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In October 1998, DMB hit the road for the third time that year touring on Before These Crowded Streets. By the end of the year, they would play around 100 full shows starting in April.

Each song from the new album developed on stage at a different rate through the year. The album's darker and thicker sound was already a departure from the earlier lighter material the band had been playing for years.

But when Fall Tour kicked off, they were all polished and fit in the flow - partially connected sonically by the addition of Tim Reynolds for the tour (more on that later). Rapunzel's lyrics had started as a nightly battle and was now played confidently in a suite with Heartbeat intro, Linus & Lucy or Seek Up. The Last Stop outro had come together during the late summer, but it was this tour's performances that it has to thank for its elevated status with fans. Don't Drink the Water's vibe transformed from bouncy arrogance to menacing aggression. Every song on the album has this story - even the single Spoon performance that reprises Béla Fleck's album guest appearance.

Tim Reynolds is a fixture now. He was a fixture in 1998, but not with the full band. He was on each album and he & Dave of course toured twice. But he only guested on a handful of full band shows in 1993, then the Red Rocks 1995 show (after appearing on a few songs a few weeks prior). His band TR3 played the same city as DMB for three shows in the 1998 Summer Tour (8.18, 8.20, and 8.21), and Tim guested on most of DMB's songs before leaving to play his own gigs. The idea for him to guest the entire tour had to come together there. He not only contributed to the growth of the new songs - Crush is almost a different song 10.26 than it was 8.29 - but his tone on old songs like Rhyme & Reason created a musical flow that made the Streets songs feel like they've always been there. His sound as the tour went on definitely changed the band's sound and while no one has ever said why Tim didn't stay on, it was also probably never in the plans. As an example, Butch Taylor eventually stayed on with DMB, but only after three tours where he only played small stretches of major venues.

It's a tour of guests and famous guest spots. Aside from Tim Reynolds, the early tour featured Greg Howard and Joshua Redman guesting (both of which guested at DMB's last Halloween show to date). When DMB came back from the Canada portion of the tour, Béla Fleck and Flecktones opened the next 11 shows. Nine songs had their longest versions at the time at those shows - some are still the longest. Setlists of these shows contained an average of 11.81 songs per main set (pre-encore). After a stretch of core band performances, the tour finale included memorable guest spots from Maceo Parker, Victor Wooten, and Mitch Rutman. Adding to the tour's standing with fans, there are several major releases from the tour that hit plenty of the highlights above - with plenty of highlights still left to look forward to hearing.

In time for the 25th anniversary of the opener in Chula Vista, here is a timeline of the Fall 1998 Tour from announcement to finale.