I didn't want to post anything about the article until I had read the full story. Incidentally, you can find it at: http://www.antsmarching.org/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=25605 I think it actually is an article that tries to find controversy where there is none. Some interesting things that stood out: <i> Everyday is tight, bright and commercial; it has sold 3.3 million copies since its release in February 2001. “But it is not”, Beauford says, "the Dave Matthews Band. It is two people" -- Matthews and Ballard - "and they did an incredible job."</i> This is particularly interesting. Carter has always been the most outspoken member of the band, and this is in stark contrast to his comments when the CD was first made. But I think it's basically what many DMB fans have felt since the album came out. <i>“It’s not that we’re not friends,” Lessard insist. But what you see on stage is “five completely different people pulling together to make something work. You’re not watching a bunch of best buddies.”</i> Taken out of context, you'd think they maybe aren't really friends at all. That Stefan is trying to convince everyone (even himself) that they like eachother. But if you look at it in the context of the article, and the context of the whole DMB "world", this really isn't too big of a statement. Stefan is referring to the fact that they weren't really a bunch of great friends who came together to make a band. Instead, they really didn't know eachother too well, and they came together, each from a different background, to make a great band. It's not like Guster where some friends just decided to play music, and they all had the same vision and background. Each member of DMB has had a very different musical past, and they were all kindof recruited by Dave Matthews. Now, they are great friends. Not "bestest buddies", but great friends. <i>On tour, Matthews, Lessard, Tinsley, Moore and Beauford travel in separate buses – for comfort, to accommodate friends and family, and because they can afford it. Lessard says Beauford likes to split the venue immediately after the last note of the encore: “But I like to stay for at least an hour and hang with the crew, watch them load out.”</i> They started this some time late last year or early this year I think. I could be wrong though. But they make enough to each take separate caravans of busses. I read someone's account of Carter's bus and WOW it is fantastic. It's all about comfort. Traveling as much as that will grate on you. Having your own bus is a nice way to travel in style. <i>“The time when we hang out together the most is onstage,” says Tinsley in his San Grancisco hotel room one afternoon, surrounded by remains of his room-service breakfast. “That’s the time.” All five members wear earpiece monitors during the show, and between songs Matthews often turns his back to the crowd, yakking and laughing with the others through a small microphone clipped to his shirt. “We’re just joking,” Tinsley says, “cutting each other down, pointing out some girl in the front row. The audience doesn’t know. It’s between us.</i> Considering they spend about 2 hours a day on stage, then the soundcheck which is usually at least an hour (often more), they spend a lot of time together up there. Not that they don't hang out elsewhere, but that's where they get the most total group time. Getting five people together all at the same time is difficult <i>“It’s an unusual band,” he concedes, “one that is probably not supposed to work. Others look at it, see three black guys and two white guys, and wonder what the hell is going on. Not only that, there’s a violin and a saxophone. They’re seeing all these peripheral things.”</i> One time someone emailed me asking for my help on a paper he was writing about DMB. This is EXACTLY what I told him was so special about the band. That it shouldn't work. A violin is never a primary part of a rock band, and putting it with a saxophone is even stranger. But that's why it's so great! It's so different. <i>Beauford says Tinsley was the front man in the Dave Matthews Band’s club-and-frat-party days: “A lot of people thought Boyd Tinsley was Dave Matthews, because he was talking all the time. Dave never spoke at all. But he was doing the singing and writing – he had to step up. We convinced him and told him that when he did speak to the crowd, make sure it was very little. Don’t give them a speech, just ‘Thank You.’” Eleven years later, that’s still pretty much what Matthews says, every fourth or fifth song each night.</i> I think this is THE most interesting part of the article. If you listen to some of the old concerts from 91 and 92, you'll hear Boyd talking to the crowd. Even in 93 you'll hear him some. But contrary to the article's statements, once Dave started speaking, he actually started talking an awful lot. Even at full band concerts. But Mostly just at the Dave and Tim concerts. There is a TON of "davespeak". When the band was formed in Charlottesville, Boyd Tinsley was probably the most important member. Boyd had his own band called the "Boyd Tinsley Band" which basically was a precursor to DMB. It was a rock band with the violin as the principal instrument. The band actually gained a little following in Charlottesville, playing at frat-parties, and in bars. There are some recordings of them still around on the net. I have one from 91 that is pretty bad quality, but still pretty cool to have. The two songs "Angel from Montgomery" and "True Reflections" came from that band. <i>On the patio in Sausalito, Matthews considers the magnitude of his success and the expectation dead ahead. He shivers slightly, and it’s not from the breeze. “I feel this is definitely a point of change,” he says. When the Dave Matthews Band’s summer tour ends on September 8th at the Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Washington, Tinsley will complete his forthcoming solo album. Lessard is writing songs on his own; Beauford is interested in scoring films. RCA’s Flohr says he’s waiting “for LeRoi to say when he’s got a window open, so I can use him on every session we do. I would have that guy blow a horn on any record out there.” Matthews has no plans other than to keep writing songs at his current home in Seattle, where Ashley is attending graduate school. (He still has a big spread on the James River south of Charleston, on the same country road where Tinsley and Lessard live.) “I’m a bit apprehensive about making the wrong choices,” he admits. “That thought is always in the back of my head – “Are we at the top? Are we finished doing what we do?” “But I’ve never worked as hard at anything as I have with this, at all of us keeping this band together,” Matthews says proudly. “The important place the band holds in my hear – that is something I will never easily walk away from.”</i> And here's where the article REALLY shows through as reaching at things that aren't there. I agree it's a point of change. But I think it's a point of change where the band is becoming mature. Furthermore, we've all noticed how excellently diverse the setlists have been this year. There are many songs that haven't been played, but there are lots of songs that have been resurrected, and there are about 40 or so songs that are in the rotation for this tour. Last year it was only around 20. It's almost as if last year was the detour and this year is back on track. The article seems to try to insinuate that this is the end for DMB, when that's not the case. Everyone has done side projects for some time. Leroi's CD is probably the biggest anyone's done, but it's certainly not a precursor to apocalypse. He's played with other bands before as a guest. I know he's done others before, but off the top of my head I can think of the Samples as one band he's guested with on occasion. Carter joined Dave on the Santana CD. Leroi has guested with other bands before, and he'll keep doing it. Stefan has been doing as much/more than anyone else. He played Bass on both of the <a href="http://www.devonmusic.com">Devon</a> CDs, and he produced the second one. And as for Dave writing the songs, he's always been the primary songwriter. He usually comes up with the premise, and the band goes from there. Everyday was a departure, where he and Ballard wrote out every note of music and presented it to the band. Last November there was a rumor going around the net that DMB was going on a 2 year hiatus. I think they may do a smaller tour next year, but you never know. They've pretty much cut out the winter tour, and there have been rumblings for some time of another Dave and Tim tour coming soon. Each member has been doing side projects for some time, and they will keep doing them. Some of these are a bit larger than usual, but not tremendously so. Next year, they'll schedule a tour, and we'll all be in line buying our tickets and T-shirts and this will all be forgotten. This article is the typical sensational reporting that you see in the media all the time. They are just trying to sell magazines by putting a controversial spin somewhere. If they were just to put up an article "DMB is doing well", I wouldn't have read it, and many people wouldn't have cared. But now it's "DMB members aren't friends and they are going to break up" -- they are trying to create that message behind the lines so it creates a buzz around the magazine. Not the first time it's been done, and it won't be the last either. Ultimately, the band can't keep going forever. Just like the songs say "all good things must come to an end sometime" and "everything good needs replacing". But I think they will go for quite a bit longer, a la Grateful Dead, rather than just kindof giving up the ghost like Phish. BTW, in speaking to the "point of change", the band played "Proudest Monkey" tonight. We'll see if it comes back.
You are the freaking man, Vengeance!!!! thanks for the words of assurance...i'm getting the rolling stone from a relative who has a subscription. you have any of the older concerts when boyd was the front man?? was he more engaging with the audience than dave is? i bought the CD where leroi and dave are featured as guests...November something...i read some reviews of it online and it sounded great. i love jazz music.... have you ever heard any of the Code Magenta (isn't that what it's called) cd that features leroi?? seriously...what a great band...i'm glad i'm alive to enjoy them!
Hey, thanks for the kind words guys. I hope I'm right about the article, but it just fits. Another thing I thought of is that DMB's record deal with RCA is up, and they are going to release on their own in the future if I'm not mistaken. Rolling Stone is just a mouthpiece for the RIAA, and I'm sure that RCA is none too happy about DMB's decision. Why not float some FUD out there to hurt the fanbase . . . Oh, and to throw some rumors back at the article, there have been rumors of the band beginning the next CD this fall. They've already got a few new songs in the hopper (Gravedigger, Loving Wings, etc.). I do have some concerts with Leroi as the front-man. If you want them, I'd be glad to burn them for you. I'm not sure how many I have like that -- I have to listen. I got Code Magenta a month ago, and I'm just listening to it now. It is very avant-garde. VERY VERY VERY different. It features Greg Howard who is just one of my VERY favorite musicians, Leroi Moore who we all know about, and Dawn Thompson reading poetry and doing some other vocals. It is very hard to describe. I would definitely get it, but I wouldn't buy it expecting something that you'll listen to like any other regular CD. If you like Greg Howard, you'll recognize the parallels between his solo music. Leroi is featured throughout, but this is largely Greg Howard's work. It really is unique. I mean, I've done 2 paragraphs and I haven't said what it sounds like, and I don't know if I can. I suppose the best description would be layers of sound with a new-age type of attitude about it. Find it on ebay for $6 or 7, and it's worth it. I got mine at Wherehouse music, in the used section for $4.99. Definitely worth it.
