Sure, I know what some of you are thinking. It’s Dave Matthews Band, that Grateful Dead rip-off jam band that plays for drunken preppy frat boys, souped up sorority girls and wanna-be hippie potheads. While there is truth in that statement, those stereotypes say nothing about the power and intensity of their music. On Wednesday, April 24, the Dave Matthews Band played to a sold-out Gund Arena in Cleveland, and proved why the fans keep coming back for more — the music.
After failing to play a show in the Cleveland area during last summer’s 53-show tour, the band was well overdue for a visit to the great rock’n’roll city. Having to wait for a year and a half to be graced with the magical presence of these six musicians must have built up a lot of tension, because when the lights in the arena went out, 20,000 rabid fans let loose a mighty scream.
Wearing a simple button down shirt and brown slacks, Dave Matthews took the stage with his band: drummer Carter Beauford, violinist Boyd Tinsley, saxophonist Leroi Moore, bassist Stephan Lessard and keyboardist Butch Taylor. “Hello, how are you doing today?” Dave sang as he opened the show with the song “Granny,” a favorite among fans everywhere who joyfully sing the chorus “Love! Baby!”
Dave and his boys, still riding on the successes of their latest album, Everyday, weren’t afraid to pull out the hard stuff early as they busted out the hit single “I Did It.” It may not be the favorite song of a majority of fans (except the young, naïve ones), but after being road tested last summer, it has improved slightly.
The band quickly redeemed itself with their masterpiece “Grey Street,” a song that was on the original 2000 sessions recorded with longtime producer Steve Lillywhite. Known by fans as “The Summer So Far” and “The Lillywhite Sessions,” these songs were later scrapped for the electric, poppy sounds of Everyday. (Because of outcry from the fans, the band is re-releasing the newly named sessions, Busted Stuff, hitting stores July 16).
The band followed with the first 2002 performance of “Crash,” the lovely, sexual ballad from the band’s 1996 album of the same name. As usual, the women in the audience went wild. Fans were treated to an old favorite, “Jimi Thing,” and Cleveland roared at hearing the lyrics: “smoke my mind; make me feel better for a small time…” as the smell of refreshing herbal toxins filled the arena. The 15-minute jam was one of the many highlights of the evening. Dave Matthews Band was on fire that night, and the band members seemed to be in high spirits, joking with each other between songs. Dave was more talkative than usual, and the crowd delighted in his incoherent babbling, “Heeeey…thank y’all very much Cleveland…I, uh, hope ya’ll are feeling fiiiiiine…yeah yeah do-op-op-op de-scooby do-op dop dop be bo ba-be-do!”
“Too Much,” the band’s funky single off Crash, got everyone in the house jumping and singing, especially when Dave changed the lyrics from “suck it up, suck it up” to “fuck it up, fuck it up.” (For some reason fans delight in hearing Dave swear.) Dave had his trademark dance going throughout — legs flailing and bouncing all over the stage — and Cleveland erupted whenever the giant TV screens above the stage captured his fancy footwork.
The band then calmed things down and went into a hypnotic rendition of “Seek-Up,” giving each of the band members a chance to shine as they took solos, feeding off one another’s musical ideas. The song slowly faded out after a lengthy 17-minute jam.
Throughout the two hour and 15 minute set, the band offered up a variety of old favorites like “The Stone” and “Drive in Drive Out”; newer songs like “What You Are,” “The Space Between” and “When the World Ends; and the soon to be released “Where are you Going,” a beautiful ballad reminiscent of the Crash era.
At 14 songs into the set, the band rocked the Gund with one of the most blistering versions of “Ants Marching” ever. From the first sounds of Carters drums, through Leroi’s sax flourishes and Boyd’s amazing violin solos, Stefan’s solid bass grooves, Butch’s counter-melodies and the closing lyrics “lights down, you up and diiiiiiiiiiiiiie…yeeeeeeeeeeeeeah!!!” the fans were in a frenzy — dancing and singing, hoping for just a little longer to soak in the mind-blowing atmosphere that hung in the air all around them.
As the band walked off stage, the crowd’s incessant cheers grew louder and the arena was filled with the glow of lighters, twirling glow-sticks and chants for “D-M-B! D-M-B!” Matthews humbly walked on stage five minutes later and played a solo rendition of Willie Nelson’s “Ain’t it Funny How the Time Slips Away.” Soon after he finished, another roar from the crowd echoed through the arena as the other band members took the stage for the final song of the evening. For the past two Cleveland shows DMB has closed with the funky duo of “Pantala Naga Pampa” and “Rapunzel.” Sure enough, they offered it up once again, and, let’s just say third time’s the charm. “Rapunzel,” the funky love song from Before These Crowded Streets jammed, and jammed…and JAMMED! Dave was dancing from one end of the stage to the next (he nearly tripped over his feet, he was dancing so much), and the crowd ate up the energy the band fed them. Dave and Co.’s closing performances were just breathtaking.
The entire show was amazing to say the least. Although the set list didn’t have a good sense of cohesiveness, the band did a great job of mixing it up — incorporating songs from all of their albums. The band lost the interest of the crowd during some of the more unfamiliar songs, but regained their attention with powerful tunes like “Grey Street,” “Jimi Thing,” “Ants Marching” and “Rapunzel.” Like any show, there were highlights and lowlights, but in the world of DMB, the lowlights are still damn good.
“I do my best for you,” Dave sang during the encore of “Rapunzel.” Yes, Dave. I agree. You guys always do.