Okay, the "bands you love but hate to admit" thread combined with the "best non-Hip concerts" thread inspired me to start this one.
I've only seen DMB live once and it was last September at the Amphitheatre. I'm not the biggest DMB fan, but I really like some of his stuff and appreciate his talent. I was also pretty excited about the concert, since so many people had told me he puts on an incredible show. Maybe my expectations were too high, but I thought Dave put on one of the worst shows I've ever seen.
First, the sound was brutal, so I could barely hear anything he was saying (I'll partially blame the venue for that).
Secondly, he only did his encore after approx. 20 mins of cheering and clapping (I understand making the crowd work for it, but c'mon).
Third, there was a 3 - 5 min. gap between EVERY song when the lights went out and Dave fiddled around with his guitar, sat down for a while 'n wiped his ass. This completely killed the mood as no energy could build up.
Finally, the only thing he said, outside of his songs, the entire night was "thank-you" (maybe 3 times) and "good night". I don't even remember if he said "hello", never introduced a single song or had any interaction with the crowd.
So those DMB supporters out there, did you attendt his concert? Is this what Dave is usually like? What makes him such a great performer?
(Maybe the Hip have just set my standards too high)
You've basically nailed it......except for the wiping his ass part :oops: , but the music is top notch. He does take way too long encore breaks and too much time in between songs but i actually think it gets the crowd kind amped up.....at least it does here in buffalo. I have seen em at the molson amphitheatre and i was dissapointed because the crowd sucked and the acoustics were awful.
Well, I understand where you coming from if you're going to compare it to a Hip show but..I still have to say that out of the many DMB shows that I have seen...I have never encountered bad sound. As far as the waits in between songs, or not introducing songs...yeah, I can see how a casual fan might be annoyed, I sometimes think the waits are a bit long also...especially for the encores.
I still love to see them every chance I get though...
BTW, DMB is a 'they' not a 'he'. Sorry, I am a bit anal about that.
:mrgreen:
dmb NEVER do two encores. they sometimes take a while between songs because dave needs to re-tune his guitar quite often. he hits the strings really hard.
i do think you are exagerating about it being 3-5 minutes. i have downloaded enough shows to know that they don't take that long.
dave was having voice troubles a few days ago. maybe he was coming down with something that day. don't let one show ruin the DMB experience for you.
they are an amazing band who, i think, outshine the hip in just about every way. from dave's lyrics, to the complex chords in the music, and the general live experience.
well ive seen the hip 25 times now and dave about 15, i wouldnt go as far as saying that DMB outshines the hip but DMB is fanfuckingtastic.
akoso Wrote:Dave fiddled around with his guitar, sat down for a while 'n wiped his ass.
Ahh that made me laugh! :lol:
highwaygirl28 Wrote:BTW, DMB is a 'they' not a 'he'. Sorry, I am a bit anal about that. :mrgreen:
Sorry, I was switching between DMB and Dave and I guess misused 'he' instead of 'they'. I'm anal about those things too, so I appreciate the correction (and good eye
).
mark Wrote:dmb NEVER do two encores. they sometimes take a while between songs because dave needs to re-tune his guitar quite often. he hits the strings really hard.
But why? The guy's loaded... why buy an extra guitar and hire a roadie to tune his guitar between songs. With the time Dave takes between songs, I could widdle him a new guitar from the twigs I could gather in the lawn section AND tune it with alternate tunings before he plays his next song.
mark Wrote:from dave's lyrics, to the complex chords in the music, and the general live experience.
I agree that Dave has some great lyrics and I love the complexity of not only his chords, but the arrangement of his music (esepcially with the varied instruments). I've got Crash and Before These Crowded Streets and they often find their way into my regular rotation. And I have a bunch of live, acoustic and bootlegged mp3s on my computer, because I think he sounds great live. It's his completely lack of interaction with the crowd that really bugs me. No "hi", "it's great to be in Toronto", "this next song is called Crush", "this song's about...".
That combined with his long pauses in between songs just kill any momentum that was built from the last song. As I said, I really like live DMB stuff I've downloaded, but seeing <u>them</u> live was a big disappointment.
akoso Wrote:With the time Dave takes between songs, I could widdle him a new guitar from the twigs I could gather in the lawn section AND tune it with alternate tunings before he plays his next song.
:lol:
That's fantastic!
akoso Wrote:With the time Dave takes between songs, I could widdle him a new guitar from the twigs I could gather in the lawn section AND tune it with alternate tunings before he plays his next song.
:lol: :lol:
akoso Wrote:But why? The guy's loaded... why buy an extra guitar and hire a roadie to tune his guitar between songs.
it has nothing to do with being "loaded". it is just his style. you have to understand that DMB is not a "rock" band in the sense that the Hip are. they are a band that loves to jam, and showcase their talent in other ways. i don't think that a minute or two break between songs takes away from the momentum at all. a lot of times, i need that couple of minutes to absorb the music from the last song. they never play a song the same way twice.
that is a key difference between DMB and the Hip. DMB will jam out a song for 15 or 20 minutes, where as a 6 or 7 minute jam from the Hip is pratically unheard of. especially on the last couple of tours. The Hip play their music very close to what is on the CD. DMB isn't like that.
Quote:I agree that Dave has some great lyrics and I love the complexity of not only his chords, but the arrangement of his music (esepcially with the varied instruments). I've got Crash and Before These Crowded Streets and they often find their way into my regular rotation. And I have a bunch of live, acoustic and bootlegged mp3s on my computer, because I think he sounds great live.
check out <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.antsmarching.org">www.antsmarching.org</a><!-- w --> for downloads. they have over 700 shows for free download. all very high quality SHN. there are even a couple hundred soundboard sourced shows.
Quote:It's his completely lack of interaction with the crowd that really bugs me. No "hi", "it's great to be in Toronto", "this next song is called Crush", "this song's about...".
again, that is their style. Dave is a very quiet, reserved man, who prefers to communite through his music, than anything else. i, personally, find it cheesy when a band says "hello toronto!! it's great to be here!" or "this song is about finding love". bah. just shut up and play the damn song.
if you go back to old school DMB (ie: 90-93) you will here more interaction and some amazing jams.
once again, don't let one show ruin your DMB experience. besides, this isn't exactly the best tour they have ever had.
mark Wrote:again, that is their style. Dave is a very quiet, reserved man, who prefers to communite through his music, than anything else. i, personally, find it cheesy when a band says "hello toronto!! it's great to be here!" or "this song is about finding love". bah. just shut up and play the damn song.
I'm not saying he should say those things, but something would be nice. That's the part of a concert I love, because you know the musician is talking to you. For example, I saw Hayden earlier this summer and he was great. He was talking to the crowd, explaining what was going on in his life, just shooting the shit. The highlight of the concert for me was when he started playing a song and then messed up. So he stopped, apologized and started over... but as he started playing it, he started singing the second verse, realized he messed up, stopped and apologized. Then he turned to the audience and said "how does this one start again?". People started yelling out the lyrics 'n he was like "oh yeah, thanks" 'n then proceeded to play it. It's those unique experiences that make the concert seem so personal that really get me going. With Dave, I don't even know what his voice sounds like when he's not singing (from the concert I went to I mean).
mark Wrote:if you go back to old school DMB (ie: 90-93) you will here more interaction and some amazing jams.
I know... I have some of those 'n they're great! I love the version of Crush that he does (I think it's from the Lillywhite Sessions) where at the end of the song, he tells this minute long story to introduce the next song. Great! Crowd interaction apparently is his style... I just wish I experienced it before he turned mute.
mark Wrote:once again, don't let one show ruin your DMB experience. besides, this isn't exactly the best tour they have ever had.
No worries... I'd love to give him another chance (and good advice). I just hope his years of silence will fester inside him enough to force him to say something... anything!
but how many people were at that Hayden show? i'll bet there wasn't 20,000
Nope. Which is why I wouldn't expect the same type of crowd interaction... I'm just giving an extreme example. Any interaction would be nice (from my perspective anyway... some might find that annoying).