 Dave Matthews Band performed a new song this evening in Clarkston, MI titled "Kill The King." The song was performed full band with Butch Taylor featured heavily throughout and strong work from Rashawn Ross at the end.
The song sounds further along and more practiced than the other new song from DMB's 2006 tour, The Idea of You. It is also totally different sounding, with Dave on an electric and varying tempos between the verse and chorus.
Despite the song title, the lyrics do not appear to have much of a political bent. They instead, like The Idea of You, sound like a love song: "With just you're smile makes me think
/ that I could Kill the King (Kill the King)"
One question deserving exploration is whether this song was derived fresh from this past entrance into the studio or whether it is a hold over from the Stand Up sessions.
One fan, "dmbclstj" suggested that there might be a connection with a short sound sample Mark Batson performed on the Stand Up DVD around 6:45. We chased this down and found that they do indeed sound remarkably similar:
 Mark Batson On Keyboard in Stand Up DVD
Clip from 6-6-06 Kill the King
The two clips in sequence, then layered on top of each other. (Requires Registration)
If you are willing to believe from these very short clips that the two tunes are related, then this would indicate that the band has indeed rolled over songs or creative from the SU sessions into their more recent studio work.
Dave Matthews 6-6-06. (High Res.)
Just before opening the song up, Dave Matthews gave a rather lengthy introduction:
"Before we came out on the road, we been messing around, eating dinner writing some songs. Having some wine and writing some songs so we're going to try one out on you tonight.
It's called Kill the King. Not sure if that's going to stay the name but for now that's what I'm going to call it just so everybody knows the same thing before we start. This is the first time anybody's heard it, so we can only f-up so bad."
This introduction represents what may be part of a recent greater pattern of fan oriented actions from the band and management. As recently as 2004, DMB was performing songs giving the community nothing more than "Song #1, Song #2." This was specifically to keep fans from giving names to songs before they were ready to be named by the band. In reality this only added to the confusion of referring to existing songs. Even with Dave's caveat tonight of being "not sure" if it would remain the name, any name at all is helpful.
Other recent changes that have caused some people to notice greater efforts towards fans from the band include Stefan's MySpace and personal journal, the Facebook setlist contest and (marketing-hype aside) a cautionary email from the Warehouse identifying which shows were likely to sell out soon.
Most importantly of all, the band is playing a setlist selection that fans have been clamoring for years. The good news is that we already have a very poor quality clip of another new song that was sound checked prior to the tour opener "Run While You Can" that is almost certainly still waiting in the wings.
Download: Kill The King
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