REVIEW: Dave Matthews Band, Live At Red Rocks 8.24.95 (RCA)
- Lang Whitaker
Live/concert albums are often like Saturday Night Live sketches- they seem like a great idea whenever they are hatched into production, but by the time the finished product rolls along, it is often disappointing. It's no surprise, really. Without the luxury of overproducing in the studio and having any number of musicians available to call upon, it is difficult to replicate in a live setting the sound that the public has embraced. As a result, many artists either play live using taped tracks instead of live musicians (common in the R&B genre), or they just don't perform live at all.
However, there are some times when it does work. It takes not only the right band but also the right style of music. With the Dave Matthews Band, it works, and it works very well.
Playing their own brand of improvisation laced jazz/folk/rock/worldbeat fusion, DMB has sewn their seed all over the U.S. in the past few years through incessant touring, word of mouth, and by allowing their fans to record (and later trade tapes within their thriving underground network) their live shows. The only problem with this formula is one that has arisen in the past two or three years. As the technology level of the fans has progressed, CD's of live shows were being mass produced and sold at Mom and Pop record shops all around the country. In order to fight this burgeoning industry, DMB recently announced plans to release a CD series of old concerts from their archives on RCA, which not only puts more music out there for the hardcore DMB fans that had refused to buy the bootleg CD's, but the CD series will also begin drawing milk from a cash cow just now being milked by the cluster of granola bands known for their live shows and intensly loyal, bong-addled fans (Phish, Widespread Panic, DMB).
Releasing the concert they chose for the first CD is somewhat of a dubious choice. Not that it isn't a good collection, because it is an excellent CD. It is curious because there are many other shows surviving on tape that are much more phenomenal. Maybe DMB was simply trying not to set the bar too high for themselves right off the bat.
The two discs of Live at Red Rock contain material that encompasses not only most of DMB's studio work, but also several fan favorites never before released. The vertical jam of "#36", a tribute to slain South African apartheid activist Chris Hani, and the elderly love song "Granny" both make their official debut, although both have been passed around from taper to taper too many times to be counted. Also included is the encore standard of "All Along the Watchtower", which DMB reworks into a cover that ranges from plaintive to powerful.
Dave Matthews also contributes a solo, acoustic version of "Typical Situation", on which his fantastic guitar playing is featured. It's rare that a rhythm guitar player is so universally hailed, but once you hear Matthews' inflections and interpretations, it makes sense. Part of the Dave Matthews legend is that he never learned any chords on the guitar, instead figuring out for himself which notes sounded good together. It's that self-taught rawness that rings loud, clear, and sweet in the echo of Matthews' guitar.
Providing counterpoint and melodies to Matthews' guitar are the violin playing of Boyd Tinsley and the reed work of Leroi Moore, two completely contrasting styles that go in the same direction. Tinsley is probably the only 6'2", dreadlocked, black violin player in modern rock and roll. His lively playing is complemented in a live setting by his happy feet. He doesn't so much play music as he seems to channel it - his body flailing and swinging around in time to the rhythms. His electricity translates well, as you can hear the crowd responding to Tinsley's antics. His solos on songs like "Ants Marching" and "Tripping Billies" are tight. On the other hand, Moore is a sedentary figure that stays planted in place during the live shows. It's kind of surprising, because the level of his saxaphone and flute work is often below the levels that Tinsley and Matthews generate. On slower songs, like "Lover Lay Down", Moore seems very much at home.
The unifying force behind DMB is the drumming of Carter Beauford. Blessed with ambidexterity beyond reproach, Beauford's jazz origins allow him to interpret the basic rock rhythms of some songs ("Too Much", "Tripping Billies") in new and nuclear ways. Other songs that are more complex really allow Beauford to glow from behind his kit. For example, the 6/4 lope of "Proudest Monkey" provides plenty of room for Beauford to run all over the place, while always being back at home by the downbeat. Also, check out Beauford's two-minute drum solo that kicks off "#36". Bassist Stefan Lessard's reserved groove is the perfect complement to Beauford's electric style. Lessard is always in the pocket and never gets in the way of the myriad of things going on in between all of the instruments.
The show from Live at Red Rocks is atypical from most DMB shows in several ways. To begin with, Dave Matthews has always had a penchant for what his fans have come to call Dave-speak, a nervous, unintelligible stream of consciousness that would spew forth with the regularity of Old Faithful from Matthews between songs. Curiously, there is very little, if any, of that. I don't know if it was edited out or whether Matthews was just off kilter that night, but for whatever reason, the Dave-speak is missing.
Another surprise about the LARR disc is that the wee Tim Reynolds, the studio guitarist who contributes to all of the DMB albums, plays with the band that night. His presence infuriates many fans, who point out that he is not officially in the band. However, who cares. Reynolds is a virtuostic guitarist, and he doesn't clog up the sound at all.
All in all, Live At Red Rocks is a wonderful testament to everything that makes DMB so great, as well as a good stepping stone towards the next live release.
