Hilton became a zoo Tuesday night.

Not because of the outrageous conduct by the band on stage, Dave Matthews Band. And not because of the raucous actions of concert goers. But rather because of atmosphere.

You know that feeling in the pit of your stomach when you go to the zoo and, while it’s cool to see the animals live and up close, they are out of their element.

The Dave Matthews Band was out of their element Tuesday night. They are a bar band and a bar band they should remain. As an arena band, they fall short.

The 8,500-plus crowd continued pouring in as opening act Me’Shell Nde Geo Cello did her act. Her undistinguishable and lack-luster performance plodded on, doing little to draw DMB fans from the merchandise tables into the arena.

By 8:45 p.m. when Matthews and company (Boyd Tinsley on violin, LeRoi Moore covering sax, Stephan Lessard on bass and Carter Beauford drums) took stage, the hat- donned, flannel-touting masses were primed and ready for a power- packed funk and groove show.

What they got was a mellow, almost tired Dave. Opening the set was the fifth track off Crash called, “#41,” a stolid ballad that left people still chattering away about their new hats they’d just purchased.

Things livened up though, gradually, as they slid into “Lie In Our Graves” and “Dancing Nancy.” Songs two and three brought Tinsley into the picture who remained Matthews’ side-kick most of the night. If Matthews seemed weary, Tinsley made up for it with bangs and twangs from his fiddle.

Soon the familiar “bing-bing-bing” of “Satellite” could be heard, and the crowd gave away the fact they knew the radio-friendly Matthews’ tunes by its thunderous applause.

Relying heavily on the latest disc, Matthews had to cater to the crowd that seemed to beg for the more familiar tunes from the previous album Under The Table and Dreaming. He played on thanking the audience endlessly for coming out to see the band.

Needless to say though, he promoted Crash well, as nine of the album’s 12 songs were presented live.

“So Much to Say” offered bassist Lessard a chance to cop a groove. And so much become “Too Much” as Matthews danced into a new guitar (literally) and the Top 40 hit.

Matthews finally engaged in conversation of sorts as he introduced “Drive in Drive Out.”

“This song is from the mouth of a very upset individual,” he said as the driving beat of the song cresendoed off the walls.

The last song of the regular set was “Ants Marching,” which was originally released on the indie disc Remember Two Things but was popularized by Table.

As if proving the song’s message of people conforming, Matthews paused to let the Hilton crowd sing the line “people in every direction.”

By 10:35 p.m. DMBleft the stage and by 10:50 p.m. they came back on for one encore. In what proved to be the highlight of the evening, they performed the Hendrix cover, “All Along the Watchtower .”

Matthews’ incredible voice is reason enough to love the band. Add the southern-fried flavor of Tinsley and mellow-cool of Moore’s sax, and what you have is a great performance — meant for a bar.