Live Trax Vol. 40 - 12.21.02 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY

[slilly2321]

People get that Rashawn 100% would have been a member of this band had Roi still been around right...Ive seen numerous interviews and quotes (most recently the Neighborhood Sessions special) from Dave that said Roi was constantly pushing for a legitimate Horn section around the time of his death...Roi wanted Rashawn around and was pushing to make him a full time member

[Trippingchris]

Originally Posted by mthawk07

Anyone who I personally know who is a slight skeptic or has never heard of them, I pick out a couple of solid tracks and play them and they get it. Or I convince them to go to a show and they get it. 100% success rate.

This has been mostly my case but I still have people who are just gonna hate or is really not their thing. However, most times doing the above gets em hooked or at least on a level of understanding and acceptance.

[Trippingchris]

doing some back-reading. I guess we're done talking about Live Trax 40?

This was a solid release. I had a chance to sit down and watch it last night. Not a perfect show by any means, but a very very very solid release no less. Some songs felt like the band was really tight, others you could tell were a little less comfortable (Stefan's intro to Grace is Gone) but is normal. The whole James Brown experience was exciting but also completely comical. Carter led that shit like no ones business despite some of the ambiguity of the performance. Sometimes it felt like no one knew what to do and was just waiting for James to lead while James was trying to get other people up to front.

I really miss those days. 2002 was a solid touring year despite some opinions. A lot of energy was had that year and it translated so well at MSG. If management wants to keep releasing these solid shows, especially in blu-ray, I'm sold. I'll keep buying. I do agree with someone's earlier post that Carter doesn't feel as centered as Stefan but small peas in the pot.

[crashintonickdm]

Originally Posted by slilly2321

People get that Rashawn 100% would have been a member of this band had Roi still been around right...Ive seen numerous interviews and quotes (most recently the Neighborhood Sessions special) from Dave that said Roi was constantly pushing for a legitimate Horn section around the time of his death...Roi wanted Rashawn around and was pushing to make him a full time member

Many werent pleased with him being in the band well long before Roi got hurt. Even going into 2008 i still wasn't totally sure. Once Roi passed, i realized that with the compromised sax situation, he was never needed. I get it though, he knew all the spots and sort of took over Rois spot in the genius role.

All the while acting like DMB and Jeff coffin werent professional enough musicians to figure it out for themselves. My point being, Rashawn not being there really wouldn't of mattered as much as people make it out to be.

Ill be dancing with the devil by the fire when Rashawn leaves.

[TwoStep2888]

Rashawn is great

[KevinTH]

Originally Posted by crashintonickdm

Many werent pleased with him being in the band well long before Roi got hurt. Even going into 2008 i still wasn't totally sure. Once Roi passed, i realized that with the compromised sax situation, he was never needed. I get it though, he knew all the spots and sort of took over Rois spot in the genius role.

All the while acting like DMB and Jeff coffin werent professional enough musicians to figure it out for themselves. My point being, Rashawn not being there really wouldn't of mattered as much as people make it out to be.

Ill be dancing with the devil by the fire when Rashawn leaves.

Unfortunately he never will.

[slilly2321]

Originally Posted by crashintonickdm

Many werent pleased with him being in the band well long before Roi got hurt. Even going into 2008 i still wasn't totally sure. Once Roi passed, i realized that with the compromised sax situation, he was never needed. I get it though, he knew all the spots and sort of took over Rois spot in the genius role.

All the while acting like DMB and Jeff coffin werent professional enough musicians to figure it out for themselves. My point being, Rashawn not being there really wouldn't of mattered as much as people make it out to be.

Ill be dancing with the devil by the fire when Rashawn leaves.

my point still being that a lot of people on these boards assume that he's in the band to replace or cover up the loss of Roi when thats not the case at all and he would be a member of the band today if Roi was still alive...it wasn't a if one then the other kind of thing it was going to happen regardless...i personally enjoy Rashawn i used to play a little trumpet myself so thats a draw for me to have him in the band but really thats just me and i understand people not enjoying him or not wanting him around...i just think as i said many assume he wouldn't be here if Roi had not gotten hurt and died and everything Dave says about the matter seems to point to otherwise

[djamieb]

Just popping in to show some love for this Seek Up.

WOW! It's incredible.

And the mix on this show is awesome. I'm really grateful to have this release.

[Mickey Carson]

Ugh...I just checked my tracking info to find out why LT40 hasn't arrived yet.

FedEx says my package was delivered 3 days ago...FUCK.

[crashintonickdm]

Originally Posted by Mickey Carson

Ugh...I just checked my tracking info to find out why LT40 hasn't arrived yet.

FedEx says my package was delivered 3 days ago...FUCK.

lol i wonder what happened to it

[Mickey Carson]

Originally Posted by crashintonickdm

lol i wonder what happened to it

Good question. We've never had any packages stolen from our porch, and we receive Amazon orders just about every other day.

So...either it was delivered to the wrong address or some asshole swiped my package. Either way I guess someone else is enjoying my blu-ray and wondering why the video quality is subpar

Looks like a call to the Warehouse is now on my Monday to-do list. Lame.

[DMB1983]

Originally Posted by crashintonickdm

Many werent pleased with him being in the band well long before Roi got hurt. Even going into 2008 i still wasn't totally sure. Once Roi passed, i realized that with the compromised sax situation, he was never needed. I get it though, he knew all the spots and sort of took over Rois spot in the genius role.

All the while acting like DMB and Jeff coffin werent professional enough musicians to figure it out for themselves. My point being, Rashawn not being there really wouldn't of mattered as much as people make it out to be.

Ill be dancing with the devil by the fire when Rashawn leaves.

I don't get it your point. Why was RR never needed and why did losing Roi prove that? Jeff Coffin would never have been able to fill in in the first place with Rashawn's deep knowledge of the songs.

[crashintonickdm]

Originally Posted by DMB1983

I don't get it your point. Why was RR never needed and why did losing Roi prove that? Jeff Coffin would never have been able to fill in in the first place with Rashawn's deep knowledge of the songs.

Jeff coffin couldn't figure it out? Lol yikes

[moosicmaniac]

Originally Posted by kelchlsm

The whole "the band hasnt sounded the same since Leroi" is kind of comical to me. I mean I get it, dont get me wrong, I prefer just Boyd/ Leroi, and no horn section just like everyone else. I miss the old sound, and as a result have not gone to as many shows as I would have like to because of this current lineup.

That said, what I find funny is that if Leroi was still in the band today, im not so sure the sound would be that much different- and thats where a lot of people i think always give him way too much credit IMO. Im assuming it was his idea (or atleast a big part) in bringing in Rashawn to add the horn section in DMB. It began when he was still playing even. So youd still have the horn section and youd still have Tim Reynolds overpowering everyone.

Originally Posted by crashintonickdm

One sweet worlds main riff on horns is what's being discussed

It is in short horrendous

These are the 2 biggest issues I have with the band's sound today. The first one is pretty obvious: Tim is overpowering. It completely changed the band's sound more than anything else. It's why you hear Tim and Carter more than anyone else. This band's sound was built around Dave's guitar and you can barely, if ever hear it anymore.

The other thing, the often shrill horn notes like in One Sweet World need a little more explaining and as a sax player myself this has always bothered me since Rashawn came on board. Generally, I have no issue with Rashawn or Jeff (I was a huge JC fan from his Flecktones days) and this was even a problem before Roi died:

While we have 2 incredible horn musicians in the horn section, many of the horn arrangements are terrible. For the non-musical instrument playing folks out there it means specifically what notes they choose to play in the pre-written parts that are played every time, and a great example is in OSW. There is no melody and harmony/countermelody happening. The horns play the same thing in unison, meaning they play the exact same notes as each other. When 2 horns do this, even the slightest differences in intonation (one of them being slightly sharp or flat of the other) become painfully obvious and that's what gives that shrill sound. If one was playing a harmony, it would blend 100x better.

The other place this comes to mind that this happens is the horn line at the end of Ants. When Roi played this alone it was probably my favorite part of any DMB song. For the record, it's both an issue when Roi was around (check out LT 13/14) and now with Jeff (LT 32).

[laststopdmb]

Originally Posted by djamieb

Just popping in to show some love for this Seek Up.

WOW! It's incredible.

And the mix on this show is awesome. I'm really grateful to have this release.

Holy Bananas this Seek Up. The drum licks by Carter in the intro is unreal. If only Dave screamed on this one as he did on 7/30/01 it would be perfect. I don't know which version is better.

[djamieb]

Originally Posted by laststopdmb

Holy Bananas this Seek Up. The drum licks by Carter in the intro is unreal. If only Dave screamed on this one as he did on 7/30/01 it would be perfect. I don't know which version is better.

I was thinking about that last night, too. The Warehouse 5, Volume 2 Seek Up is the most mind-blowing performance this band has released, in my opinion. I absolutely love how Dave completely loses it at the end of that version; his passion was phenomenal and has become the benchmark for me. But I do love how controlled and accurate his wails are in this MSG version, and the rest of this one is just as good, and in some ways might be even better, than the '01 SPAC.. so to me, they are both darn near perfect and will get many, many repeated listens!

[solfeggio4]

Originally Posted by YouNeverKnow25

my own personal opinion is that they've never sounded worse than 07

...but then they hit a modern era peak in 2010.

[Phan]

Originally Posted by solfeggio4

...but then they hit a modern era peak in 2010.

i remember leaving this show thinking, it'll be remembered for james brown, but that seek up is what i'll remember

[jimmything014]

Finally had a chance to sit down and watch this blu ray dvd this morning. I cant get over how great this release sounds! Makes me hungry for a blu ray from a 98, 00, or 2004 show. The video not being in HD didn't bother me at all since the sound was so good. I cant imagine hearing Dreaming Tree, The Stone, #41, or Warehouse in blu ray sound. Please keep these types of releases coming!

[DMB1983]

I am now admitting I am the asshole. I got this release for Christmas, and after all my months of bitching about it I watched it today. It's a fucking great show. Just unreal. I didn't even get the bluray, just the dvd, and it's still just phenomenal. Great set, nice mellow mid show jams, and a killer run to end the show. Can't get over how happy Carter was the entire show, and how alive Boyd is.

I apologize.

[thewitt85]

Originally Posted by DMB1983

I am now admitting I am the asshole. I got this release for Christmas, and after all my months of bitching about it I watched it today. It's a fucking great show. Just unreal. I didn't even get the bluray, just the dvd, and it's still just phenomenal. Great set, nice mellow mid show jams, and a killer run to end the show. Can't get over how happy Carter was the entire show, and how alive Boyd is.

I apologize.

:eiffeltowe r

[cry_minarets458]

It's a Christmas miracle!

I should probably revisit this release in your honour

[bowa36]

And DMB1983's heart grew three sizes that day

[lockman21]

My single complaint about this show/release is how sleepy it got in the middle of the set:

Loving Wings [partial] »
Where Are You Going »
Seek Up
Digging a Ditch
All Along the Watchtower
Grace Is Gone
The Space Between

Yes that Seek Up is fantastic and Watchtower was nice, but LW/WAYG/Ditch/Grace/Space Between don't all belong so closely clumped together.

[snake911]

Grey Street from this release is so damn good, I love (and miss) being able to hear Fonzie on Grey Street. The lines he plays from the "theres an emptyness.../theres lonliness..." up to "and all the colors..." are so very good, and you can hear them nice and clear on this.

[cry_minarets458]

Originally Posted by lockman21

My single complaint about this show/release is how sleepy it got in the middle of the set:

Loving Wings [partial] »
Where Are You Going »
Seek Up
Digging a Ditch
All Along the Watchtower
Grace Is Gone
The Space Between

Yes that Seek Up is fantastic and Watchtower was nice, but LW/WAYG/Ditch/Grace/Space Between don't all belong so closely clumped together.

when i get a new LT, I always listen to it straight through, then I pick selections to listen to in the future. those four songs are the songs i chose for my LT selections playlist. Different strokes, different folks, I guess

EDIT: I get what you're saying about it being sleepy, but for me to zone in on those specific tracks as my favorite...idk they either perked me up or I was never "sleepy" to begin with. I get what you're saying though.

[zajDmB1]

Originally Posted by crashintonickdm

Jeff coffin couldn't figure it out? Lol yikes

Don't remember, how long did Jeff have to learn the material? Like not just a show or two's worth, the whole 70+ more regular songs?

If it was a short period of time, having someone else there who can not only talk you through the songs but talk you through them having worked directly with the guy you're replacing, would be a godsend, doesn't matter skill level. RR had a deep knowledge at that point. Without that, Jeff would just be learning the notes to get through it for the first probably month of shows.

[vegeevore]

so the Music Today site is saying that the bonus disc is no longer available. anybody know by chance if it is still included in the digital downloads?

[robby_idol]

Originally Posted by vegeevore

so the Music Today site is saying that the bonus disc is no longer available. anybody know by chance if it is still included in the digital downloads?

I just bought a digital download and it came with the 5-song bonus disc (digital, as well).

EDIT: I should clarify that I bought my download just a couple days ago and got mp3's of the bonus disc. Checking the store now, it doesn't offer the mp3's in my cart the way that it did when I bought it.

[vegeevore]

Originally Posted by robby_idol

I just bought a digital download and it came with the 5-song bonus disc (digital, as well).

EDIT: I should clarify that I bought my download just a couple days ago and got mp3's of the bonus disc. Checking the store now, it doesn't offer the mp3's in my cart the way that it did when I bought it.

Hmmm bummer. Got it. Thank you for the update!