Today, I am going to talk about the Dave Matthews Band and how I became a fan and how that flame burned brightly until in began to dwindle and eventually went out. I am no longer a fan and not interested in seeing DMB perform, even if I was paid to see them. Maybe I would go see them if I could write the setlist and the band performed it. But that is never going to happen, so let me just tell you how it went down.
At Deer Creek in 1992, I went to see the Dead with an old friend. He lost his walet and wanted to go home. I offered to pay for everything. We ended up staying, but he was beside himself. I didn't have fun at the shows because the scene was full of beggars and people trying to sell ice-cold plastic bags. It was a joke. The younger fans didn't know any better and would yell during the band's jams or sing while the band was performing. I had not yet written off Phish. I went to see Phish a bunch in 1992 and 1993. I liked most of the songs, but some just seemed stupid. I remember that the Spin Doctors opened up for a few of their shows. I don't remember a lot about those shows, but remember that I had a good time. About 1993, my friend was regularly giving me Phish tapes and I still have a bunch of them today. What happened basically was that I didn't like the Phish fan base. They all seemed like "The Corduroy Kids," who were living on family money and trying to chase the scene. I gave up on Phish and stuck with the Dead. Well, that lasted until Jerry died in 1995. I was really disappointed at the way things went down with the Dead. I continued to listen to the music and I certainly had my favorite shows that I listened to over and over, first on tape, then on CD, finally on iPod.
I had never even heard of the DMB in 1995. A friend of mine gave me their first disc "Under The Table and Dreaming" and I listened to it often. I really liked it a lot and sought out some of their older music. I learned about the band and really liked their sound. I went to see them in 1996 and became hooked. They had a sound unlike any other that I had heard. I did not really notice the large allegiance of frat kids, nor did I care. The music made me happy. I started getting SBDs of old shows and of new shows. RCA was just beginning to crack down on SBDs, but allowed regular taping. I started seeing tons of DMB shows, including the Bela and DMB run in Winter 98. I was having a blast. The band began promoting its fan club, The Warehouse, and things began to run amuck. People were singing so loudly over the band, even from my 3rd row seats. There were fights in the parking lots and fights to get out of the venue. People seemed pushy. Meanwhile, the band's music began to change after "Crash" and it was not changing in a good way for me. I began noticing that the band was not playing its old stuff as much and began paying homage to its touring CD. They would play 8 songs off of their new CD at every show. On the years when there was no CD, it was better, but the band still played their newer stuff.
We began to see the same shows every year and would occasionally travel to other places to see the band, but mostly we were in a routine over the summer. It was great seeing Dave and Friends, which included Trey and Tim Reynolds. That was the jam!! But, by 2004, we were growing increasingly discontent with the overall shows. There were song highlights, but overall shows were not what they used to be. I tried to keep going and I did for many years, thinking that it was going to be different this year. It never was. So, I goty backstage and had a drink with Dave in 1999. By the time I had gotten ripped off by the Warehouse membership and then gotten my lame upper pavilion seats, I really didn't want to go that much. 2005-2007 were years that didn't do much for me. In 2008, the band invited Tim Reynolds on tour and it seemed like the band was stepping it up a notch, covering Neil Young and Pink Floyd, even The Talking Heads. So, I was very discontented by late 2008 when the band just didn't seem to do it for me. I had grown tired of them, plain and simple. Listening to a show from 1995 seemed like a foreign band because there was no chance that the band was going to take risks like it once did. So many songs annoyed me because either I had heard them too many times or because I didn't like watching people cuddle at shows. So, when Phish announced that it was doing a three run show at Hampton, I naturally decided to try to get tickets.
I got tickets. I went to the shows. I mingled with the crowd. I could feel the excitement each night. It was palpable the first night when the band came on stage. By the third night, I was sold on a new band. I could call this band home. They cared about how they sounded and they wanted to play old songs for their fans, even though they sprinkled in a new one or two. But "Backwards Down The Number Line" was such a great song and was so great to hear, that I didn't care if it was overplayed in 2009. Meanwhile, I went to a few DMB shows in 2009 and I had lost my feeling for the band. I could tell that they were good musicians, but their music had changed. It became background music for ABC College Football. The band had completely sold out. In all of my years, I saw 99 shows. I do not plan to see them for the 100th time. I just can't take it. There was a lot of good times with great friends at DMB shows, but I have moved on. I just had no spark left for them. When I compared the $90 that I paid for crappy seats to see DMB to the $50 that I paid to sit front row, or 3rd row closest to the stage to see Phish, there was no comparison. Even when Phish played songs that I didn't know, I still enjoyed myself because I knew that I was not going to hear several songs that I disliked and I knew that I was going to be blown away by Phish's in sync jamming and improvising. I am not comparing DMB to Phish and trying to say which is better. I am merely saying that I got totally burned out on DMB and feel like they were going in a different way than I was. They are still going that way. It is great if they want to just play new music and continue to evolve on their specific course, but I did not and do not want to go along. Without Phish, I would be looking for a band, like Umphrey's McGee. They are great, but are not Phish. I want to try The Disco Biscuits, but am very much immersed in Phish. I find that Phish touches many of those exploratory places that the Dead's early music touched and that Phish tries hard to give the fans what they want. I am all for a band that stays in touch with it fans--something not even the Dead did. Even when I listen to a fantastic "Scarlet>Fire," I still can't help but think about some of the awesome jams that Phish pulls out of the sky. They do not keep things safe by playing similar, but different, shows. They play totally different from one night to the next, always leaving fans wanting more.
Maybe you were a closet DMB fan or you just blew them off completely. Maybe you always thought the Dead were not your sort of thing. I can understand any one's point of view. I hope that you can understand mine. I chose to follow DMB and feel like it reached its peak and then just fizzled out. I rarely even listen to Dead shows anymore, and I have all of them, mostly SBDs. I have found a new band and am going to stay loyal until I have had enough--which I hope won't be for a long time.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment