It was more of a communal experience, like seeing a movie in the theaters as opposed to at home. Beyond becoming a concert enthusiast, I became a lifelong DMB fan \u2013 or so I thought.<\/p>\n
One of the most memorable concerts was at an outdoor venue in Boston. It was raining throughout the opening acts, and there was concern that it might be canceled. I was praying it wouldn\u2019t be true.<\/p>\n
By this point, the Dave Matthews Band were my favorite live performers.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/657458.jpeg\"\/)
The aftermath of Hamas’s Nova music festival massacre in Re’im, southern Israel, on October 7, 2023. Picture taken November 2, 2023 (credit: Arie Leib Abrams\/Flash90)<\/p>\n
When Dave finally took the stage alone, the crowd went crazy as he picked up a twelve-string guitar to open with the song \u201cJTR.\u201d The chorus is a refrain of the words \u201crain down on me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Each time he belted it out, the energy of the crowd intensified. \u201cHe\u2019s crazy,\u201d I recall thinking. In retrospect, it was just stupid. The amount of electricity on that stage could have killed him. And as it turns out, nothing has changed.<\/p>\n
Even after emigrating to Israel, some 20 years post-college, Dave Matthews still played a prominent role in my Apple Music library. It could have been due to nostalgia or the fact that well into my 40s, DMB \u2013 despite the death and estrangement of two band members \u2013 was still producing solid music.<\/p>\n
And I wasn\u2019t alone in my admiration. My wife and brother-in-law were also fans. Some of our best memories were attending concerts together when we visited \u201cthe old country.\u201d<\/p>\n
But then, like so many other artists we love, politics got in the way.<\/p>\n
I can remember exactly where I was when I first heard of it. \u201cYou don\u2019t know what he\u2019s been saying?\u201d a colleague asked me over breakfast. \u201cOh no,\u201d I replied.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you sure you want me to tell you this?\u201d he asked. I had to know.<\/p>\n
Matthews opposes Israel’s offensive following October 7<\/p>\n
Since October 7<\/a>, Dave Matthews has been a vocal opponent of the Israeli offensive. Concerts were littered with statements about how all war was wrong and that the war in Gaza was a genocide.\u00a0<\/p>\n I remember sloughing off Dave\u2019s lefty politics in my youth. At the time, I wasn\u2019t much of a news buff, so it didn\u2019t bother me.<\/p>\n Who could argue with a message of peace?<\/p>\n However, in the last two and a half years, many concerts have ended with him holding up signs of \u201cStop the Genocide\u201d and<\/p>\n \u201cStop Killing Children\u201d while draped in a keffiyeh.<\/p>\n It was just too much. The sad day finally arrived when I deleted all of his music from my library. My brother-in-law and I still send each other messages every now and again about the band, but none of them are positive.<\/p>\n A few weeks ago, a favorite comedian of mine, Pete Holmes, shared a bit about how everyone unilaterally stopped eating Subway sandwiches. \u201cOne day in the late 2010s, we all got a wireless transmission. No more Subway. And no more Dave Matthews. It was the same day. No more DMB and no more BMTs [a type of Subway sandwich].\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI wish I had gotten the memo,\u201d I wrote to my brother-in-law. It would have saved me a lot of heartache.<\/p>\n But sometimes, there are those who just can\u2019t leave bad enough alone.<\/p>\n Apparently, Dave Matthews has finally felt the financial ramifications of those of us who had to leave him behind. A video is making the rounds online of him reading a prepared statement to a crowd at one of his concerts.<\/p>\n