Article Archives

July 8th, 2007

By Erika Hayasaki and Alicia Lozano, Times Staff Writers

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Live Earth, the confederacy of musicians who performed Saturday on all seven continents to highlight the issues of global climate change, featured superstars such as Madonna and the Police entertaining crowds in packed stadiums, but also parka-wearing scientists at an Antarctic research station whose audience included wandering penguins.

Live Earth used the now-familiar template of concerts-for-causes shaped largely by Live Aid, the 1985 famine relief shows. But the 24 hours of music circling the globe Saturday used the Internet and high-definition camera technologies to create a uniquely 21st century event.

Leading up to Saturday, though, Live Earth was also criticized by some for being too vague in its cause or for being a promotional tool for its cofounder, environmental activist Al Gore, the former vice president.

July 8th, 2007

By Dan DeLuca

Inquirer Music Critic

Performers around the world united in song yesterday to help take the heat off the planet. Live Earth, a series of concerts designed to raise awareness of global warming, kicked off its U.S. segment at Giants Stadium in N.J., where Keith Urban and Alicia Keys performed. A2.

But inside Giants Stadium yesterday at the principal American location of a global event that included climate-change consciousness-raising concerts on all seven continents - if you can call a band of scientists called Nunatak performing on an Antarctic ice floe a concert - the gospel of green was in full effect.

On a day that celebrated Gore as a prophet and his Oscar winning film An Inconvenient Truth as a holy text, an impressive array of stadium-sized acts including the Police, Dave Matthews Band, Bon Jovi and Roger Waters did their best to make recycling, using energy-efficient lightbulbs, and turning the heat down seem cool.

July 8th, 2007

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., July 8 – A concert for a cause is more and less than a concert. It’s public relations and proselytizing for the cause, while for the musicians, it’s exposure, validation and a sop to a star’s conscience. Live Earth, the biggest international rock event so far – with concerts on every continent including a small one on Antarctica – was presented as an attempt to save the human race from global warming.

Previous international concerts like Live Aid and Live 8 were about helping other people, while Live Earth, speakers insisted, was in everyone’s self-interest. There’s no need for altruism when your own survival is threatened. And in an era when pop is spectacularly self-absorbed, from the bragging of hip-hop to the whining of emo, Live Earth was perfectly pitched as an appeal to self-preservation.

May 3rd, 2007

SAM KELTON

A full house at the Festival Theatrer gathered to witness the Dave Matthews and his elite backing band in their first visit to Adelaide.

Xavier Rudd and his workshop of bells and whistles warmed the crowd nicely, but there was one man the crowd were waiting for.

From the moment the tiny Matthews walked on stage the vocal crowd were on their feet, even shouting requests before the show had begun.

With the crowd still getting over their anxiety of seeing the U.S. singer/songwriter he jumped right into arguably his most romantic and popular hit Crash Into Me.

With extended jams on every track the band played, the concert lingered on close to three hours, giving the Adelaide crowd even more to be excited about.

April 22nd, 2007

By Lauren Carter

Blame it on the date.

On Friday night, which just happened to read 4/20 on the calendar, Dave Matthews showed up at the Citi Performing Arts Center’s Wang Theatre with a “fever” that put his mind state into question.

Luckily, Matthews’ condition didn’t affect his performance skills, and fans who are in college, recently graduated or wished they were still there got a three-hour dose of acoustic Matthews backed only by longtime collaborator Tim Reynolds.

There was little randomness during the long set. Reynolds would pluck and thrash masterfully on the guitar, Matthews would strum and look pained while singing, the music would generally sound good, and the audience would stand and roar at key points.

In between songs, Matthews would thank Reynolds profusely, apologize for his “fever” and tell stories about smashing pus-filled sacs with a Bible.

March 7th, 2007

By Therese Owen

An awesome night of beautiful music and heroic guitar playing - that sums up the sold-out gig by Dave Matthews at Oxford's New Theatre.

Matthews wowed the audience with old favourites such as Crash and Jimi Thing, as well as a few new gems. His tendency to take the mickey out of himself and others was, as one fan described, "bordering on fairly un-PC stand-up comedy".

Matthews's passionate engagement with the audience was met with ardent calls from fans who pleaded with him to play more often in their cities. And then a lone voice shouted out, "Hoe lyk dit, boetie?" followed by something else muttered in Afrikaans.

March 2nd, 2007

Helen Tither

CHANCES are you've not heard of Dave Matthews. A quick straw poll of, well, everybody before his Manchester gig revealed a grand total of no fans at all among colleagues, family, close friends and even random acquaintances.

Well, turns out he's just a well-kept secret. A decent singer with a come-to-bed voice, some fine songs, a talent for acoustic guitar, and a deadpan sense of humour.

In America, with the Dave Matthews Band, he's something of a superstar - with Grammy nominations, platinum albums, and performances alongside the Rolling Stones.

November 2nd, 2006

By David Ferry

As part of a whirlwind tour of Southern California and Las Vegas, Dave Matthews - minus his titular band and plus guitarist extraordinaire Tim Reynolds - stopped by the Santa Barbara Bowl this weekend and managed to blow the sold-out crowds’ minds both nights.

The show was entirely acoustic, and Matthews performed most of the songs swaying from a simple stool. The set-list for the show was often surprising, and quite simply amazing.

After a less-than-stellar summer tour and a letdown of an album, it was a hell of a treat for any long-term Matthews fan - read: stoner - “Warehouse,” “Two Step,” “Crush” and oh so many other classics in one night of Matthews’ magic.

Matthews and Reynolds started the night off-no opening act, no drunken hellos or anything of the sort-with “#41”. And, although Matthews’ voice won’t hold the high notes for as long anymore, and the rasp in his voice seems to grow with each concert, it was a hell of a way to start the show.

October 22nd, 2006

San Jose Mercury News

The 20th installment of the Bridge School Benefit was about old friends and familiar pleasures. On Saturday, event veterans like Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam and the Dave Matthews Band slipped the event's all-acoustic format on like a well-worn glove, while the most intriguing newbie, industrial rock icon Trent Reznor, struggled on his first try.

What the show at Mountain View's Shoreline Amphitheatre lacked in breakthrough performances and surprise guest stars, however, it made up for with glorious weather and some spirited collaborations between the performers and host Neil Young, especially on an epic 'Cortez the Killer' that closed Matthews' set.

As always, current and former students of the Bridge School, a Hillsborough institution for children with severe physical and speech impairments, lined the back of the stage, accompanied by their parents. Included in this group was Neil and Pegi Young's son Ben, now in his late 20s, the impetus for the school's founding. Ben received a standing ovation when he was introduced, along with the rest of the students, to open the show.

Ben's dad opened and closed the show. Young was in fine voice in his initial three-song set, which closed with a duet with Pegi on 'Comes a Time' -- the two were joined by an American Indian drummer and dancer.

October 2nd, 2006

By Leonard Martinez / El Paso Times

You could forgive the Dave Matthews Band if they wanted to phone in their performance opening for the Rolling Stones tonight at the Sun Bowl. After all, DMB has been a huge headlining act of its own for the past 12 years or so.

DMB didn't phone it in though and gave an outstanding performance.

The last time DMB performed in these parts was 10 years ago as part of the HORDE Festival in Las Cruces.

The band took the stage at 6:45 p.m. for a 10-song set that lasted an hour and 10 minutes.

October 2nd, 2006

BY BRADLEY BAMBARGER Star-Ledger Staff

At first, Saturday's Farm Aid concert in Camden summoned memories of Live 8 in Philadelphia last summer -- memories of underwhelming music and not enough topical urgency on stage. If the stateside Live 8 concert, which aimed to raise awareness of global poverty, wasn't much more than a showbiz party, Farm Aid looked as if it might end up being like a high-end state-fair hootenanny, organic but anonymous. That was until Dave Matthews took the Tweeter Center spotlight early in the evening of the day-long show.

The singer not only riveted the capacity crowd of 25,000 with only his guitar as backup; he spoke to the cause at hand -- family farms and their benefits to our health and planet. He countered conventional wisdom with easy charm, showing that a musician can articulate issues and not fear turning people off. The 39-year-old Matthews -- a member of Farm Aid's board alongside founders Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp and Neil Young, who all performed later -- recalled that before he "wanted to be a fireman, I wanted to be a farmer. ... I even love that smell of manure you get through your car window in the country."

October 2nd, 2006

CAMDEN, New Jersey (Billboard) - While Farm Aid may belong more to co-founders Willie Nelson or Neil Young, it was Dave Matthews alone who filled hundreds of seats at the event's 21st annual show, held Saturday near Philadelphia.

As Matthews performed a solo, mostly acoustic set, his faithful (especially his female devotees) beamed and swayed in the aisles at the Tweeter Center in Camden, N.J., matching him word for word.

Like Young and another co-founder, John Mellencamp, Matthews played a six-song set, kicked off by the bouncy "Everyday" and featuring the solo songs "Gravedigger" and most notably, the delicate electric guitar lullaby "Some Devil."

Following performances from political reggae act Steel Pulse, polka king Jimmy Sturr and jam kingpins Gov't Mule, Matthews was one of the few to address the whole point of the show, in more than two or three words: "Every farm should be run by a family -- people who love the earth," he said, in addition to repeatedly (and jokingly) remarking, "There ain't nothing better than a good tomato."

September 30th, 2006

By RYAN CORMIER, The News Journal

CAMDEN, N.J. — It was July 1985 when Bob Dylan stood on stage at Live Aid in Philadelphia’s JFK Stadium and thought out loud, saying that some of the money raised that day should go to help family farmers pay their mortgages.

Two months later, Farm Aid was born, thanks to founders Willie Nelson, Neil Young and John Mellencamp.

Twenty-one years later, Farm Aid made a homecoming of sorts to the Philadelphia area Saturday, holding its annual fundraising concert at the Tweeter Center in front of a sold out crowd of 25,000.

As always, the show was made up of an eclectic mix of music, from the country rock of Steve Earle and the prolonged jams of Gov’t Mule to the reggae of Steel Pulse and the Tex-Mex sounds of Los Lonely Boys.

September 28th, 2006

in issue 0539 of the HooK.| By Vijith Assar

The tickets for Saturday night's event are labeled "Grand Opening"-- not entirely true, strictly speaking, but forgivable since this weekend's double-shot of DMB introduced Charlottesville's newest venue to at least twice as many fans as any other show it has scheduled for this season.

For 365 days out of the year, the John Paul Jones Arena will cast over 29N the sort of shadow that only a $130 million construction budget can create. It's a tremendous, state-of-the-art facility with the potential to be a fantastic host for both music and sports alike.

But on Saturday night, September 23, none of that matters. As Dave Matthews Band takes the stage for the second their two-night, first-time-in-five-years homecoming shows, drummer Carter Beauford announces himself with a single bass drum hit that vibrates the spleen only slightly less than it does the building, now cowering in fear as it's stripped of its grandeur by the band about to pulverize it.

Sorry, Jacko, but DMB eats venues like you for breakfast.

September 23rd, 2006

BY MELISSA RUGGIERI TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

Dave Matthews strolled out with his bandmates, hugged his acoustic guitar to his chest and waited. For about four minutes, the band wandered around the stage, smiling, pointing at the screeching crowd and simply reveling in their homecoming.

For a guy who earned his first paychecks as a musician playing dingy clubs and making drunken frat boys feel invincible, it was only fitting that Matthews' return to Charlottesville was adjacent to the U.Va. campus.

He and his unwaveringly solid band kicked into the opening "Rapunzel" sounding so crisp that the notes practically broke in midair. For more than two hours last night, the Dave Matthews Band officially christened the new John Paul Jones Arena (which technically opened last month) with a set list that zigzagged through its 15-year career, but always retained a special layer of comfort for a hometown crowd that included Gov. Tim Kaine and his family.

September 13th, 2006

By Mark Brown, Rocky Mountain News

The Dave Matthews Band sauntered onto stage and took its time getting settled into its first song. The crowd didn't mind. It wasn't a concert so much at times as just hanging out. The crowd savored the band, and the band gave back the same vibe. Neither side was in any particular hurry to start or end each song.

It was quite a different feel than when the band was here last summer, playing four intense concerts at Red Rocks (a stand Matthews alluded to early on, thanking the crowd for joining him "up on the hill there"). Tuesday night's show at the Pepsi Center was a high-tech affair with great screens and effects that never took away from the musicianship onstage (and it's worth noting that Matthews offered all this at a fraction of the price other artists do, with tickets at $55).

September 9th, 2006

GROUP SOUNDING, PLAYING BETTER THAN EVER

By Jim Harrington MediaNews

It's odd to think of a two-night stand at Shoreline Amphitheatre asdownsizing for a rock act.

Yet, that's exactly what it was for the Dave Matthews Band when itvisited the 22,000-capacity Mountain View venue on this past Fridayand Saturday nights. That's because the last two times through theBay Area DMB performed at even bigger venues -- drawing some 50,000fans to a free show at Golden Gate Park in 2004 and then performingtwo nights at AT&T Park last year.

Equally odd was that one could see green on the Shoreline lawn --enough green to build a few new duplexes -- as the band took the stageon Friday. That was not only a sign of DMB's dip in popularity as alive act, especially from a few years back when it could sell outmultiple nights at football stadiums, but a clear example of thegeneral downturn in overall concert attendance. Even the biggest actsin the concert industry, of which DMB certainly qualifies as one, arehaving a hard time filling places like Shoreline to capacity.

September 7th, 2006

By Jim Harrington, STAFF WRITER Inside Bay Area

THE Dave Matthews Band isn't quite as popular as it was a few years ago, back in the days when the group could sell out multiple nights at football stadiums. But popularity is just one measure of artistic success. In terms of sheer musicianship, the Dave Matthews Band is currently at the absolute height of its game.

That was the case when the group performed Wednesday night at Raley Field in Sacramento, and it likely will be the case again tonight and Saturday when Dave and pals hit the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View.

It was a warm, clear night, with a full moon in the sky and nary a hint of wind as folks crowded into downtown Sacramento. Although best known as the home of the River Cats — the triple-A affiliate of the Oakland A's — Raley Field is a pretty ideal spot for live music. It's close to many good restaurants and, despite being roughly the same size as a regular amphitheater, it feels intimate. In all, it's a very nice alternative to the nearby Sleep Train Amphitheatre.

September 5th, 2006

By TRAVIS HAY

GEORGE -- Every time the Dave Matthews Band performs at The Gorge Amphitheatre it's one big party, and Sunday night's performance was no exception.

The show was the group's 24th concert at the Central Washington venue, and the set list consisted mostly of deeper album tracks.

The back-to-back performance of "Jimi Thing" and "Tripping Billies" was the closest DMB came to playing any of its singles, and those songs are more fan favorites that radio hits.

The crowd didn't seem to mind the lack of hits and the set list made for a well-rounded and musically varied show. Fans sang and danced along to "Crush," "Can't Stop," "The Dreaming Tree" and other rare delights.

There's no denying Matthews is a talented frontman, and his bandmates elevate the band's live show into something that seemingly transcends music for DMB fans.