2008 Woodie Awards
DMB surprises on new live CD
Wes Davidson, Contributing Writer, jdavidson@smu.edu
Issue date: 12/5/07 Section: Entertainment
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In early 1991 a small band out of Charlottesville, Va., emerged onto the music scene with nothing more than a small collection of undeveloped songs and a local bartender from South Africa. The bartender's name was Dave Matthews, and what was to become of his band and his musical journey would go down as one the most successful live acts in musical history.
Since then, the Dave Matthews Band has played across the country and has been involved in almost every musical festival offered in America. They are one the biggest names in music and have constantly remained on top of the charts with every album release. But what makes them so special is not the mere genius of their approach to music but their emphasis and dedication to their live show.
With an approach almost synonymous with The Grateful Dead in the aspect of sharing and taping shows, the band has allowed legal sharing of their live music by tapers for years now. This approach has helped them gain the respect and admiration of their fans, and a lot more of them than most other musical acts. But once in a while, the band will take one of these shows and digitally enhance it to studio quality sound and make an official live release. Thus the emergence of the 11th official installment of their live releases: "Live at Piedmont Park."
It is the dream of every Dave Matthews Band fan to be able to attend one of their shows and have it become the next addition to his live releases. That dream came true for me when, on September 8, I attended this "Green Concert" in Atlanta, GA.
Piedmont Park, a nature park located in the heart of Atlanta, is not the usual site for musical festivals, especially ones of the grandeur that come along with a Dave Matthews Band show. But on this particular evening almost 70,000 fans cheered in unison for what became an obvious highlight show for his summer 2007 tour. Not to mention the Allman Brothers Band opened for them. What more could a person ask for?
The album is set to be released on Dec. 11 and will feature all 18 songs performed by the band that evening. I have never experienced more energy from a concert in my life and, as the album relentlessly captures, it's expressed in the passion and excitement of every song played.
Since then, the Dave Matthews Band has played across the country and has been involved in almost every musical festival offered in America. They are one the biggest names in music and have constantly remained on top of the charts with every album release. But what makes them so special is not the mere genius of their approach to music but their emphasis and dedication to their live show.
With an approach almost synonymous with The Grateful Dead in the aspect of sharing and taping shows, the band has allowed legal sharing of their live music by tapers for years now. This approach has helped them gain the respect and admiration of their fans, and a lot more of them than most other musical acts. But once in a while, the band will take one of these shows and digitally enhance it to studio quality sound and make an official live release. Thus the emergence of the 11th official installment of their live releases: "Live at Piedmont Park."
It is the dream of every Dave Matthews Band fan to be able to attend one of their shows and have it become the next addition to his live releases. That dream came true for me when, on September 8, I attended this "Green Concert" in Atlanta, GA.
Piedmont Park, a nature park located in the heart of Atlanta, is not the usual site for musical festivals, especially ones of the grandeur that come along with a Dave Matthews Band show. But on this particular evening almost 70,000 fans cheered in unison for what became an obvious highlight show for his summer 2007 tour. Not to mention the Allman Brothers Band opened for them. What more could a person ask for?
The album is set to be released on Dec. 11 and will feature all 18 songs performed by the band that evening. I have never experienced more energy from a concert in my life and, as the album relentlessly captures, it's expressed in the passion and excitement of every song played.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Josh
posted 12/07/07 @ 7:34 AM CST
Was Wes at the same show I was at? Gregg Allman did NOT guest on What Would you Say, only Warren. Dreaming Tree had not been "dormant" until this show, but had already been played twice before during the tour and, in fact was played 7 times in 2006. (Continued…)
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