist, LeRoi Moore, back in 2008, there was clearly a void in one part of the band’s key sound: the horns. Rashawn Ross, who plays trumpet, had already been touring with the band and contributing during their shows, but when LeRoi got injured, the band asked Jeff Coffin, who had been playing with a friend of the band, Béla Fleck, to fill LeRoi‘s position. Sadly, LeRoi never recovered from his injuries and passed away. Since that time, Jeff Coffin has been a permanent member of the Dave Matthews Band.

Jeff Coffin

Jeff Coffin
Photo courtesy of Lydia Liebman

Jeff’s resume was already impressive! He’s a three-time Grammy Award winner as a member of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, with whom he performed for over a decade. In July 2008, Coffin began touring with DMB and joined the group in ’09 following the death of founding member LeRoi Moore. He also leads his group, Jeff Coffin and the Mu’tet.

Now, Jeff has a new record of his own to promote; Only The Horizon! It’s brought to us by Ear Up Records. And he’s joined by some illustrious musicians, including Carter Beauford, Stefan Lessard, Rashawn Ross and Buddy Strong of DMB.

Other such notable musicians include:
On the drums: Keith Carlock, Daru Jones, Nate Smith, Derico Watson
Playing bass: Tony Hall, Viktor Krauss, MonoNeon, Alana Rocklin, Jay White, Victor Wooten
Adding the cool sounds of Banjo: Béla Fleck
Also on keys: Jon Cowherd and Leo Genovese
Keb Mo laying down some cool resonator guitar tracks.
Trumpet: Emmanuel Echem and Rod McGaha
Trombone: Ray Mason
Tenor Sax: Mars Williams
Soprano Sax: Bill Evans
And lastly, also on guitar: Nir Felder and Cory Wong

Jeff is in The Preston & Steve Show studio on Friday, July 19! Listen live here on wmmr.com, stream on the MMR App or ask your smart device to “Open MMR”. The interview will also be streamed live on The Preston & Steve Show YouTube channel.

Jeff Coffin Black and White
Photo courtesy of Lydia Liebman

Be sure to listen and check out his new record and don’t miss Dave Matthews Band in Camden on July 19 and 20!

Nick McIlwain is a member of the Preston & Steve Show on WMMR and has been a part of the station for over 20 years. Nick’s passions include attending concerts, cheering for Philly sports and anything that has to do with the Dave Matthews Band, Pearl Jam, The Rolling Stones, U2, Coldplay, and The Beatles. You can find Nick writing about his concert experiences.

Every Dave Matthews Band Gig in the Philly Area, '92 to Now

Dave Matthews Band will be back in the Philly area this weekend for two shows. Some tickets remain for Friday July 19th and Saturday July 20th via MMR’s official Concert Calendar.

The best way to experience DMB is in concert. The albums are beloved, but the live energy they create is unbeatable. Look no further than their discography for confirmation: the band has released 85 live albums, compared to 10 studio LPs. It’s become a summer tradition to welcome them to Philadelphia or Camden nearly every year since their inception.

With this in mind, Brent Porche has compiled a list of every show that Dave and co. have played for us in this area. Since there are a lot, we grouped them by album era, starting in the early 90s in intimate clubs like 23 East and moving all the way up to the ‘Big Joint’. Let us know how many of these shows you were at on Facebook and Instagram.

We’ll see you at Freedom Mortgage Pavilion this weekend! PLUS: Jeff Coffin, the saxophonist for Dave Matthews Band, will be in studio with Preston and Steve on Friday morning. Listen live here.

Every Dave Matthews Band Gig in the Philly Area, ’92 to Now, Grouped by Album Era:

  • Under the Table and Dreaming

    7/30/1992 23 East Cabaret in Ardmore

    10/1/1994 TLA

    2/10 and 2/11/1995 Tower Theatre

    8/29/1995 Mann Music Center

    With the release of their debut studio album, Under the Table and Dreaming, the Dave Matthews Band saw their popularity grow rapidly with hit singles “What Would You Say,” “Ants Marching” and “Satellite” being played heavily on both MTV and radio. In the span of about 10 months, the DMB went from the 1,000-person capacity TLA to the 15,000 seat Mann Music Center.

  • Crash

    6/5/1996 Camden 

    12/30/1996 Corestates Spectrum

    6/7/1997 Camden

    By the time the DMB’s sophomore album Crash was released, they were superstars on the jam band scene and a must-see among live music lovers. Crash was another massive success for the band with the single “So Much to Say” winning a Grammy award and “Crash Into Me” launching them even further into stardom. The 6/7/97 show was the first time I saw the Dave Matthews Band live.

  • Before These Crowded Streets

    7/24 and 7/25/1998 Camden

    11/30 and 12/1/1998 First Union Center

    5/20, 5/21 and 5/22/1999 Veterans Stadium

    7/15 and 7/16/2000 Veterans Stadium

    12/17/2000 First Union Spectrum

    With the release of album number three, Before These Crowded Streets, the Dave Matthews Band was one of the biggest bands around and amassed a huge, devout following. So much so that the DMB sold out 3 nights at the 60k+ Veteran’s Stadium with Carlos Santana and The Roots. From this album forward DMB would make their annual trek to the Philadelphia area multiple nights to accommodate their massive fanbase.

  • Everyday

    6/22, 6/23 and 6/24/2001 Camden

    4/10/2002 First Union Center

    In between studio albums, the Dave Matthews Band released their chart-topping, critically acclaimed live album Listener Supported, recorded at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, NJ. Their 4th studio album Everyday marked a bit of a shift in the DMB sound and featured Dave on an electric guitar for the first time on a studio album of theirs. 

  • Busted Stuff

    7/16, 7/17 and 7/18/2002 Camden

    9/5 and 9/6/2003 Camden

    7/20 and 7/21/2004 Camden

    First dubbed the Lillywhite Sessions, much of the DMB’s fifth album Busted Stuff features songs that were first recorded with acclaimed producer Steve Lillywhite. Busted Stuff was another huge success for the band reaching the top of the Billboard charts, marking their third straight album to do so.

  • Stand Up

    7/2/2005 Live 8

    7/5 and 7/6/2005 Camden

    12/13/2005 Wells Fargo Center

    6/27 and 6/28/2006 Camden 

    8/7 and 8/8/2007 Camden

    6/3 and 6/4/2008 Camden

    After the release of their massive “The Central Park Concert”, playing New York’s world-famous park, the Dave Matthews Band played another huge stage, Live 8, on the Parkway here in Philadelphia. The DMB played for close to 1 million concert goers on that day. The album Stand Up has one of my favorite DMB songs on there, “Louisiana Bayou”.

  • Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King

    9/19 and 9/20/2009 Camden

    6/30 and 7/1/2010 Camden

    11/6/2010 Wells Fargo Center

    6/26 and 6/27/2012 Camden

    The Big Whiskey tour was a prominent one due to it being the first since the death of their saxophonist LeRoi Moore. Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King was DMB’s fifth-straight #1 album on the Billboard Charts.

  • Away from the World

    12/22/2012 Wells Fargo Center

    6/28 and 6/29/2013 Camden

    6/13 and 6/14/2014 Camden

    6/26 and 6/27/2015 Camden

    6/24 and 6/25/2016 Camden

    Crazy how all the shows on this album cycle were right around the same time every year. Legendary R&B and soul singer Mavis Staples opened up the 2013 dates, and in 2015 Warren Haynes joined the band for a number of songs during their set. The Away From the World tour was the last to feature violinist Boyd Tinsley before his exit from the band a couple of years later.

  • Come Tomorrow

    6/15 and 6/16/2018 Camden

    12/11/2018 Wells Fargo Center

    6/14 and 6/15/2019 Camden

    7/15 and 6/16/2022 Camden

    Many of the songs that appeared on Come Tomorrow, the eighth studio offering from the DMB, were played live prior to the album’s release. On their more recent tours, the Dave Matthews Band has opted to go “opener-less” and make it more of an “evening with” show instead.

  • Walk Around the Moon

    7/21 and 7/22/2023 Camden

    7/19 and 7/20/2024 Camden 

    Due to Dave Matthews Band’s vast catalog of songs, they rarely play a song twice in the same city on the same tour. DMB fans are known to travel from all around to see their favorite songs from the band. Over the last couple of tours, the DMB has been incorporating more covers into their set, like “Sledgehammer” from Peter Gabriel, “Fool in the Rain” from Led Zeppelin and “Brickhouse” from the Commodores to name a few. Always ones to put on one helluva show, that’s for sure! We are all very excited to welcome the Dave Matthews Band back to for TWO ‘MMR Concert Events at the Freedom Mortgage Pavilion – see you there!

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Author Nick McIlwain
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