Dave Matthews Band

[oasisfan35]

It's been a while since I've listened to The Lillywhite Sessions or Busted Stuff, so I don't recall much of the differences that have been brought up. I would guess that it's an issue of approaches to engineering and production. I'll try giving them both a listen shortly and see if I can pick up on anything.

They were also re-recorded, so some of the songs have slightly different arrangements that end up making a big difference.

Right, I guess I totally glossed over the fact that the songs were re-recorded. I did listen to both albums last night, and what I hear on Busted Stuff is a bid for a similar kind of pop and adult contemporary draw that Everyday achieved. The arrangements feel brighter on the released product, with less room to breathe, though some of that I'm sure is down to the finished professional mastering vs. the amateur fan job on Lillywhite. Did Dave completely abandon the 12-string guitar when they redid these songs?

On the whole, the Lillywhite versions are all superior, though I do like the idea to try an instrumental version of "Kit Kat Jam," and the electric guitar parts added to "Busted Stuff" and "Captain" are lovely additions that could have elevated the original versions more (though I love "Captain" as it is; one of my top ten DMB songs if I ever were to put such a list together). I don't think "Where Are You Going" or "You Never Know" are worthy of taking the place of any of the three cut songs, especially not the wonderful "Monkey Man," which to my ears feels like the closest connection to Before These Crowded Streets. I agree with Liebzz, Warehouse, et al that a properly mastered Lillywhite Sessions following BTCS could have solidified this band's reputation as a serious fusion of jazz, alt and roots rock. It will be interesting to revisit the upcoming Some Devil and Stand Up because that's the point where I fell off.

Grey Street is played with a 12-string on the album IIRC.

That was one of the ones I was uncertain about. There were a few moments where I thought I could hear those kinds of harmonics. It was a really prudent choice on the original versions, giving them a rich color.

Sounds like it's there just buried in the mix somewhere behind Dave's unnecessarily double-tracked vox.

Edit: Even Carter's drumming is scaled down between the two, another infuriating change.

[liebzz]

The Gorge

Taken over the course of Labor Day Weekend in 2002, this is the rare live compilation from them rather than the full sets. I generally tend to prefer the ebb and flow of a full show, and always feel like if you are giving us a compilation, each of the songs has to slay. The versions here are mostly very good, and Dave is certainly stoked to be playing at this stunning venue. Rapunzel, Gravedigger, Everyday, and Warehouse stick out as strong performances, and I get a bit of a laugh at the crowd really singing hard for #36, seemingly willing it to be that song over Everyday, though not to be until the end of the song - or I just lack the context to know that this a thing between the fans and band…either way, the real stars and the point of this compilation in my estimation is the bonkers great Two Step and Lie in Our Graves, each with running times that eclipse 15 minutes, and the band finally sounding near perfect (seems there’s something I can’t quite figure out on the band dynamics being a bit off, exemplified in Drive In Drive Out, where the energy is there but the sound is off).

[oasisfan35]

The Gorge

Taken over the course of Labor Day Weekend in 2002, this is the rare live compilation from them rather than the full sets. I generally tend to prefer the ebb and flow of a full show, and always feel like if you are giving us a compilation, each of the songs has to slay. The versions here are mostly very good, and Dave is certainly stoked to be playing at this stunning venue. Rapunzel, Gravedigger, Everyday, and Warehouse stick out as strong performances, and I get a bit of a laugh at the crowd really singing hard for #36, seemingly willing it to be that song over Everyday, though not to be until the end of the song - or I just lack the context to know that this a thing between the fans and band…either way, the real stars and the point of this compilation in my estimation is the bonkers great Two Step and Lie in Our Graves, each with running times that eclipse 15 minutes, and the band finally sounding near perfect (seems there’s something I can’t quite figure out on the band dynamics being a bit off, exemplified in Drive In Drive Out, where the energy is there but the sound is off).

They did release the entire weekend though I would expect that not to be available to stream as I believe it was a limited offering.
If there is another thing this band does poorly is mix shows, there literally is the entire gamut from stellar to poor being officially put out. Well, that goes for shows too as Tim's return was quite the hurdle. I recall The Gorge release having Dave super prominent in the mix leaving one to almost strain to hear the full ensemble at times.

[liebzz]

The Gorge

Taken over the course of Labor Day Weekend in 2002, this is the rare live compilation from them rather than the full sets. I generally tend to prefer the ebb and flow of a full show, and always feel like if you are giving us a compilation, each of the songs has to slay. The versions here are mostly very good, and Dave is certainly stoked to be playing at this stunning venue. Rapunzel, Gravedigger, Everyday, and Warehouse stick out as strong performances, and I get a bit of a laugh at the crowd really singing hard for #36, seemingly willing it to be that song over Everyday, though not to be until the end of the song - or I just lack the context to know that this a thing between the fans and band…either way, the real stars and the point of this compilation in my estimation is the bonkers great Two Step and Lie in Our Graves, each with running times that eclipse 15 minutes, and the band finally sounding near perfect (seems there’s something I can’t quite figure out on the band dynamics being a bit off, exemplified in Drive In Drive Out, where the energy is there but the sound is off).

They did release the entire weekend though I would expect that not to be available to stream as I believe it was a limited offering.
If there is another thing this band does poorly is mix shows, there literally is the entire gamut from stellar to poor being officially put out. Well, that goes for shows too as Tim's return was quite the hurdle. I recall The Gorge release having Dave super prominent in the mix leaving one to almost strain to hear the full ensemble at times.

I think this is precisely the problem, which explains why the sparse songs in the middle sound really good.

[liebzz]

Dave Matthews - Some Devil

With the help of some famous friends comes the sole studio solo album. I am still if not more impressed now, seeing that despite the fact that at this point, Dave Matthews Band had already pushed their sound around quite a bit, and Dave is as adventurous here as anywhere else, touching on some harder rock, reggae, and more. The trio of Dodo, So Damn Lucky and Gravedigger is really strong, especially since each sound quite different from one another. Trouble, Save Me, Stay or Leave, Up and Away, and the closing of Too High are all highlights for me here. While I have never placed this in any sort of consistent rotation, the occasional revisits are always worth it. Not perfect but I get the sense it was never meant to be that.

[AndySlash]

for all of the some devil songs that made it to the band's live show, that too high never has- especially once dmb became a rock band- is completely baffling to me. there's hope yet- it showed up for the first time in yeeeeears at the recent dave + tim mexico run. we'll see.

i love gravedigger. just a great song.

dave + friends at bonnaroo 2004 is still one of my favorite shows ever. if you've never listened to a d+f show, give it a listen. if you only sample a few songs, do the first four of the second vid.





Dodo
Trouble
Up and Away
Solsbury Hill
Stay or Leave
Save Me
Oh
Up on Cripple Creek
Some Devil
Dancing Nancies
Good Good Time
Tell Me Something Good
Gravedigger
Grey Blue Eyes
So Damn Lucky
Too High »
Fire
Hey Bulldog
-----------------------------------
Waste
Everyday »
Bathtub Gin »
Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)

[liebzz]

The Central Park Concert

Which is one of those rare things where my memory of this night is highly different from the recording, not because the recording is bad or that the songs aren’t as good as I remembered - in fact, they are way in the hell better than my memory serves. This has to do with being very far back, but also the company I kept that night. Not a great concert fit at all.

In terms of the show, we got there about 2-3 hours before the show started and didn’t manage to get inside, due to the lines, until about halfway through Crush. So that started the night off wrong, especially because the company I kept was really stressing out about this. Once settled in my spot, I remember feeling pretty good. The show was rolling along when Warren Haynes came up and played Cortez the Killer with them and Jimi Thing - this was other worldly great at the show, but the buzz killed when the fans around me started complaining that it was boring and who was this guy anyway. Warren is melting faces up there, but this effin’ crowd has no idea what they are playing and who is playing it. Pathetic. This might have been the straw that broke the camel’s back for me with Dave Matthews Band in 2003. The fans that night. Emblematic of everything that bothered me in that time and place. I managed to enjoy the remainder of the show by ignoring them for the most part the rest of the night, but that was the nail in the coffin for the next 5 years.

As far as the music, it’s pretty goddamn excellent. The band is in really great form on this night, to the point where the few songs I wouldn’t have picked, What You Are, and When the World Ends, even sound great. And other than those two, the setlist itself is near perfection. It’s got a one last stand quality to it, like there may or may not ever been another show and that would have been okay. Probably my favorite of the live releases so far despite my personal experience. I am sure I will get differing opinions, but I counter with that epic Two Step, and that Watchtower, and Cortez/Jimi Thing. Hot damn this is all killer.

[liebzz]

I’ll add - it didn’t exactly happen overnight, but it had really hit me that night that the audience had really morphed from fans wanting to see their band play to people coming to the show to say they were there and to see the pop stars play the pop songs straight. I intended that night afterwards to be the last DMB show I would see, though my future wife, who I wouldn’t meet for another 4 years, is a fan and so I ended up going to 3 more since with the fourth in June since this show. That element of the crowd being there for Instagram shots and hit songs was ever present 12 years ago (I guess it was Facebook photos back then).

[oasisfan35]

Central Park was also an event in New York City and there were what I would suspect to be a shit-ton of casual or less fans. Though, I don't disagree as I hit my limit with fans not looking to see a good show but have a good time with some hits in the background on the lawns in 2005; never had lawn tickets again though the Meadows being my local venue it was always about the party to some degree.

The Central Park set really is all-killer, no-filler; in comparison to the rest of the tour it is night and day.

As far as Some Devil goes, I adore the album as well as the tour and really hope the last show in Oakland gets released some day. That said, I never wanted any of the solo songs to be played at a DMB show by the band bar one instance of So Damn Lucky. 2008 was a rollercoaster of a year for the band and fans alike. The DMB performance of SDL at MSG in September is solid though the outro always felt like Dave exorcising the demons of the year, the wailing just kept coming as the song builds and breaks; just an incredible version to witness. Then I saw the D&T rendition at Farm Aid ten days later, so lovely yet so somber in comparison.

[liebzz]

Central Park was also an event in New York City and there were what I would suspect to be a shit-ton of casual or less fans. Though, I don't disagree as I hit my limit with fans not looking to see a good show but have a good time with some hits in the background on the lawns in 2005; never had lawn tickets again though the Meadows being my local venue it was always about the party to some degree.

The Central Park set really is all-killer, no-filler; in comparison to the rest of the tour it is night and day.

As far as Some Devil goes, I adore the album as well as the tour and really hope the last show in Oakland gets released some day. That said, I never wanted any of the solo songs to be played at a DMB show by the band bar one instance of So Damn Lucky. 2008 was a rollercoaster of a year for the band and fans alike. The DMB performance of SDL at MSG in September is solid though the outro always felt like Dave exorcising the demons of the year, the wailing just kept coming as the song builds and breaks; just an incredible version to witness. Then I saw the D&T rendition at Farm Aid ten days later, so lovely yet so somber in comparison.

Ha! Lawn, Meadows, 6/14/08 was my first show back and same complaint. Also, the band just seemed distant at that point - no connection happening at all and I was basically on another planet barely paying attention on the lawn.

I next saw them on 4/14/09 at MSG (fyi they played So Damn Lucky), and it was one of the best DMB shows I attended.

Next was 11/12/10 at MSG and it was not a fun show. That is the last time I saw them.

[liebzz]

The full list so we are being transparent:

10/10/96 Albany, NY - basically made me a fan - got tickets 2 weeks before the show and sat next to the soundboard. Fun night. Dave still wore pajamas on stage during this time and I was basically in when they opened with Tripping Billies.

12/9/00 Albany, NY - same venue but in the back this time. Had a great time and really enjoyed this one.

6/11, 6/12, and 6/13/01 Giants Stadium - basically the height of it all

9/24/03 Central Park - we discussed

6/14/08 Meadows
4/14/09 MSG
11/12/10 MSG

6/28(?)/22 - Jones Beach

[oasisfan35]

Central Park was also an event in New York City and there were what I would suspect to be a shit-ton of casual or less fans. Though, I don't disagree as I hit my limit with fans not looking to see a good show but have a good time with some hits in the background on the lawns in 2005; never had lawn tickets again though the Meadows being my local venue it was always about the party to some degree.

The Central Park set really is all-killer, no-filler; in comparison to the rest of the tour it is night and day.

As far as Some Devil goes, I adore the album as well as the tour and really hope the last show in Oakland gets released some day. That said, I never wanted any of the solo songs to be played at a DMB show by the band bar one instance of So Damn Lucky. 2008 was a rollercoaster of a year for the band and fans alike. The DMB performance of SDL at MSG in September is solid though the outro always felt like Dave exorcising the demons of the year, the wailing just kept coming as the song builds and breaks; just an incredible version to witness. Then I saw the D&T rendition at Farm Aid ten days later, so lovely yet so somber in comparison.

Ha! Lawn, Meadows, 6/14/08 was my first show back and same complaint. Also, the band just seemed distant at that point - no connection happening at all and I was basically on another planet barely paying attention on the lawn.

I next saw them on 4/14/09 at MSG (fyi they played So Damn Lucky), and it was one of the best DMB shows I attended.

Next was 11/12/10 at MSG and it was not a fun show. That is the last time I saw them.

Heh, I was at each of these shows as well.

[liebzz]

Stand Up

Truth be told, if you took the best 4 or 5 songs here and made this an EP instead of an album, you’d have a helluva release, and probably fans would be pissed they didn’t come up with enough material for a full length - but alas, we need quality over quantity. If you took Stand Up (For It), Everybody Wake Up, You Might Die Trying, and Hunger for the Great Light and called it a day it would be quite great. The rest varies from good enough to hard to listen to, really like a collection of b-sides and outtakes they didn’t know what else to do with. I would still take the top and middle stuff here over most of Everyday, but there’s some level of just not liking songs here that lacks deeper analysis - an instinctual repellent feeling. In the end, I would put this in between Everyday and Busted Stuff, but these are also the three on the bottom of the discography for me thus far.

[oasisfan35]

Stand Up

Truth be told, if you took the best 4 or 5 songs here and made this an EP instead of an album, you’d have a helluva release, and probably fans would be pissed they didn’t come up with enough material for a full length - but alas, we need quality over quantity. If you took Stand Up (For It), Everybody Wake Up, You Might Die Trying, and Hunger for the Great Light and called it a day it would be quite great. The rest varies from good enough to hard to listen to, really like a collection of b-sides and outtakes they didn’t know what else to do with. I would still take the top and middle stuff here over most of Everyday, but there’s some level of just not liking songs here that lacks deeper analysis - an instinctual repellent feeling. In the end, I would put this in between Everyday and Busted Stuff, but these are also the three on the bottom of the discography for me thus far.

I find a lot wrong with this album and some of that is personal as I really enjoyed the '04 tunes and for only one to make it on the record and at that to be neutered was extremely bothersome. Joy Ride did make the bonus disc but even having a bonus disc along with an already too long album was obnoxious. Also, Batson's inclusion in a bunch of the beats and drum tracks along with going for huskier Dave voice through the entirety is just a failure. This might be thee record that simply does not sound like tDMB most often, well up until the shit hits the fan coming up.

This tour was actually quite good even though most of the shows were indeed Stand Up heavy as far as song inclusion though how could it not with so many tracks. The songs did work well in the live setting as each was immediately an improvement over the album to me. This was also the initial tour with Rashawn Ross guesting, also happened to be at that first show, which was really the start of the next evolution of the band. Are you taking on Weekend on the Rocks liebzz?

[liebzz]

I was planning on covering weekend on the rocks.

[warehouse]

this was the most confusing time for me as a dmb fan. i think this is when i started to realize how goddamn good the band is, they take dave matthew's ideas and blow them up in the best ways possible. some devil just made me miss the band. some of the songs are fine, but its not a dmb album. dave and friends is interesting, but my favorite songs are covers. and stand up, another album written w a producer. i'll echo the comment about new songs not making albums. it was like they were purposely leaving off their best, most organic sounding stuff. there's a weird mix of songs that are good live and songs i never want to hear again on stand up. this disparity is not on their first three major releases.

obviously, their live shows are what kept me coming back. the central park concert might be their most popular live release and show in general. it's like a greatest hits live show w/ all the staple segues, extended jams, guest musician and covers. there are live shows i like more, but i understand why this is so popular. playing their biggest show ever, the band absolutely killed it.

[liebzz]

Weekend on the Rocks

This is quite the fascinating live release. My expectations here were largely defied - I expected to essentially listen to the new stuff as a manner of waiting for the big hits to roll out. Instead I was stunned at how well they translated the Stand Up material in the live setting, particularly Hunger for the Great Light, Stand Up, Stolen Away on 55th & 3rd, the epic Louisiana Bayou, and especially Smooth Rider, which turned into a 70s groove jam that absolutely killed here.

Elsewhere, I was very struck with the Before These Crowded Streets songs (Pig is great here), and The Stone, but the remainder for me was largely a miss, particularly a fizzling #41 and slogging Bartender, two songs which normally rate as favorites in their sets for me.

[oasisfan35]

Weekend on the Rocks

This is quite the fascinating live release. My expectations here were largely defied - I expected to essentially listen to the new stuff as a manner of waiting for the big hits to roll out. Instead I was stunned at how well they translated the Stand Up material in the live setting, particularly Hunger for the Great Light, Stand Up, Stolen Away on 55th & 3rd, the epic Louisiana Bayou, and especially Smooth Rider, which turned into a 70s groove jam that absolutely killed here.

Elsewhere, I was very struck with the Before These Crowded Streets songs (Pig is great here), and The Stone, but the remainder for me was largely a miss, particularly a fizzling #41 and slogging Bartender, two songs which normally rate as favorites in their sets for me.

That Pig shows what the band can do when it wants to, it was the tour debut on the second to last day of the tour and before they had the mobile studio space for such prep. Musically The Stone is wonderful though Dave's voice is a bit spent, par for this point of the tour but the real winner here is the mix. I feel like a lot of attention was paid to the levels and mixing in the crowd which for this track in particular was stellar. On the flip-side, pretty sure this is the worst Halloween ever and get about 45 seconds in each attempt before I bail.

I will add that the Complete Weekend on the Rocks is a fair live document of the band at this time and that there are plenty of other performances over the weekend that I surely would have traded, Lie in Our Graves in the that Bartender in a heartbeat for one.

[Brett]

I got The Central Park Concert and Live at the Garden DVDs both for Christmas in 2003, so I think of them as kind of linked, especially since I was slowly growing away from DMB's music and pretty heavily obsessed with Pearl Jam at the time. I engaged much more intensely with the latter than the former, so I also view this release as basically the last stop on my journey as a DMB fan.

While I knew that the band was a jam band, I had never seen them live, and had never sought out any live releases, so the true extent of what they did in a live setting was new to me with this show. To be honest, it didn't really strike a deep chord with me at the time. I felt as though all the extended vamping bits were taking the spotlight from the real meat of the written songs, and I suppose that might be really the point insofar as this style of music is concerned. I'll also admit that I had very little idea or interest in who Warren Haynes was at this show and his guest spots left me cold.

I think the entire thing minus some transitional bits is up on the band's Youtube now, and I've been hopping around it to refresh my memory of the release. This year will be nineteen years since this show occurred and was released, and this Christmas I will be 38, so half my life thus far will have gone by since. I've changed a lot in that time, and I find myself getting more enjoyment out of those meandering detours these days. Sure there's still a lot of indulgence and corniness in the way that Dave and co. play out, especially on Dave's part with the scatting, goofy dancing, facial expressions, etc. But in all that there's a lot of fun; the band are having a hell of a good time, and in my limited experience it seems like they're playing well (especially Carter, Stefan, and Leroi). There are catalog highlights like "Crush" and "Two Step" that get suitably epic treatment in this show, though it's disappointing that the then newest release, Busted Stuff, was only represented by the two "big" singles, ignoring the record's best material (probably due to the still somewhat raw feelings about the whole situation).

[liebzz]

I got The Central Park Concert and Live at the Garden DVDs both for Christmas in 2003, so I think of them as kind of linked, especially since I was slowly growing away from DMB's music and pretty heavily obsessed with Pearl Jam at the time. I engaged much more intensely with the latter than the former, so I also view this release as basically the last stop on my journey as a DMB fan.

While I knew that the band was a jam band, I had never seen them live, and had never sought out any live releases, so the true extent of what they did in a live setting was new to me with this show. To be honest, it didn't really strike a deep chord with me at the time. I felt as though all the extended vamping bits were taking the spotlight from the real meat of the written songs, and I suppose that might be really the point insofar as this style of music is concerned. I'll also admit that I had very little idea or interest in who Warren Haynes was at this show and his guest spots left me cold.

I think the entire thing minus some transitional bits is up on the band's Youtube now, and I've been hopping around it to refresh my memory of the release. This year will be nineteen years since this show occurred and was released, and this Christmas I will be 38, so half my life thus far will have gone by since. I've changed a lot in that time, and I find myself getting more enjoyment out of those meandering detours these days. Sure there's still a lot of indulgence and corniness in the way that Dave and co. play out, especially on Dave's part with the scatting, goofy dancing, facial expressions, etc. But in all that there's a lot of fun; the band are having a hell of a good time, and in my limited experience it seems like they're playing well (especially Carter, Stefan, and Leroi). There are catalog highlights like "Crush" and "Two Step" that get suitably epic treatment in this show, though it's disappointing that the then newest release, Busted Stuff, was only represented by the two "big" singles, ignoring the record's best material (probably due to the still somewhat raw feelings about the whole situation).

That Crash Into Me isn’t on here, alone, makes it worth the money.

Also, the Live at the Garden, for its limitations as a recording, was at least a far superior live experience for me (I was at both of those shows). You can’t get the gist of it from the poor video angles, but there are moments in Live at the Garden, the show, when I was just scanning the crowd in wonder at what was happening - numerous out of body experiences during that show with not a drink or drug even near me.