Dave Matthews And Tim Reynolds 03.31.03
Posted by Jeff Modzelewski on 04.04.2003
Best. Concert. Ever.
I was one of the lucky 6,000 or so to get tickets to see what was billed as "An Acoustic Evening with Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds" at Miami University on March 31st. This show required me taking both Monday and Tuesday off of work and driving over 2 hours to and from the show. So, basically, in order to be worth all of the effort, I knew that this show had to kick ass. If it was just an average show, it wouldn't have been worth all the hassle. Read the review and see if you think it was worth the trip.
Now, normally for a concert review, I do a song by song rundown of the event. I decided that, figuring that they played 26 songs, that may be a little too much for this review, so I'm gonna give a little more of a brief rundown of the set and other various comments.
The first thing that people need to realize about these shows is that they are not at all like the full band shows. Dave spends the show sitting on a stool, talks quite a bit more then at normal shows, and is basically much more laid back. Tim alternates from his stool to standing and messing with his huge array of pedals while playing. The crowd is, for the most part, much more subdued then a normal DMB show. The songs tend to be shorter, with fewer long, drawn out jams, but the set is generally filled with more emotion.
They came onto stage at about 7:40, and went directly into a long intro to Bartender. The next couple of songs seemed aimed at getting the crowd into the mood of the evening. They did Best of What's Around, Grey Street, Everyday, and When The World Ends. During these songs, the crowd was fairly loud, cheering wildly at every Tim guitar solo and every time Dave screamed.
The first major highlight of the night for me was Big Eyed Fish. This was one of my favorite songs off of the infamous "Lillywhite Sessions," and was also on the Busted Stuff album. I always felt that the Lillywhite version was better, and I was extremely elated and surprised to hear that version of the song, instead of the "official" version that appears on the Busted Stuff album. The went from that song to The Stone, and then to Gravedigger. Both songs were dark and extremely powerful.
From there they went into Jimi Thing, which included a verse of For What It's Worth. Seemed very appropriate given what's going on in the world right now. The went directly into What Will Become of Me, a short song that is almost always attatched to Jimi Thing. From there it was the cover tune For The Beauty of Wynona, which was another awesome song. They then did crowd favorite Two Step, and the brand new song Stay or Leave. Stay or Leave reminded me very much of a Paul Simon song, and I'm looking forward to hearing how it evolves if and when it gets recorded.
Dave then left the stage, and Tim amazed the crowd with a guitar instrumental called Radar Contact. This fast-paced song had Tim mixing his pedals and using delays and loops and basically running all over creating this piece of music. After the song, Tim got a much-deserved standing ovation from the crowd.
Dave came back on stage, and they went directly into Grace is Gone, Crash Into Me, and an amazing version of Lie in Our Graves. The jam on Lie In Our Graves was simply phenomenal. Very high energy, and the crowd really got into it.
The biggest surprise of the night came next. Dave and Tim went into a song known as Blue Water, which has been played only a handful of times since 1993. Not only that, it was the first full version of the song played since 1997. This is my favorite rare Dave song, and to hear it live, as a full song, was simply amazing. I pretty much couldn't believe that I was hearing it, and it was a big part in making the night so memorable.
After Blue Water came a nice version of Where Are You Going, followed by Don't Drink the Water, and another cover song, The Maker. Both The Maker and The Beauty of Wynona were original done by singer/songwriter Daniel Lanois, marking the first time ever that two cover songs from the same artist were done at a show. Figuring that The Maker is my favorite cover song that Dave does, it was awesome to see. Crush followed, which was probably the crowd favorite of the night. It got another spontaneous standing ovation from the crowd, which was well deserved. A great jam at the end showed the amazing talent of both of the guitarists on stage.
Dave again left the stage as Tim did another solo song. This one was a little more quiet and had a little less looping then the first one, but was still excellent. If you're into solo guitar stuff, check out stuff from Tim. I know his latest album is pretty weird and eclectic, but his earlier stuff is amazing, from what I've heard. If you don't want to buy anything, just download the song "Stream." It'll give you a good idea of what he's capable of.
Dave came back for Christmas Song, which was probably the funniest moment of the night. He continually screwed up a line in the second verse, kept trying to do it, and eventually gave up and talked about the story while strumming the guitar part. Absolutely priceless. They closed out the set with Ants Marching. Dancing Nancies was the only encore song, but, with the long intro, was all that was needed. The band left the stage at a little after 11, and provided the crowd with well over 3 hours of stories, jokes, and amazing music.
The other highlight of the night was all of the talking that Dave did. He told stories about avoiding a horse in a parade while trying to get a cup of coffee, the size of an elephant penis, and a friend who sniffed his fingers. He also worked up a banter with the crowd, where they would yell things at him, and he would basically shut them up. The best line was when a woman screamed out "What are you talking about?" and Dave immediately said "Well if you'd shut the fuck up and listen, you might understand." It wasn't done in a mean way, but with the sort of humor that you'd expect from Dave.
This was the best concert I have ever seen. I had extremely high expectations, and they were met by Dave and Tim. Not only that, but after looking at all of the setlists of the shows, I feel that I saw the best of the bunch. If you ever get a chance to see this sort of performance again, do everything to go see it. You will not be disappointed.
The 411: Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds put on a show that you only see once in a lifetime. The music was top notch, and the stories showed a side of Dave that is rarely seen. Quite frankly, the best concert I have ever seen.
