All the news that is fit to print. What follows is a list of notable DMB events from the past week or so.
Experimentation! What has really been setting this tour apart from the past few years is the level of experimentation the guys are doing on stage. This is illustrated well in the continued performance of Can't Stop ( Download) which is in infancy. Strong parallels can be drawn to how Loving Wings grew in 2002.
However, 2002 did not feature the addition of powerful new songs that that we're seeing these right now. 2004 can't even hold a candle to this tour, compare the DMB Almanac song charts from '06 so far and '04. Dave Matthews Band has been more restrained on the performance of each song, rather than beating each one to hell every single night.
This sort of thing happens on occasion, but is interesting to highlight because it shows just how dynamic things are on stage. At Hersheypark, on 6/23/06 just prior to Stay, Dave's guitar tech. Monk Montgomery handed Dave a guitar tuned to Drop D tuning.
Dave plays Drop D tuning on a number of songs including DDTW, Crush and Bartender, but Stay is performed on a standard tuning. What followed was an odd-sounding intro from Dave, then the Butch filling in on keys in the absence of a lead guitar for four phrases. Meanwhile Dave switched back to a normal tuning and picked the song back up.
Thanks to the good people at DMB Almanac we can look at the setlist and see that Stay was not a "pinch hitter" (added onstage) in this setlist, meaning this was truly a mistake. Keep in mind that Monk has handed the right guitar to dave on a countless number of occasions. Also, Dave breaks strings all the time which requires a guitar swap. The difference is that strings often break mid song when the rest of the band jump in and fill in for Dave. In this case it was the very start of the track.
Either way, though many would look at this as a non-event, it illustrates the professionalism of the band in handling unplanned circumstances on stage. It is subtle enough that most people at the show didn't even notice there was anything wrong.
Take a moment to listen to how the band handled this minor but cool error. The show with the flub is currently available on Weekly Davespeak Live, thanks in large part to taper Timothy Brown. Finally, if you have video of Dave doing this guitar switch / intro please contact us.
DMB added an intro to Shotgun that is pretty cool. The transitionary songs, or reprise is part of what made Before These Crowded Streets. Let's hope that intros and outros played on stage this tour find their way on to the next studio recording. You can download an mp3 combining Shotgun and its new intro here or check it and the rest of the show out on WDS Live.
Discussion
Speaking of studio recording, this is probably the most important thing to take away from this news: Dave Matthews went into the Studio in early June to record. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Red Light Management contacted Audible Images Recording Studios to get some time for Dave to come in. The article states that Dave spent "nearly twelve hours" recording music on June 8th.
Bruce Flohr, (who was on hand for our recent Boyd Tinsley interview), commented that some of the songs Dave was working on may be on the band's next recording which is scheduled for Spring 2007. He also stressed that Dave was working on songs for the band, not a solo project.
Great work by Bruce clearing up confusion before it begins. The last word we had about Dave being in the studio to record was in January at Robert Lang Studios in Seattle, WA.
Fans are reporting that Dream Girl has been undergoing heavy duty work during multiple soundchecks with at the least a new outro to the song. Despite the band's choice to make Dream Girl a single off Stand Up, fans have bemoaned it as everything from a simple live dud to a setlist killer.
It's interesting that the band has decided to rework the song after touring it heavily in basically its original flavor over 2005. Whether it is a new outro or just a jam for the tune, it sounds pretty good. Here's a YouTube video of a soundcheck where you can hear the jam distinctly. Tim Helms has done his own rendition of what the new Dream Girl jam sounds like, which you can download here.
 Dave took the time to dedicate the encore at Hershey Park Stadium to Ray Werthman, a long time crew member for the band. Werthman is credited as a Lighting Technician on The Gorge, Listener Supported and The Central Park DVD's. Dave rarely mentions a crew member during a show, but has brought attention to them before. At the 8/6/2000 show, Dave invited Mitch Rutman (who was retiring) on stage to help perform #41.
Be sure to also check out:
The Newspaper boy picture in this article was shamelessly lifted from the awesome illustrator, Danny Hellman.
|
