As the staccato drum sounded at the beginning of fan favorite “Ants Marching,” the sellout crowd at Hilton Coliseum screamed with unadulterated joy.

Unfortunately, that was one of the only highlights of the Dave Matthews Band concert held in Ames on Dec. 17.

Matthews and his band began the show with a long solo by sax man LeRoy Moore before launching into “Pantala Naga Pampa,” which was bridged into “Rapunzel.”

The group then broke out an older song in “Rhyme and Reason” before playing “Don’t Drink the Water,” the band’s first single off the latest album.

The only song that really managed to feature violinist Boyd Tinsley, who usually provides a good deal of highlights, was “Jimi Thing,” to which the band jammed for a solid 20 minutes.

The rest of the bland set list featured singles “Too Much,” “What Would You Say,” and “Crash Into Me.”

Of the above, “What Would You Say,” which the band rarely plays, was the highlight as Matthews invited sax virtuoso and opening act Maceo Parker onto the stage.

Making a rare appearance into the set was “The Maker,” a song never officially released. This song pleased the 25 hardcore fans in the audience, while the other 14,000 drunk people were pissed because this wasn’t a song they could sing or dance to.

One thing that could have saved the show but didn’t was a string of four songs Dave Matthews Band played at the end of the show.

It closed the regular set with “Two Step” and “Ants Marching,” both of which pleased the mostly inebriated and annoying throng.

After the standard long pause before the encore, Matthews, guitarist Tim Reynolds, and drummer Carter Beauford came out and played “The Christmas Song.” The song, which the band only breaks out around the holiday season, could have been a nice moment.

However, the song begs for quiet, and the crowd did not comply, so it was just another disappointing moment in a show chock full of them.

Dave Matthews Band closed with “Tripping Billies,” which along with “Ants,” highlighted the show.

Before all you Nancies get too upset with this review, I should note that I made it to the Dave Matthews Band’s next two shows, and they were both fabulous.

For some reason, on this night, the energy which drives the band’s performance night in and night out seemed to be missing.

Luckily, the group found it for the next evening’s show at The Mark in the Quad Cities, and put on perhaps the best show I have seen the band perform.

The following night, Matthews closed out this leg of the tour, which started in April, with a show at the United Center in Chicago.

The group ended another blistering set with “All Along the Watchtower,” and the whole band will now take an extended break while Matthews and Reynolds go on an acoustic tour starting shortly.

Although no shows in Ames are scheduled as of yet, there are more dates to be added.

Parker and his band opened for Dave Matthews Band and played for 45 minutes, as they blended jazz and hip-hop to provide a solid intro to the boys.