So, last night a colleague/friend from our New York office took me to the Dave Matthews Band concert at the Hollywood Bowl in LA.
I've never been a big fan of DMB, even though I do find the music listenable. I think as much as anything else, I made a fairly broad generalization that DMB's audience skewed towards post collegiate/fraternity. That being said, I also had a feeling that this was a band that I needed to see live in order to fully understand and appreciate, similar to what I experienced with Springsteen (I bought the album tonight btw and will review shortly), The Grateful Dead and a few other bands as well.
So, the bottom line is I was right on all accounts; I don't particularly care for his audience, though I do applaud them for being so passionate and loyal; and as I thought, the concert was absolutely terrific, and I will now be able to view and appreciate this band with new eyes. The interesting thing about DMB is with the exception of the violinist (who I am told is Juilliard trained) and the trumpet player (who I understand participated in this tour but isn't formally 'in the band') they aren't the most talented band in the world. Read: from a guitar perspective, Dave M is no Jerry Garcia. However, they are a great example of the phrase "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts" (I think that's the phrase, anyway. I am known to butcher colloquialism) which I guess by definition makes them a great jam band.
Anyway, long winded way of saying I enjoyed it a lot and if you get a chance to see DMB, I suggest you do so. I think you'll enjoy the entire experience.
And one other thing: the Hollywood Bowl is one of the coolest venues of all time.
(Ps. The other cool aspect to the show was guest appearances by Steven and Ziggy Markey and John Mayer).
(Pss. If none of this mkes sense, forgive me: I got home from the concert at 12:30 am and had a wake call of 4 am for my 6 am flight. For the record, 6 am flights SUCK. They are worse than red eyes)
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