Continues from last week's Dave Matthews Band: The Live Releases - Part Two
 By the time 2003 rolled around fans were itching for another Dave and Tim release. It had been four years since anything D&T related was used for either a live album or a bonus cut. With Dave Matthews’ solo album, Some Devil, the crew answered the call from fans by putting together a companion disc that was a collection of random live performances of the freshly settled ’03 D&T tour.
Also, answering further demands of Warehouse Fanclub members receiving special treatment for years of loyalty, the crew put together three different versions of this compilation bonus disc,. One version would have five tracks, the other would have 7, and the special 3rd version for Warehouse fanclub members who pre-ordered Some Devil would receive a 9 track compilation disc of those ’03 D&T performances. “Drive In Drive Out”, “When The World Ends” and “Grey St.” were songs that had yet to be released in an acoustic setting but finally got their chance here.
 The crown jewel of the entire compilation rests with “Stay Or Leave,” a song that Dave had written and recorded for his solo album. With passion, remembrance, desire and desperation, “Stay Or Leave” pleads a strong case as one of the finest D&T performances from over the years, and maybe even one of the finest songs Dave had written in years.
The one dark spot with this bonus disc is the fact that, once again, the crew stuck with one specific tour of performances which renders this release as fluid yet flat. There’s no room for various feels or colors in this disc, with each performance having a parallel vibe which would work well for a full show release, but not for a compilation. It leaves the disc stale and questions why the crew wouldn’t just release an entire ’03 Dave & Tim show vs. trimming a compilation for just 9 tracks of the same tour.
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 On September 24th, 2003 Dave Matthews Band hit a milestone. A landmark show and performance was held at Central Park in New York City. A venue that has seen legends and legendary performances, Central Park sparked the end of an interesting year for the band. With perfect versions of Warehouse, Don’t Drink The Water, Granny, Jimi Thing, Watchtower, and Two Step, the band filmed the concert in preparation for another release, just like they had done with Folsom Field and Listener Supported.
Fans were still hoping to get their hands on the promised release of 2002’s Gorge weekend (9/6/02 – 9/8/02). Bad news from the crew of damaged equipment had many believing those shows would never see the light of day. Instead of the disappointments swelling the fan base over the Gorge shows, they subsided in lieu of the release of the Central Park concert in late 2003. The Central Park release was the first 3 disc release for Dave Matthews band, and the first 2 disc DVD to accompany it.
Also a live webcast, Central Park seemed like a landmark show for DMB. It was a venue that wasn’t open to just any band and they knew it, treating the set with a collection of some fan favorites and radio singles. The high definition DVD is the jewel of the whole thing for some. For many fans, this DVD was filmed exactly the way they see and feel while viewing a show in person and it made each performance just that much sweeter.
Just in time for Christmas 2003, this release was debated by many as one of the finest shows the band had put on in recent years. Whether it was or wasn’t, the fact remains that Central Park sparked a dialogue between old and young fans who finally had the chance to share an important moment within the band’s history.
 Along with the release of Central Park, fans were also treated with a bonus disc that was obtained through pre-ordering the Central Park show through DMB’s online store. The crew selected 7 performances from the summer ’03 tour, each with a specific emotion and color.
A haunting Dreaming Tree from 7/30, a rough and edgy Last Stop from 8/8, a beautiful performance of Spoon from 9/14, and a quick and punchy You Never Know from 7/9 were placed with other fantastic performances. It was a release that seemed to make a statement to fans by showcasing certain comeback songs like Spoon and Dreaming Tree, also promoting the patriotic vibe that 9/11/03 held with the Everyday performance and with Dave’s intro to that song.
It now seemed that selected performances for bonus discs was something that could come fairly easily for the Warehouse/Dave Matthews Band crew and from here on out it was almost expected that a bonus disc accompany a special release.
 In mid-2004, a glorious moment occurred for many fans. The Gorge weekend of 2002 was finally being officially released. With statements from the crew themselves saying how damaged equipment pushed back or possibly eliminated this from being released disheartened a lot of fans. When the news spread of the ’02 weekend being released there were expectations of this that were set to the highest standard.
The Gorge release is a tricky one to figure out. First, the different packages used to release this show baffled and angered a lot of fans. You had the in-store 2 disc/DVD combo package, and an online release with 6 discs of the entire weekend. Why didn’t the crew include the DVD with the six disc version? Why did the fans who wanted the six discs along with the DVD have to buy the in-store package only to purchase the 2 audio discs that they didn’t need? It caused a lot of bad vibes from fans towards the marketing tactics of the DMB camp.
What fueled a much larger debate would be the mixing and production of the Gorge release. The Gorge weekend remains one of the most sporadic mixes out of the entire Dave Matthews Band catalog. Each track seems to have different levels with band members being drowned out during solos, vocals being too high, and Dave’s guitar having a pitch that was never tweaked and really hurt a lot of performances. What happened here?
With the release of Central Park, which was recorded only a year after the Gorge, you figured the crew still had that technology to create a solid, well-balanced, and fluid mix, but that just didn’t happen. Was this a last minute release? Was the mixing and production rushed? Who knows. It’s certainly not the worst thing we could have feared. There are some bright spots within the botched production. “Halloween”, “Space Between”, and “Proudest Monkey” are tracks that stand out in terms of not only performance, but production as well.
Along with all the questions, confusion, and tempered look upon the Gorge mix, the DVD provides us with damn fine camera work in these two performances of “Halloween”, and “Seek Up”. Not only do both versions stand out as two of the best the band had ever performed, but the direction and editing of these two DVD performances rank among the best, even with full show direction of Listener Supported and Central Park.
There are major disappointments that came with the release of Gorge 2002, and even with the suspicious promotional push behind the separation of the DVD and 6 disc version, there was also a sense that the crew were trying to do right by the fans. Even with damaged equipment, the calls and demands of this being released were answered. Even if we have doubts, bad vibes, and sour opinions of this release for whatever reason, The Gorge release was the first time that we saw the crew really put an effort at a high level into pleasing demands from the fans.
 As the summer of ’04 pushed on, Dave and Friends reunited after 5 months to play the Bonnaroo festival. Fans were excited, yet had reservations seeing as that no one was sure of how D&F’s would sound after not playing together for quite a few months. The performance was solid with a touch of energy that had pushed the D&F’s shows ahead of a lot of DMB performances, and it also carried that same feeling of fun produced from the chemistry Dave and Trey have.
Shortly after the show was said and done, it came time for a release. Since no one had any soundboard performances from D&F’s prior to this show, it made this download release just that much more relevant. Nothing extraordinary came from this release that was offered in either MP3 or FLAC format, but it held a significance for many that Dave’s ventures outside of DMB were still just as important as they were within the band, considering after 5 months of no interaction, D&F’s came back and put on a solid performance that would be a highlight among the small string of shows the group had put on.
This was the first time anything Dave Matthews-related was strictly released as an online download only. With solid production and mixing, the downloads were a success and interested the fans enough to a point where requests started coming in for more online downloads of other releases and various performances. The D&F’s Bonnaroo downloads would soon become the basis for which the crew would use in a new venture for live releases; Live Trax. [ed. note: This also marked the first partnership between Dave Matthews material and Nugs.net.]
Coming up : Dave Matthews Band: The Live Releases Part IV: WH5 adds extra performances, Live Trax begins, and Red Rocks finds a second release from Dave Matthews band.
Trusted Stuff is a regular column on Dave Matthews Band written by Brandon L. You can share your thoughts and questions about this piece in the comment thread below.
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