Rarities #45: Dave Matthews Band - Live At Wrigley Field Double Play Box Set (2011)

Dave Matthews Band is one of the most consistent and successful live bands around. After touring non-stop for the past 20 years, they decided to take a hiatus in 2011 by not embarking on their usual summer tour jaunts around the US. Instead, they took the opportunity to organise their own music festival - the Dave Matthews Band Caravan.

They have so far announced four dates/venues: Bader Field, Atlantic City (24-26 June), Lakeside, Chicago (8-10 July), Governors Island, New York (26-28 August) and one of their favourite grounds, The Gorge, George (2-4 September).

The multi-day festival will see DMB headlining each night, with a host of great artists and bands playing throughout the day, such as The Flaming Lips, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Ben Folds, David Gray, Bela Fleck & The Flecktones and more.

It is a great idea to organise their own festival because these are the only live shows DMB will play this year, and the artist lineup they have secured demonstrates how much clout they have. It is definitely going to be a crowd puller as the hardcore fans will need to get their fix of DMB satisfied.

While they go on a break, the DMB factory keeps churning out live releases and the result is this live album, Live At Wrigley Field, recorded on 17th and 18th September last year. This special Double Play box set is limited edition and it contains the 4CD album of both nights. The regular 2CD edition contains only the full 18th September 2010 show.

The album is housed in a debossed box and it also contains a 24-page colour booklet and a silkscreened handbill. My handbill is numbered 1383/3000, so I assume there were only 3,000 sets manufactured. There is also "signature" on the bottom right corner of the handbill. I'm not sure whose signature that is, or if it is even a signature in the first place.

This Double Play box set is sold out, so I'm one of the 3,000 people in the world who has it. Hope to see DMB live in concert again...