Red Mosquito

liebzz wrote:In June, I will shockingly be seeing my 10th Dave Matthews Band show, first in 12 years, so in an effort to prepare for the show, and in honor of #10, it’s time for the next album journey with the major live releases thrown in. This one’s for you, warehouse! Passing the hacky sack from Phish to Dave hopefully starting tomorrow.

i think i'm close to 30 shows if not more. seeing them in july, first time since...november lol. i haven't heard 'warehouse' live since 2018, and since then i was diagnosed with epilepsy. i spent a lot of time in the hospital thinking to myself "i just want to hear 'warehouse' live one more time".

interested to see what live releases are thrown in. i almost exclusively listen to dave live. but their first three major studio albums are as good a run as any in rock n roll.

Under the Table and Dreaming

On the first studio album, and the album that brought them straight into mega stardom, we find what I think most people just associate with Dave Matthews Band for better or for worse. Mostly chill songs with great hooks, and a great excuse for stoner Dave to go his weird funky chicken/Hammer Time dance in his pajamas while all the folks dance along.

Of course, there’s much more to this album than that. I have a big appreciation that this album in particular, Dave Matthews’ musings on how random life can really be, putting himself in the shoes of others as a point of wonder in his own being rather than any other sort of exercise. It gives the album a lighter, childlike vibe supported by his band’s flourishes that play nicely together - for the most part. When things do get a bit intense, and Rhyme & Reason, the full band contrasts in Dancies Nancies, and several moments in Warehouse certainly get there, it can be thrilling and transporting. Ants Marching, the song we’ve all heard a million times, has a similar impact only defined more by its standing as the big hit here. Jimi Thing is exactly what slowed down Dave needs to sound like.

The misses here for me have always been Satellite (never understood the love for this always kind of meh for me), Lover Lay Down, and Pay For What You Get.

So far as I can tell, they’ll really never sound like this again, and while I’d undoubtedly take Ten any day of the week, it shares a similarity of a band forever living in the shadow of that first album, occasionally meandering nearby sonically, but never recreating whatever spark that people gravitated to so intensely. They’d obviously have other hit albums and in my estimation, better albums than this - but I wanted to point out that parallel. It wasn’t until I saw them live that I came to appreciate this album properly, but there’s some natural optimistic magic to this one that will give way heavier themes down the line, so it’s key for me to appreciate the innocence of this album while it’s there.

As an aside, it always blew my mind that his legs went all sorts of crazy directions in that dance, but his upper body didn’t move an inch. That’s some core strength there.

Ten and UTTAD are interesting parallels. 'ants marching' is kinda like dmb's 'alive'. both albums are hard to overcome, for lack of a better word, even if better albums came after them. the lyrics comment is also interesting. dave matthews gets way darker in later albums. the lyrics on here seem to be more about wonderment and confusion than anything.

Dancing Nancies from this album changed my life. "I am who I am who I am, but who am I?" is such a simple lyric but carries the weight of the world. it still amazes me the emotion a simple lyric like this can hold. how the hell can this guy explain exactly what I'm feeling, when I can't even do it myself? the song starts with just two notes and by the end morphs into a folk gospel choir. and then boyd tinsley takes all of the emotion of the lyrics and puts them through his violin.

its one of the best albums of the 90s by one of the most unique rock bands ever.

Live at Red Rocks 8/15/95

I am hoping to tackle the live releases as they happen in the chronology rather than their release, so this sort of goes here.

Getting a full show here, we see the potential of the band in its more familiar setting. Under the Table and Dreaming (and Crash by the time of this release) show a band with two excellent albums, but for many, the real hook was getting a taste of their live show. Here, the show opens with a really great Seek Up, and the show never loses steam. Sure there are a few songs I don’t prefer in the set, but it’s really here where you can hear these songs take off and learn the interplay that can happen at their shows. Two Step, Recently, Dancing Nancies, Warehouse, Tripping Billies, Rhyme & Reason, Ants Marching, and All Along the Watchtower are all big highlights seeing the band at a high point (get it - Colorado) live.

Crash

Thematically, there isn’t a whole lot of difference between this album and Under the Table and Dreaming - it is sonically that this one pushes past its predecessor, bringing us much closer to what the band sounds like live in this period. The hooks are still evident in So Much to Say, Too Much, and Tripping Billies, but on its highest end, this album just goes for it, like on the aforementioned Tripping Billies, the epic Drive In Drive Out, and the incredible Two Step. Lie in Our Graves shows what they can do to build layers and make that sudden switch back to the main refrain that hooks you in - though this might be the song that sadly made Carter Beaufort obsessed with the goddamn wind chimes.

Back to Two Step, a killer song that builds to explosion. One of my all time favorite moments I have with this band was sitting way up in Giants Stadium on 6/11/01 with this song closing the encore. The sky was ominous and ready to explode and you could feel the tension just building when as the band bursts into action, the skies open up and we are being pummeled with hail. The band could have taken cover but instead pushes as hard as I had ever heard from them as we joyous get pelted with tiny ice balls to see just how far this could be taken. An unbelievable live moment that will always stick with me.

Now, this is among my favorite albums from them, but shall we address the elephant in the room, or should I say instead the pervy predator that calls itself Crash Into Me!? I said I would note the songs I detest and I think this is #1. Granted, on its own merits it would probably just be a song I don’t care about, but in the hands of the shrieks of thousands of teenagers, it becomes nails on the chalkboard. How does a song about a peeping Tom wildly fantasizing about the object of his desire in such a way become a breakout hit!? Meanwhile, the live versions can be just as infuriating, with their “Dixie Chicken” snippet that for some reason also leads to teenage shrieks even though I am pretty damn sure I didn’t enter an arena full of 15 year old Little Feat fans that have been waiting on this moment all night. What in the actual…

I digress though to the fact that this is a fantastic jazzy, fun party of an album that brings the joy of their live show to the studio in a way they’ll never again recapture.

"Two Step" is another great one, or so thinks this longtime DMB nonfan.

Two Step is one of the best songs dmb has ever written. it was one of the highlights of the show i saw in november.

i think i overlook Crash as an album, mainly b/c of the two albums it falls in between, but its just as good as either. the riff to 'so much to say' is one of my favorite guitar riffs ever and a perfect start to the album. '#41' is everything that is great about this band. maybe their second best song 'lie in our graves' grows into a beautiful jam, where as 'tripping billies' punches you in the face from the start. 'crash into me' is weird and generally not nearly as good as the rest of the album. the music isnt very intriguing and the lyrics are super creepy. i have no idea why it was so popular as a single.

Red Rocks 95. an absolute monster of a live album that captures the band at their peak. or one their peaks. i've listened to this more than any other live dmb show. it's the best version of almost every song on here. it also introduced me to segueing into other songs and amazing jams. i can't say enough good things about this album. i was actually listening to 'dancing nancies' from this show a couple of months ago while i was doing work at home, and my wife started recording me b/c i started doing this headbang thing during the solo.

warehouse wrote:Two Step is one of the best songs dmb has ever written. it was one of the highlights of the show i saw in november.

i think i overlook Crash as an album, mainly b/c of the two albums it falls in between, but its just as good as either. the riff to 'so much to say' is one of my favorite guitar riffs ever and a perfect start to the album. '#41' is everything that is great about this band. maybe their second best song 'lie in our graves' grows into a beautiful jam, where as 'tripping billies' punches you in the face from the start. 'crash into me' is weird and generally not nearly as good as the rest of the album. the music isnt very intriguing and the lyrics are super creepy. i have no idea why it was so popular as a single.

Red Rocks 95. an absolute monster of a live album that captures the band at their peak. or one their peaks. i've listened to this more than any other live dmb show. it's the best version of almost every song on here. it also introduced me to segueing into other songs and amazing jams. i can't say enough good things about this album. i was actually listening to 'dancing nancies' from this show a couple of months ago while i was doing work at home, and my wife started recording me b/c i started doing this headbang thing during the solo.

That’s awesome. Yeah, I agree about Red Rocks, and it is remarkably consistent and never falls into the Dave ether, when they just sort of languish for any given amount of time. They are focused throughout but still exploring relative to the song they are playing. It’s hard to think of a live release from them that gets much better than this.

Liebzy, you did it again. Your write-ups coaxed me into putting on Live at Red Rocks on the daycare commute this morning with an open mind and open ears. I may revisit the albums I know (basically UTTAD thru Everyday) in the near future. I like how tightly all of these instruments are woven into these songs.

Wow. Warehouse is indeed a bop. Has no idea this was the namesake of RM user: warehouse

Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds - Live at Luther College

A little bit of cheating in that I think this performance may have been a couple of months before the release of Crash, but it certainly fits here in the arc of the journey, a sort of unplugged break from the band before the material turns more serious and grim. It is this performance more than seeing Tim Reynolds play electric guitar, that truly impresses me. It’s not even the furious pace he takes on these songs, but more his ability here to transform the songs in such a way that not only are you hearing them anew, but there’s still space here for your imagination to fill the gaps where the instrumentation isn’t. Dave for his part plays the admirable singer and strummer, but Tim Reynolds brings these versions to life - Ants Marching, which is so dependent on all of those big instruments, is just as vital in this acoustic format. Seek Up still has its epic build and release. Tripping Billies, Jimi Thing, and What Would You Say still bring the party. But it all happens on Tim’s imaginative takes. If you have the patience on any given day for an all acoustic Dave Matthews show, it’s definitely worth you attention.

Before These Crowded Streets is the real DMB goat

liebzz wrote:Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds - Live at Luther College

A little bit of cheating in that I think this performance may have been a couple of months before the release of Crash, but it certainly fits here in the arc of the journey, a sort of unplugged break from the band before the material turns more serious and grim. It is this performance more than seeing Tim Reynolds play electric guitar, that truly impresses me. It’s not even the furious pace he takes on these songs, but more his ability here to transform the songs in such a way that not only are you hearing them anew, but there’s still space here for your imagination to fill the gaps where the instrumentation isn’t. Dave for his part plays the admirable singer and strummer, but Tim Reynolds brings these versions to life - Ants Marching, which is so dependent on all of those big instruments, is just as vital in this acoustic format. Seek Up still has its epic build and release. Tripping Billies, Jimi Thing, and What Would You Say still bring the party. But it all happens on Tim’s imaginative takes. If you have the patience on any given day for an all acoustic Dave Matthews show, it’s definitely worth you attention.

As much as I love the albums and have adored the full band shows over the years, nothing hits me like D&T does these days. If the LiveTrax series went with purely duo shows for the next however long I don't think I could muster a legit gripe with it.

Live at Sweet Briar College took place a couple weeks before the release of Crash, entertaining show and one of the few officially released Dave solo endeavors.

Before These Crowded Streets

As rock solid albums as Under the Table and Dreaming and Crash are, they can’t hang with this one. From the opening bars straight through to the end of Pig, for me, I would have a hard time picking any song over these save for a couple of gems on Crash. It’s not that those albums are lacking in any way, it is that this one is that good. Dave is singing with a pure purpose and so intense in moments that he’s developed a growl like his voice box was dragged through a gravel pit…in a good way. The sonics here are more dark, foreboding, and groove driven, as if their flourishes now channel the songs’ movement than accent them. And the songs are excellent. Rapunzel’s jam at the end in particular is fabulous, Dave is…PISSED during The Last Stop, the band makes me believe I don’t want to be any place but where they are during Stay, The Stone is just killer front to back. I mean, I listened to this album on the way home and it was like hearing for the first time again even though I have heard this one far more than any other of their albums. To me, if any of their albums deserve classic status due to the quality, this is the clear winner. My next favorite though is still to come down the (second) line. But really let’s celebrate this one!

Also, Crush is amazing and needs to have a talk with Crash Into Me about how to contain the creepy vibe and bring something worthwhile to the table. Crush is everything that other song isn’t.

The evolution of Lillywhite and tDMB over the big three albums is truly something. Over those years he saw what the band was capable of and really pushed them outside of their familiar territory on BTCS to amazing effect.

Crush is an absolutely tremendous album track and also a great live vehicle for the band. 2006-06-28 might be my favorite version of the 35 I've seen, goddamn that was a hot night in Camden.

One thing I was trying to note also is that there’s this grimy feel to the music that really works for this album.

liebzz wrote:One thing I was trying to note also is that there’s this grimy feel to the music that really works for this album.

I definitely get this sentiment, almost the antithesis of UTTAD which is airy and almost whimsical at times.

Live in Chicago 12.19.98

As good as Red Rocks is, I enjoy this show a bit more. For starters, it helps that this is touring Before These Crowded Streets. Add to that some really killer playing from the band and Victor Wooten and Maceo Parker who sit in on selected songs separately. That Jimi Thing is craziness - so fun and epic. The Last Stop is a great way to kick things off in high gear. #41 with Victor Wooten is pure gold. Pantala Naga Pampa > Rapunzel > Stay is great. So Much to Say > Too Much also. The energy here was really great. And add a wonderful Watchtower to close things out. Really fantastic show that I have always loved listening to.

liebzz wrote:Live in Chicago 12.19.98

As good as Red Rocks is, I enjoy this show a bit more. For starters, it helps that this is touring Before These Crowded Streets. Add to that some really killer playing from the band and Victor Wooten and Maceo Parker who sit in on selected songs separately. That Jimi Thing is craziness - so fun and epic. The Last Stop is a great way to kick things off in high gear. #41 with Victor Wooten is pure gold. Pantala Naga Pampa > Rapunzel > Stay is great. So Much to Say > Too Much also. The energy here was really great. And add a wonderful Watchtower to close things out. Really fantastic show that I have always loved listening to.

Tim's playing on this tour is wonderful with this particular Lie in Our Graves a real standout. Boyd's studio dubs hurt this show for me a tad but I still listen to it quite often.