Roi Bomb

When we reflect on 4 years since the passing of LeRoi Moore, it seems like only yesterday that I was watching Roi perform at Hersheypark Stadium. Little did I know, that show would be not only the last time I would see him on stage, but the second to last show he would ever play. Sometimes tragic events like this need to happen to remind us, as humans, nothing should ever be taken for granted. Time is one of those things that can play to our advantage or be completely evil, but ultimataly our time on this earth is very short.

With tragedy comes change, almost always unwanted, but with the right attitude, change can be good. Clearly there is nothing we would love more than to hear the sweet sound of LeRoi’s saxophone again, and thankfully we do have memories and a pile of tapes to listen to.  

This past Sunday twitter and facebook feeds blew up with overwhelming love for LeRoi as we honored and reflected on his life and great music he gave us. Twitter was blowing up with “Roi Bombs”, as Stefan Lessard puts it.

Stefan briefly described a “Roi Bomb”, but this morning posted a more detailed description of this terminology.

“One day after the first iPhone were in all our hands LeRoi Moore asked to see my phone. I reluctantly handed it to him. He opened up the sticky notes and began to type viciously without looking at the phone, he just stared at me while hitting my phone like Jack Karouac on a typewriter. He handed me back the phone and said Roi Bomb!! Then he walked away.

On my screen, there was a mess of letters and numbers, it made no sense but I wish I had saved it. We honor LeRoi with our Roibombs here, but make sure your Roi bombs to be true Roi bombs are typed without looking at the phone. That is a true Roi Bomb. Spread the knowledge.”

What a beautiful memory of a friend and how gracious of Stefan to share and spread the love with fans.

The state of the band was understandably in question after the death of LeRoi, and while “Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King” served as their of tribute to Roi, on September 11th will come the release of “Away From The World”, which will be the first studio recorded album without any contribution from LeRoi.  

Whatever your actions or thoughts are when reflecting on LeRoi Moore’s life, it is the little things like a “Roi Bomb” that can make it a little easier to cope. Dave Matthews Band will never be the same without LeRoi, however they are coping and moving forward. DMB reuniting with producer Steve Lillywhite gives fans plenty of reasons to be anticipating the new material. 

We are excited for the future of DMB, but we never forget many of the elements that brought Dave Matthews Band to where they are today. 

You can find an abundance of performances with LeRoi Moore in on our MP3 page. If you would like to dig a little deeper, LeRoi was featured on other various non-DMB albums through the years. Most notably, Code Magenta and "In November Sunlight", by Soko (now Sokoband). Jazz fusion at it's best and worth checking out.