Article Archives

September 28th, 2007

 
There are two good reasons why Dave Matthews, one of the most consistently uncompromising artists in or out of rock, rarely submits to interviews. He doesn't need to and doesn't like to, so why bother?

“Generally, it's along the lines of 'What's your favorite color?' or 'What brings you to Boston?' ” he said from a tour stop last week in North Carolina with his group, the Dave Matthews Band (or DMB for short).

“Because of what it is, 'rock journalism,' like much of the other mainstream media, is an attempt to sell an oversimplified, nicely packaged vision of the world that will be palatable and easy to travel, when the truth is far more confusing. I can assure anyone that gets their news from the mainstream media that there's a far more inspirational, complex and breathtaking world out there than the one portrayed to us in general by the purveyors of information.”

The inspiration and confusion of everyday life make Matthews thrive, on and off stage. His success as the leader of one of the few bands anywhere that can consistently fill stadiums and large outdoor venues like Coors Amphitheatre in Chula Vista, where they perform tonight, has made it even less necessary for him to speak to the press.

September 27th, 2007

September 25th, 2007

John Schreiber

 
If you weren't in Fort Worth Saturday night watching a certain football game, chances are you were at the Dave Matthews Band concert at the Smirnoff Music Centre in Fair Park.

In front of a sold-out crowd of over 20,000, Matthews and his band played a crowd-pleasing, three-hour set filled with a mix of old favorites, a few new, unreleased songs and a whole lot of energetic jams.

With a crowd ranging from teenagers to mothers of teenagers, the Dave Matthews Band had the unique challenge of appeasing its wide scope of fans. The band, which has been touring almost every year since its formation in the early '90s, undertakes this task masterfully.

The band started things off slowly with the new tune "A Dream So Real," a darker song characteristic of the band's older albums. Although a decent song, it failed to start off the concert with enough energy. However, the tempo picked up a bit as the band jammed out to a 20-minute version of "Seek Up," complete with lively solos from violinist Boyd Tinsley and trumpet player Rashawn Ross (of Robert Randolph & the Family Band).

September 9th, 2007

Reported by: Duffie Dixon

Dave Matthews Band was the headline act for The Green Concert at Piedmont Park on Saturday, September 8, 2007. The event helped raise more than $1 million for the park's expansion, which is set to begin later this fall.

The special guest who joined Dave Matthews Band was Georgia's own The Allman Brothers Band, who last played in the Park more than 30 years ago with the Grateful Dead and Delaney & Bonnie. The sold out concert drew more than 50,000 fans and with absolutely no parking on-site or in surrounding neighborhoods, concert organizers urged everyone to take MARTA, walk or bike to get to the park.

The Green Concert for Piedmont Park was the latest in a series of special concerts Dave Matthews Band has played to benefit some of the United States' most treasured parks, including New York City's Central Park and San Francisco's Golden Gate Park.

"As a band, we've always found playing in an historic park to be a remarkable experience," said Dave Matthews. "Given Piedmont Park's rich legacy of outdoor concerts, we're particularly honored to be chosen along with The Allman Brothers Band to help the Conservancy expand the park."

September 7th, 2007

By Anna L. Mallory and Greg Esposito
 The Roanoke Times

BLACKSBURG -- Making "good memories."

Dave Matthews had that goal in mind for the more than 50,000 people packed into Lane Stadium on Thursday night, and with the strumming of a guitar, a steady stadium "wave" and a few "Let's Go, Hokies" chants, it seemed he got his wish.

Matthews brought his band and joined John Mayer, Nas and Lynchburg native Phil Vassar in Blacksburg for "A Concert for Virginia Tech," a show aimed at bringing together the university community and helping it heal after the April 16 shootings.

"I figure memories are always good to have, and good ones are always the best," Matthews told the crowd at the opening of the show.

About 45,000 students, faculty, staff and first responders to the shootings received free tickets, as did 2007 graduates and victims' families. Late last week, the public was offered $65 tickets.

September 7th, 2007

By Ralph Berrier Jr.

BLACKSBURG -- So why was Bill O'Reilly so upset with Phil Vassar? He seems like a nice guy, so I don't get all the fuss over his lyrics.

What's that? Oh, it was Nas who was supposed to be the controversial guy? Well, Vassar, Nassar, whatever. Nobody was going to ruin this night for the Hokie Nation. Nobody was going to spoil this Concert for Virginia Tech.

Spearheaded by longtime Charlottesville resident and jam-band demigod Dave Matthews, the concert was about as chilled-out an affair as you could have with 50,000 of your closest orange and maroon clad buddies at Lane Stadium. From Vassar's just-happy-to-be-here kickoff to Nas and his defiant raps, from John Mayer's astounding blues-soaked set to the Dave Matthews Band's arena-sized singalongs, the concert provided just what a grieving campus needs -- a sense of peace and community.

"The world should be like this all the time," Mayer said during his 50-minute set.

August 20th, 2007

By Robert Herrington

While Friday evening’s opener was a musical thrill ride which took the audience through tempo peaks and valleys, much of Saturday evening’s Dave Matthews Band show at Verizon Wireless Music Center proved more even keeled and predictable.

Some of the predictability came from DMB concert constants – the show was sold out and the audience was hanging on Matthews’ every guitar strum and vocal projection. The crowd was also treated to an old-fashion concert performance based on impeccable musicianship and not laser light shows and pyrotechnics.

Also, every musician on stage – including all five DMB members and guests Butch Taylor, keyboards, and Rashawn Ross, trumpet – had ample soloing time during the concert.

With DMB, one of the best aspects of its live shows are the different set lists each night – with no two concerts ever the same. While the energy was there on stage, the crowd seemed hit-and-miss with the song selection Saturday. In contrast to Friday’s musical rollercoaster, Saturday was steady and mellow. The band lacked the highs and lows that usually come in its live shows.

Despite playing the fan favorites “Ants Marching” as the set closer and “Two Step” as the encore closer, the crowd seemed too unemotional – with many in the lawn deciding to sit on the ground rather than dance on the hill – to really appreciate the attempt to salvage the show’s energy level.

August 15th, 2007

By CE SKIDMORE

SARATOGA SPRINGS -- Dave Matthews and his namesake band open a show as if they were playing an encore. It’s high-energy and the kids love it.

The air was palpable, heavy with the scent of bug spray and body odor. When Matthews and company took the stage, the crowd moved as a single organism, larger than life and ebbing like the tide.

They loved him. He barely had to speak, as all his words were met with a shrill squeal of approval.

The Dave Matthews Band played to a sold-out crowd Tuesday night at Saratoga Performing Arts Center.

Its music is a folky, jazzy, funky sort with an inexplicable pop star appeal.

Matthews’ hairline is receding. You can see the stubble darken his face as he sings.

August 6th, 2007

HARTFORD - It happens every summer, like traffic on the Cape, and still they come in droves.

The Dave Matthews Band played the Dodge Music Center in Hartford on Saturday night, the first of two sold-out shows at the venue.

Since 1994, when Matthews and his band earned critical and commercial success with their sophomore release "Under the Table and Dreaming," the Dave Matthews Band traveling show has been a staple at summer sheds like the Dodge.

It seems that the audience has eerily remained perpetually young, forever poised in that "last summer before (insert life-changing benchmark here)" of youth.

A nonchalant Matthews opened the show by easing the band into "Best of What's Around," then instantly picked up the pace with "When the World Ends."

He referred to the first several songs as "little love songs." They included "One Sweet World" and "Hunger for the Great Light."

August 5th, 2007

By THOMAS KINTNER | Special to the Courant

Tuesday night's Police show in East Hartford may have been this summer's local buzz event, but multi-night stands by the Dave Matthews Band in front of full houses at the Dodge Music Center in Hartford are the reliable centerpiece of the outdoor concert season in these parts.

Saturday night, the steadily appealing act that has been anchoring the season annually since the 1990s opened this year's stop in town with a fluid program stacked with favorite tunes, and took enough turns and liberties with the material to keep it fresh for an adoring sellout crowd.

The seven-piece band's manner is that of a jam band for listeners with relatively short attentions spans, as it dips and swerves through tunes while avoiding lengthy detours. An opener of "Best of What's Around" was typical of the method, a generally compact delivery of a song in which Matthews' rhythm acoustic guitar-playing and the crisp drum presence of Carter Beauford gave the song's eclectic bob a backbone.