In the 90’s many “posters” were simply advertisements in local papers, flyers, ect. Any other official posters that could be purchased were generally as part of a festival or event DMB was part of.
In 2003, Steve Keene created a series of art which was used for various venues through the Dave & Tim and Summer tour.
In 2004, there were various artists used for posters. The Dave & Friends tour used artwork from AJ Mapes, which was used for many of the shows. For the Summer tour Emek was hired to do the art for the tour posters which were sold at shows.
In 2005, tour posters started to become more of a standard at shows. Various artists were also used this year, with some prints duplicating at some venues, but this really was the first year with the most variation of artwork through the tour. Patent Pending and Lure Design, Inc, offers many different prints in 2005 as well as Methane Studios.
In 2006, The Decoder Ring and Methane Studios were the two primary artist for tour posters. Still with some duplicates from venue to venue, but still more variation than previous years.
In 2007, Jon Marr provided art for the Dave’s solo European tour. Methane Studios was used for almost all the tour posters for the Summer tour. Again, with some duplicate art for multiple venues, but this was really the the first year DMB focused on one artist for the bulk of the tour.
In 2008, Methane Studios was the primary artist for all DMB tour posters. This year only duplicate artwork used was for many two-night stands, but would alternate color schemes. 2008 provides the largest variation of artwork to date, which spurred DMB fan’s growing obsession to acquire the limited edition prints at shows.
This year was also the first year that Methane Studios created a “series” run of posters which were released a various shows throughout the tour. 2008 featured a flower design of each band members instrument. This series of posters among others is probably one of the most sought after posters. This surge for posters grew even more after the passing of LeRoi Moore. Whether by design or not, the saxophone flower print was the last of the instruments to be released and is arguably one of the most sought after DMB tour posters.
In 2009, Methane Studios was again the primary artist for all tour posters. This being the first year to truly have a unique poster for each show, even two-night stands. This year’s “series” featured playing cards, each with unique characteristic and some also featuring a band members instrument.
In 2010 and forward, Methane Studios continue to be DMB’s primary artist for tour posters. Again, Methane featured a “series” run. This year featuring a series of art each with a different zodiac sign.
In 2011, with Dave Matthews Band break from touring, there were obviously not as many posters. Methane still did art for the DMB Caravan shows. Because of the lack of a Summer tour, there was no “series” run of posters, but still some outstanding prints.
In 2012, DMB is back to their normal touring schedule and so is Methane Studios. he “series” run featured the core band members in a fun abstract form. Methane continues to provide amazing artwork for the tour posters, an increasingly growing trend for fans.
These posters have become one of the hottest commodities at DMB shows.