Due to unforeseen complications, my party arrived late to the Dave Matthews concert in Virginia. We ended up arriving in the middle of the second song in the set, "Say Goodbye." "Say Goodbye" is a beautiful song, highlighted by LeRoi Moore's fantastic flute melody, about friends becoming lovers for one night. I was delighted to hear one of my favorite tracks off of Crash. I was traumatized that I only heard half of it. I learned later that DMB opened with "Two Step," also off of Crash; unfortunately, "Two Step" was plagued with technical problems.
The entire evening was fascinating. The set list consisted of almost all of Crash and a few songs from the triple-platinum Under the Table and Dreaming. While Crash had only come out that same day, the sold out crowd danced and sang along with Matthews throughout just about every song. Matthews used to perform weekly in Richmond and Charlottesville, where a great deal of the audience had already been exposed to many of the "newly released" songs. "Two Step" and "Drive In Drive Out," known to many bootleg owners as "Celebrate" and "Smelly Shoes" respectively have been fan favorites for years. The deep grooving "So Much To Say" (which also happens to be my personal favorite) has also been on bootlegs for quite some time. Another fan-favorite,"Tripping Billies" first appeared on the DMB self-released album Remember Two Things which has gone on to sell more than 350,000 copies. "Satellite," "Typical Situation," and what seemed like a 20 minute version of "Jimi Thing" represents some of the selections from Under the Table.
The familiarity of the older songs and the first single "Too Much," which cluttered airwaves in the weeks preceding the concert, created a strong rapport between the band and the 10,000 members of the audience. Before this show, I didn't think it possible to have an intimate concert with 10,000 people. I was wrong. Matthews' playful (and eccentric) stage demeanor fueled the audiences feel-good fire. In turn, Matthew's & Co. fed off of the audience's strong reaction to their Virginia homecoming. The purple, red, and green lighting and the exceptionally painted backdrops only added to the electric atmosphere of the concert.
The concert lasted about two and a half hours which included the five song encore. During the encore, Matthews stated the exhaustion of the band at playing such a long concert after such a long hiatus from their regular touring. He repeatedly mumbled something to the extent of "it feels like we've been up here for three years ... we're kinda tired." Following this mumble session, Matthews proceeded to break a string on his Chet Atkins model Gibson guitar while performing a solo version of "Typical Situation." With Carter Beauford on Drums and Stefan Lessard on Bass, Matthews (somewhat stream-of-consciously) told a story about a personal escapade in New York which turned into an improvised song with band members looking to each other for cues. They closed the show with a full band, high energy version of "Tripping Billies," with Boyd Tinsley's monstrous fiddle solo leading the way. DMB's return to Richmond was essentially a huge celebration. A good time was had by all, performers and audience and even ushers.
Unfortunately, whenever a band becomes remotely popular outside their local regions, some fans scream and yell. Apparently, a number of DMB "Fans" have been crying "sell out" and "big-evil major label!" This has been in response to some of the different things Dave Matthews and Co. experimented with on Crash such as baritone sax, flute, more electric guitar, louder louds and softer softs, etc. Heaven forbid that they might expand as artists and try something different. I applaud their willingness to take a risk, however drastic or meager it might seem. Crash is every bit as solid (if not more so) as its predecessors. While I'm extremely fond of the Recently EP, I think Crash is the best DMB release yet.
