So this past weekend I didn’t get a chance to listen to much, but late last week I was able to complete 2 more DMBLive concerts. And I have to say, I listened to one of the best ones I have ever listened to. More details below.
DMBLive Irving Plaza – 3/26/1994 – New York, NY
This is another oldie disc, chocked full of classics. And they are done really well. Yes, some of the songs aren’t as ‘jammie’ as they are now, but they are still very good. It also has on it the fan favorite (and one of my faves) Minarets, an awesome long intro version of One Sweet World, and the somewhat rare Help Myself. Overall, a great ‘oldie’ concert with a lot of classic DMB songs. I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.
DMBLive Benaroya Hall – 10/24/02 – Seattle, WA
This was the concert I was talking about above. It is a very rare and AWESOME release. What makes it rare is that it is Dave Matthews, acoustically, by himself. Usually he is with Tim Reynolds, but this time, all by his lonesome. He does a lot of talking in between songs and it is funny as heck (we DMB heads call it Dave Speak). He mentions to the crowd on several occasions that the song he was about to play he has never done by himself. This includes a few songs from Busted Stuff and Everyday. He also slips Loving Wings in there, another song I love and opens with one of my all time favorites, The Stone. I’ve had this set for a while, but I don’t remember listening to it much. I’m glad I did again (this is why I do this listening party thing) because it could quite possibly be one of the best live releases I own. 5 out of 5 stars. Love it.
Next 5 albums up:
- Live at Folsom Field – 8/16/1995
- Live Trax 4 – 4/30/1996
- Live at Red Rocks - 7/11/2001
- Warehouse 5 vol 2
- DMB Live – The Bayou 4/10/1993
Crazy name for an album, huh? Well, if you follow DMB, it shouldn’t surprise you. Grux was a nickname the long time saxophonist, LeRoi Moore gave him self and others. It had a special meaning. Well, in the summer of 2008, while they were working on the early portions of the album and during a recording break LeRoi got into an ATV accident and later passed away from complications. This whole album is a dedication to him and you can see and hear it throughout.From the cover (a Dave Matthews hand drawn picture of him as the ‘GrooGrux King’) to track #1 a nice long sax intro appropriately named Grux, to the end of track 13, You & Me, another sax solo. To help fill the void on the album, long time friend of the band and current touring member, Jeff Coffin, joined along with trumpeter Rashawn Ross. As far as the album goes, in my opinion there are some gems and some songs that are meh. Some of the gems are Lying in the Hands of God, Time Bomb, Squirm, Spaceman, and Baby Blue. Some of the songs I’m not such a fan of include Funny the Way It Is and Alligator Pie. Since I ordered the super duper package, I also got a bonus disc containing 4 unreleased studio songs, including #27 and Cornbread, both which have been played live many times before this album was being produced. Two more songs were on the bonus disc, both produced while recording for this CD, but not included on the studio disc, Beach Ball and Little Red Bird. The bonus disc is great, IMO, and actually like a few songs on it better than some of the songs on the ‘main album’. When comparing this album to their last few, this was more of a return to the familiar DMB sound. But overall, there are still 3 studio albums that are ‘better’ when comparing to all of their studio albums. Still great to hear that more traditional DMB sound though.
