New L.A. Times Article: For DMB The Joy Is Back

[antsmarching777]

Worth a quick read. I like Dave's quote at the end. Enjoy!

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment...,5133841.story

The Dave Matthews Band has channeled its grief over a player's death into a revitalized sound after nearly 20 years together.

Reporting from San Francisco and Fresno - It was Aug. 19, 2008, and the Dave Matthews Band was mourning the loss of one of its own. LeRoi Moore, the shy saxophonist who'd been with the band throughout a nearly two-decade journey from tiny bars to stadiums and stardom, had died unexpectedly earlier in the day. He was at his Los Angeles home, recovering from injuries suffered in an all-terrain-vehicle accident, when he took a sudden turn for the worse. He died of pneumonia at age 46.

That night, the band played its scheduled gig at Staples Center anyway. Bass player Stefan Lessard didn't want to be there. Drummer Carter Beauford, who'd known Moore since childhood, needed to take his anger out on something and pounded away at his kit; he couldn't think of being anywhere else. The face of the band -- usually the jovial, two-stepping type -- crooned in front of the sellout crowd, and then he cried.

"It's always easier to leave than be left," Matthews said to the faces staring back at him, some of them wet with tears like his.

"No show before that or no show since will have the same significance for me," Matthews said last weekend, thinking back on the events of a year ago. "The fact that we played that show the day Roi died, there was no better thing we could have done."

It wasn't easy. Boyd Tinsley, the brawny violinist who also grew up with Beauford and Moore in the same Virginia neighborhood, sat in the back of his darkened tour bus before the group's recent gig at San Francisco's Outside Lands festival and cracked -- even still, a year removed. "I don't remember much, you know, other than hearing the news here on my bus, halfway to the gig," he said, before having to pause for a few seconds, the old tears welling up in his eyes again. "It was crushing to me, man."

But the experience also marked a new beginning for the bandmates. "The whole tragedy kind of helped us, in a weird way, to push through, to develop, to grow and mature as musicians and people," Beauford said.

DMB is gearing up for two sold-out shows at the Greek Theatre, beginning Wednesday, that mark the group's first return to L.A. since that Staples Center concert. "There's a bit of melancholy, I think, when you get back here," said Lessard, who now lives in Laguna Beach. "But he loved L.A., him and I were the two guys in the band, we just loved California."

A new urgency

Moore's death sharpened the musicians' focus, bringing a new urgency to the remaining members. In the few years prior, they'd had several false starts in the studio, struggling to put together a seventh studio record. Some bitter feelings simmered. And after so much time together, things had gotten a bit stale.

"I wanted to stop the band," Matthews admitted in his dressing room before a tour stop in Fresno, the night after Outside Lands, "because it was becoming no longer a joyful thing. And then, by confessing that fairly aggressively, it sort of got us all to stand up again and to not just sit in our little positions, trying to maintain that facade to each other."

"We needed to change the linens, strip down everything, scrub it, find out what was down there," added Beauford.

Some hurt feelings remained about the way in which two albums -- 2001's "Everyday" and 2005's "Stand Up" -- were put together, with a much more controlled writing process that circumvented some of the musicians' creative input. Improvisation, a DMB hallmark both in the studio and on stage, had vanished, replaced by a reliance on sheet music. (Matthews concedes now that the changed dynamic was perhaps a bit too "constructed" for this group.)

And then the usually quiet Moore spoke up. "He was adamant that we should have been a better band in the studio, that if we were this strong live, we should just be able to enhance that in the studio," Matthews said, before quoting his old friend: " 'It has to be honest.' "

The band worked on a bigger sound. Tim Reynolds, the guitar whiz who'd played on the band's '90s records, returned to the fold, and Moore, who told friends that his saxophone could sometimes "feel a bit lonely" in a rock band, enlisted the help of trumpeter Rashawn Ross to create a horn section that could match the punch coming from the other instruments.

Writing and discovering the music as a collective -- a process more akin to the band's earliest work -- eventually yielded this summer's "Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King." Moore's passing came in the early stages of the album's recording, but producer Rob Cavallo salvaged his horn from those early sessions and preserved it on multiple tracks.

In its four-star review, Rolling Stone called the album "a New Orleans funeral parade -- mourning and zest balled into big, brawny music"; The Times' Ann Powers called it “a renewal of band vows, made more intense by the loss of a key player.” The collection debuted at No. 1, tying DMB with Metallica as the only groups to have five consecutive studio albums debut at the top of the sales charts.

"This is the most honest and unapologetic record we've made," Matthews said. "And that's the goal, right? To be honest and unapologetic. For me, I don't want to fake it. I don't want to act cool. I don't want to write the perfect pop tune. That's not what motivates me, because it's a therapeutic life that I look for in music. It's not like I want to be a rock star. I wanted to be a rock star when I was 12. By the time I was 18, I wanted to find some answers."

A frenzied jam

On stage in San Francisco, he and the band seemed to find one. During a rollicking set that stretched past two hours, trumpeter Ross and new saxophonist Jeff Coffin propelled a frenzied jam during "Jimi Thing" that inspired Fergie and apl.de.ap of the Black Eyed Peas, an Outside Lands act that had been watching, to run on stage and dance with Matthews.

"I guess some bands might be, like, 'Who do you think you are?' But what moved them to come on stage was joy, and they were just carried away," Matthews said. "That's kind of what our music is."

DMB ended the night with a cover of Sly & the Family Stone's "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)," the last song they ever played with Moore on stage. Here again, these seven men danced, they sang, they smiled. And when the music finally stopped, the audience kept the tune going, clapping their hands overhead as that one line -- "Thank You Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin" -- floated up, again and again, into the night.

"If you can crack that joy in the most painful moments of your life, if you can tell a joke that will bust your side, that's the crack I'm aiming for," Matthews said afterward. "That's the sort of hole in the armor for me, to cross my eyes and stick my tongue out and laugh at the enemy, you know?"

[canes101190]

That's a hell of an article. Great quotes by all the guys especially Dave.

[bva816]

Great read. Is that article just online, or actually in the newspaper too?

[andrewj063]

That's quite a fantastic article!!

[bluebutterfly41]

Excellent article!!

[canes101190]

My favorite quote right here. Really sums up Dave's early songwriting.

It's not like I want to be a rock star. I wanted to be a rock star when I was 12. By the time I was 18, I wanted to find some answers.

[antsmarching777]

I'll have to check the paper in the morning to see if it gets printed. I'd imagine so since the date of the article is September 6th and that it's a Sunday. Lot's of good quotes indeed.

[lieinmygrave41]

That was remarkable.

Great writing.

[jcomey]

Great article, and the way the facts are presented (as, you know, actual facts and not crap made up, like many other newspapers have done regarding this tour) leads me to believe that the BEP coming out at Outside Lands was more BEP-fueled, instead of something the band initiated.

[smokew11]

great article

[dontburnthe_pig]

poor boyd.

[DmBand801]

well done article

[hjohnston]

this is an amazing article. i just sent it to every Dave fan that I know.

[GrooGrux420]

Originally Posted by jcomey

Great article, and the way the facts are presented (as, you know, actual facts and not crap made up, like many other newspapers have done regarding this tour) leads me to believe that the BEP coming out at Outside Lands was more BEP-fueled, instead of something the band initiated.

They should have never turned their mics on then...

This was still a great read, and even made me that much more pumped for Greek!

[ukrocks97]

Originally Posted by antsmarching777

"If you can crack that joy in the most painful moments of your life, if you can tell a joke that will bust your side, that's the crack I'm aiming for," Matthews said afterward. "That's the sort of hole in the armor for me, to cross my eyes and stick my tongue out and laugh at the enemy, you know?"

Dave had to get a couple of lines in about ass.

"'Holden', she said, 'the real money is in dick and fart jokes.'"

-T

[vtpettit]

Dammit man, I'm all glazey eyed after reading that. I love this band!!!

[joshizzle3]

wow very well written. a great article
it doesn't matter, but it was 8, not 7 doing thank you (dave, boyd, carter, fonz, rashawn, tim, jeff, and robert)

EDIT: just reread that part and never mind. those 7 men danced, just there happened to be another one

[Joyride4136]

a great read, thanks OP

[JunkBondTrader]

Originally Posted by jcomey

Great article, and the way the facts are presented (as, you know, actual facts and not crap made up, like many other newspapers have done regarding this tour) leads me to believe that the BEP coming out at Outside Lands was more BEP-fueled, instead of something the band initiated.

seriously OMG THANK THE LORD.

get the fuck over it man. who cares. its a festival, everyone is there for one thing. the music, the coming together of all musical acts. everyone is there because they love music.

i really ont know what you would have done though if the BEP and DMB had planned it together, may have been the end of the world.

fuck yourself.

[joshizzle3]

Originally Posted by JunkBondTrader

seriously OMG THANK THE LORD.

get the fuck over it man. who cares. its a festival, everyone is there for one thing. the music, the coming together of all musical acts. everyone is there because they love music.

i really ont know what you would have done though if the BEP and DMB had planned it together, may have been the end of the world.

fuck yourself.

i think the point of his post was that he WAS getting over it...
unless you're high or something... don't be a dick, bro

[JunkBondTrader]

Originally Posted by joshizzle3

i think the point of his post was that he WAS getting over it...
unless you're high or something... don't be a dick, bro

nahh bro. i still read as a huge sigh of relief that our holy band didnt initiate the BEP's from coming out on stage with them. i also saw talentless hacks thrown around a couple days ago when that happened. you dont become one of the biggest selling musical acts of the past 6 years and cross so many genres of music by being talentless hacks. lets widen our horizons here people.

[joshizzle3]

Originally Posted by JunkBondTrader

nahh bro. i still read as a huge sigh of relief that our holy band didnt initiate the BEP's from coming out on stage with them. i also saw talentless hacks thrown around a couple days ago when that happened. you dont become one of the biggest selling musical acts of the past 6 years and cross so many genres of music by being talentless hacks. lets widen our horizons here people.

i take your well written response and respect you for it. i was looking forward to some douchey ant that i was gonna feud, but not here. respect

[PilotC150]

Originally Posted by GrooGrux420

They should have never turned their mics on then...

They didn't, the BEP ripped Dave's mic off the stand

[jcomey]

Originally Posted by JunkBondTrader

seriously OMG THANK THE LORD.

get the fuck over it man. who cares. its a festival, everyone is there for one thing. the music, the coming together of all musical acts. everyone is there because they love music.

i really ont know what you would have done though if the BEP and DMB had planned it together, may have been the end of the world.

fuck yourself.

I want you to do me a favor. Click on this link:

http://www.antsmarching.org/forum/sh...postcount=1353

Please tell me where I said *anything* negative about the BEP cameo during that performance. Go ahead. Tell me where I say it?

Oh, I didn't? I didn't at *all* in that thread? And I didn't at all in *this* thread, either?

But my fucking God, you're a fucking mind-reader! You know the intent of every fucking post on this fucking site! You knew *exactly* what I was saying, before I even typed the fucking thing! Nevermind that I said that it may very well have answered a question that many were asking that night. Nevermind that I never offered an opinion as to whether I thought it was cool or not. Nevermind that, not once, did I add *anything* on this site that offered opinion to the entire performance.

Nope, you got it ALL from my post. You could tell that I hated the performance from this:

"Great article, and the way the facts are presented (as, you know, actual facts and not crap made up, like many other newspapers have done regarding this tour) leads me to believe that the BEP coming out at Outside Lands was more BEP-fueled, instead of something the band initiated."

You are an incredible analyst! You should be on CNN, FOX News, or Court TV!

Now, what you should do after reading this, since you obviously have no fucking idea how to comprehend *anything*, is very simple. I want you to take the longest stick...metal or wood...that you can find. And sit on it. Sit on it so that the top end of the stick comes out of your fucking mouth, and you can use it as boom mic, so that others can hear the idiot shit that comes out of your head.

Oh, and fuck yourself.

(For the record, I was one of the few who ENJOYED the BEP performance, though not for Fergie, as I have always hated what she did to that band. But the dance-off was fantastic. But, you didn't bother to find out what I thought...you only assumed. You now have an experience you can tell others about what happens when you do just that.

And still, go fuck yourself.)

[jcomey]

And by the way, I apologize to the OP for mucking up his thread a bit. I can't stand ignorance, and the response made to my post was ignorance of the absolute highest level. When people assume stuff about you that isn't true is one thing. But when someone puts words in your mouth and then attacks you for their perception rather than what was actually said...I have a *huge* problem with that.

So, my apologies. Not to the guy who decided to pop off without bothering to even read what I said...but to the OP.

[jcomey]

Originally Posted by GrooGrux420

They should have never turned their mics on then...

This was still a great read, and even made me that much more pumped for Greek!

Why not? The band obviously had no problem with it. So why wouldn't the mics be on? Fergie took Dave's mic anyway.

Regardless, I still found the article's explanation interesting. And I want a video of the dance-off.

[doesmusicbest]

Shit just hit the fan.

[jcomey]

Originally Posted by doesmusicbest

Shit just hit the fan.

No, it didn't. It's over and done with, as far as I'm concerned. I have no need to further need to stay on that tangent. I defended myself against someone's arrogant, misplaced, and undeniable ignorance, and now it's done. ; )

[doesmusicbest]

Originally Posted by jcomey

No, it didn't. It's over and done with, as far as I'm concerned. I have no need to further need to stay on that tangent. I defended myself against someone's arrogant, misplaced, and undeniable ignorance, and now it's done. ; )

That's a very ignorant thing of you to say.

[jcomey]

Originally Posted by doesmusicbest

That's a very ignorant thing of you to say.

Ah ha! Wit! Touche, my friend. ; )

Did feces just cross a fan at your house, or the house of someone you know? Because I was referring to the shit hitting the fan in this thread.

In this thread, there is no fan. Lots of hot air blowing around, and a ton of shit later in the thread. But, no fan.