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DMB makes a magical creationBy GINA VIVINETTO
© St. Petersburg Times, TAMPA -- Dave Matthews Band shows have been getting uneven reviews, but the act bounded onstage Monday and knocked the socks off the sell-out crowd of more than 20,000 at the Ice Palace, a record-breaking crowd for the venue, surpassing even its 1999 Backstreet Boys attendance.
From that first song, dynamic drummer Carter Beauford proved he's one of the best in the biz, pounding his kit while looking mad and delirious but making it all sound focused and fine. Beauford's rolls came out in cascades of Latin beats and jazzy syncopation. The band dove immediately into the lovely, lilting The Space Between, a current radio staple, and the more uptempo When the World Ends, both from Lillywhite's proper replacement, Everyday, the blockbuster disc that debuted at the top of the charts and has sold more than 2-million copies. Matthews dusted off several other tunes from Lillywhite, which he has told the press he abandoned because of the material's gloomy nature. Matthews wrote much of it during a period of heavy drinking and depression. You can hear that pain in the songs Bartender and JTR. Q: Why is Matthews performing so many of these songs live if he chose to shelve the album? A: The buzz is they'll be featured heavily on a live album to be released this year. Despite Lillywhite's presence, the show was hardly one of despair. Quite the opposite: Matthews has a way of taking everything life has to offer -- ecstatic highs and crushing lows, heartache, epiphanies, joy -- and singing of it with relish. Fans were certainly feeling fine, singing along on the unabashedly happy Crash. That song was punctuated by delicious piano, flute and the sharp sizzle of violinist Boyd Tinsley. What You Are was pure rollicking passion, with Matthews wailing and frantically strumming his electric guitar. And Tripping Billies is another feel-good song Matthews did as an encore. DMB's members very much feed off one another; it's a musical camaraderie that fuels their legendary 2 1/2-hour shows. Matthews also likes to vary sets from night to night. It keeps performances fresh, allowing for improvising and jamming in the spirit of the jazz musicians he so admires. That's a reckless -- some may say foolish -- recipe for music, one that could result in disaster. It's also a recipe, as Monday's crowd would testify, that can create something magical, the kind of joy that leaves you feeling grateful to be bound to life with all its madness and glory, at the same time making you feel spirited and free.
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From the wire |
