Several years ago I had tickets to see The Dave Matthews Band live at one of the local amphitheaters. I was so excited to go I could hardly stand it. I spent the weeks and days leading up to it monitoring the reports from the road on his website. Fans from each show were sharing the line-up of songs and it appeared he had a pretty good set going.
I had bought two tickets because DubDub and I were still dating and she was a Dave Matthews fan as well. The first sign of things going wrong: she called and said she wasn’t going to be able to make it because one of her kids was sick (this is on the DAY of the show). The fact that she wasn’t going to be there took a huge amount of wind out of my sails but I carry on and go to the show.
Then I’m driving to the show and traffic is ALL KINDS of backed up. Apparently, the show is sold out. It would have usually taken me 30 minutes or so to get to the venue – I was still sitting my car an hour and a half later. I kept thinking I was going to miss the beginning of the show, or the opening act.
I end up parking way off in the distance and making the long hike back to the amphitheater. I probably would have been better off if I had walked from my house. Anyway tickets in hand – tickets!!!! – I left the tickets in the car. I walk back to the car, get the tickets and make the journey back. Finally make it to my seat just as the opening act starts (I want to say it was Johnny Lang, or somebody like that – I honestly don’t remember). Let’s just say it’s a good thing that no concert ever starts on time.
So finally, the moment we’ve all been waiting for – The Dave Matthews Band arrives on stage. They start by playing a meandering version of “41” – their typical opening number. For some reason it seems to drone on for 10 minutes longer than it should have. That’s fine… what’s next?
What happened next is beyond comprehension. The band begins to go on a weird tangent that everyone is trying to dance to, but nobody can because 3 minutes songs span into 15-minute jam sessions that are hard to follow. I mean the music is good because the band really knows how to play and they are very comfortable with each other musically.
The problem is that you’ve got 10 thousand ticket-holders who have come to see you play songs they know and you’re not playing any of them. After an hour or so of this, people actually started booing and shouting out songs they’d rather hear them play. It was like we weren’t even there. In concerts past, the band would begin to play the opening chords of the song and the crowd would cheer in recognition of the song. That happened once – when they started playing the current hit (which, if memory serves, was “I Did It”). That was the only time I heard the crowd cheer.
To say that I was disappointed was an understatement. It took me until a few years later to be able to listen to the band’s music again. I had to convince myself listen. I told myself that, even though the concert was not anywhere near their capabilities, they still made good music. It’s still a source of sour feelings to this day.
So when my sister told me about a Dave Matthews Tribute band playing locally I figured that would clear away the bad feelings I had toward the band. I figured they would be playing nothing BUT the songs I knew.
Let me set the scene: It was cool, probably around 55 degrees. It was overcast. There was rain in the air, though not always hitting the ground. It was windy. Everyone was wearing either raincoats or sweatshirts.
So the band comes out on the stage. “Everyone staying warm?” was the lead singer’s first comment. He’s on stage wearing jeans and an olive drab, short sleeve t-shirt. They start playing an extremely loose version of “Ants Marching”. There’s a repetitive nature to this song, which makes it work, but when they start repeating that part for two minutes it gets on your nerves.
After a couple minutes they “tighten up” the song and begin playing in earnest. Okay, so the music isn’t bad but I’m not partial to the lead singer’s voice. I’m so used to hearing the ‘real’ version that it sounds a little funny with someone else singing it (kind of like karaoke). Anyhow, I let that go.
They begin playing some other songs that I recognize but the timing is clunky and some of the transitions are awkward. I begin to believe they’re doing this on purpose. Are they really trying to re-phrase Dave Matthews’ music? They are not going to win fans and influence people with that attitude.
About an hour into the show it starts raining “for realsies”. Up to this point I’m leaning on the tent set up for the guys running the mixing board. When it begins to rain, I lean into the tent even further. I can’t SEE the band now but I can still hear them. A couple of ‘roadies’ climb out to the rigging and throw some clear plastic over the speakers – which makes the whole mix really muddy. They’ve already screwed up the mix of the fiddle player and this just made it worse.
So the band makes their way through versions of “What Would You Say”, “Too Much” and “Rapunzel”. It doesn’t get any better but it also doesn’t get any worse. The highlight of the whole band is the drummer (who was seen before the show throwing a football with some of the kids in attendance). He was excellent and they seemed to rely on him quite heavily. They also tried to get the saxophone player involved and the only word I can use to describe him is ‘adequate’.
I went into this particular show with much lower expectations and they couldn’t even meet them. I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and say that maybe the lack of crowd and the weather affected them quite a bit. I can’t say that I’ve seen a lot of bands in worse conditions so that could have also clouded my judgment. I’m trying to take it as best as I can see it but from my vantage point it wasn’t all that great.
I’d like to know what Dave Matthews thinks of this particular tribute band. I’d like to THINK that he’s seen them and ‘signed off’ on them but I get the feeling he hasn’t.
I had bought two tickets because DubDub and I were still dating and she was a Dave Matthews fan as well. The first sign of things going wrong: she called and said she wasn’t going to be able to make it because one of her kids was sick (this is on the DAY of the show). The fact that she wasn’t going to be there took a huge amount of wind out of my sails but I carry on and go to the show.
Then I’m driving to the show and traffic is ALL KINDS of backed up. Apparently, the show is sold out. It would have usually taken me 30 minutes or so to get to the venue – I was still sitting my car an hour and a half later. I kept thinking I was going to miss the beginning of the show, or the opening act.
I end up parking way off in the distance and making the long hike back to the amphitheater. I probably would have been better off if I had walked from my house. Anyway tickets in hand – tickets!!!! – I left the tickets in the car. I walk back to the car, get the tickets and make the journey back. Finally make it to my seat just as the opening act starts (I want to say it was Johnny Lang, or somebody like that – I honestly don’t remember). Let’s just say it’s a good thing that no concert ever starts on time.
So finally, the moment we’ve all been waiting for – The Dave Matthews Band arrives on stage. They start by playing a meandering version of “41” – their typical opening number. For some reason it seems to drone on for 10 minutes longer than it should have. That’s fine… what’s next?
What happened next is beyond comprehension. The band begins to go on a weird tangent that everyone is trying to dance to, but nobody can because 3 minutes songs span into 15-minute jam sessions that are hard to follow. I mean the music is good because the band really knows how to play and they are very comfortable with each other musically.
The problem is that you’ve got 10 thousand ticket-holders who have come to see you play songs they know and you’re not playing any of them. After an hour or so of this, people actually started booing and shouting out songs they’d rather hear them play. It was like we weren’t even there. In concerts past, the band would begin to play the opening chords of the song and the crowd would cheer in recognition of the song. That happened once – when they started playing the current hit (which, if memory serves, was “I Did It”). That was the only time I heard the crowd cheer.
To say that I was disappointed was an understatement. It took me until a few years later to be able to listen to the band’s music again. I had to convince myself listen. I told myself that, even though the concert was not anywhere near their capabilities, they still made good music. It’s still a source of sour feelings to this day.
So when my sister told me about a Dave Matthews Tribute band playing locally I figured that would clear away the bad feelings I had toward the band. I figured they would be playing nothing BUT the songs I knew.
Let me set the scene: It was cool, probably around 55 degrees. It was overcast. There was rain in the air, though not always hitting the ground. It was windy. Everyone was wearing either raincoats or sweatshirts.
So the band comes out on the stage. “Everyone staying warm?” was the lead singer’s first comment. He’s on stage wearing jeans and an olive drab, short sleeve t-shirt. They start playing an extremely loose version of “Ants Marching”. There’s a repetitive nature to this song, which makes it work, but when they start repeating that part for two minutes it gets on your nerves.
After a couple minutes they “tighten up” the song and begin playing in earnest. Okay, so the music isn’t bad but I’m not partial to the lead singer’s voice. I’m so used to hearing the ‘real’ version that it sounds a little funny with someone else singing it (kind of like karaoke). Anyhow, I let that go.
They begin playing some other songs that I recognize but the timing is clunky and some of the transitions are awkward. I begin to believe they’re doing this on purpose. Are they really trying to re-phrase Dave Matthews’ music? They are not going to win fans and influence people with that attitude.
About an hour into the show it starts raining “for realsies”. Up to this point I’m leaning on the tent set up for the guys running the mixing board. When it begins to rain, I lean into the tent even further. I can’t SEE the band now but I can still hear them. A couple of ‘roadies’ climb out to the rigging and throw some clear plastic over the speakers – which makes the whole mix really muddy. They’ve already screwed up the mix of the fiddle player and this just made it worse.
So the band makes their way through versions of “What Would You Say”, “Too Much” and “Rapunzel”. It doesn’t get any better but it also doesn’t get any worse. The highlight of the whole band is the drummer (who was seen before the show throwing a football with some of the kids in attendance). He was excellent and they seemed to rely on him quite heavily. They also tried to get the saxophone player involved and the only word I can use to describe him is ‘adequate’.
I went into this particular show with much lower expectations and they couldn’t even meet them. I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and say that maybe the lack of crowd and the weather affected them quite a bit. I can’t say that I’ve seen a lot of bands in worse conditions so that could have also clouded my judgment. I’m trying to take it as best as I can see it but from my vantage point it wasn’t all that great.
I’d like to know what Dave Matthews thinks of this particular tribute band. I’d like to THINK that he’s seen them and ‘signed off’ on them but I get the feeling he hasn’t.