Dave Matthews Band!!!.....? (Live at Central Park)

[Da LadY In Red]

Hey guys, I've been listening to Dave Matthews Band more than I'd like lately. Apparently, he's a hot item amonst my age of teenages, so everywhere, all the time, it's Dave.

After some extensive listening to his cd Some Devil, my views were changed. He actually seemed, gasp, good! Here were some deep, catchy songs.

This period of enlightenment came to an aburpt end last night however. I watched DMB at Central Park on DVD, I believe. They are not the musicians I thought that most of them are. Dave Matthews can still sure as hell sing and play acoustic like a mofo, but I was utterly disappointed by the sax and violin. More times than one, I could tell they were playing straight from the heart, but they had some TERRIBLE musical ideas. I mean, there's more you can do with a violin than always resort to 2 alternating notes in a straight 8th note rhythm. There were simply too many awkward moments where the solos/lead sounded like ABSOLUTE POO POO. POO POO I TELL YOU. I've aso come to the realization that most EVERY song is acoustic riff rock. I thought there was a little more originality in DMB. I think that I was unfortunately wrong.

Am I making too fast of a revelation, or is there someone else who saw this dvd and thought it was TERRIBLE? Anyone at all?

[ZenderBender]

Two years late, but yeah. That's the thing about DMB. If they cut out the sax and the violin, DMB might be passable. Both Carter and Stefan are solid players, but with those guys, it is a dealbreaker. I mean, it's just the most cliched stuff over and over and over and over and over again ad nauseum. That being said, their studio stuff is okay because of the magic of Pro Tools at correcting glaring deficiencies in the players. DMB is a spectacle, and that's why it keeps on selling.


Also, just as a side note, "Some Devil" is a Dave solo album, so in fact, you were listening to different musicians than on the DVD. it features a more solid overall group. While the monster chops of Carter are gone, you gain Trey Anastasio, for example. Whereas with DMB, 85% of the talent is in Carter (the drummer). Stefan (the bassist) gets maybe 10% and the rest of the band gets 5%. There are huge discrepancies.

[capnsandwich]

I think the beauty of DMB lies in the song writing and not the musicianship. I know CB is a great drummer for them and Stefan Lessard is a very good groove-oriented bassist but Dave and the other two are just average musicians, no better than some of the local bands you hear at festivals and clubs. I believe that their songs have given them the popularity that they've received over the last 2 decades, not their musicianship. Now you have to be good enough to play that type of music but their music isn't that hard to play, especially for a bassist. It just goes to show you that the 3 ingredients to making it out there are stage presence, song writing, and luck. Who needs t go to Berklee when you have those 3 things?

[logicman69]

I'll agree there. My band does several DMB covers as a 3 piece (Acoustic Guitar, Drums, Bass) and the sax/violin parts are rarely missed.

[Mark Wilson]

The most amazing thing about DMB is definitely Dave's lyrics.
I'm not Stefan's biggest fan AT ALL.
but the whole band has an incredible interaction.
Also, Carter RIPS those skins apart.