the (2021) summer so far

[snake911]

Originally Posted by seanbrutus

Man I use this quote all the time and no one ever knows what I’m talking about. So happy to see you use it!

God bless you both! I say it all the time and people look at me like I have two heads. Philistines.

[LaLaLaLaHey]

Originally Posted by crounsa810

The only songs that really miss the violin are Ants, Nancies, Two Step, and probably American Baby if they ever play it again. Everything else either sounds equal or better than it did with the violin. Besides, Boyd never really brought violin to the band. He brought energy and a spectacle of watching this crazy guy flying on the violin during his solos. Which, that’s fun at a show but listening back to it afterwards you really notice how absurdly terrible he’s been since like… 1996?

Disagree. To add:

Billies
Say Goodbye
Warehouse
Too Much (especially violin solo)
Grey Street
Big Eyed Fish
DIDO
You Never Know

There are several more I’m missing.

[OutofDarkness]

When I think about whether a song now sounds worse or not without the violin, I'm comparing it to how it sounded in the last ~10 years. I'm not thinking about how these songs sounded in the 90s or early-mid 2000s because a) every song sounded better then, so it's not really a fair comparison; b) there's no realistic chance the band will sound like that again, even if they got a new violin, so it's not a relevant comparison. Relative to DMB post-BW, many of those songs either sound better (Billies) or no worse (Grey Street) than they did before Boyd left.

And in general, from that point of view I can say that the band generally sounds great now. Of course, it's a far cry from how they sounded 95-04. But I don't think that's a relevant comparison; those days are long gone. Compared to how they've sounded since BW, this is their best sound yet.

[TheStone91]

Originally Posted by crounsa810

I do agree with the sentiment that the band is missing something that gave them their signature sound, but at the same time: that 'classic' sound we're all thinking of was Dave, Carter, Roi, Stefan, Boyd, and Tim in the studio/on a few tours. Of those, we only have Dave, Carter, Stefan, and Tim left. The two things that most set DMB apart from other bands was Roi's sax and Boyd's violin. Mostly it was the sax, which we haven't had in the same way since 2008. The violin was always regarded as the energetic violin guy who plays like its a guitar, less so as "wow that violin is amazing!"

At the same time, if you really think about it, the band has been around for 30 years. The sound that most people are longing for hasn't really been the band's sound in about 20. Come Tomorrow and Big Whiskey are much more in line with Everyday and Stand Up than UTTAD and Crash. AFTW is sort of the outlier, but they also rarely played anything from it since its release, and that's most likely because that's not the kind of band Dave wants to be anymore.

If you look at it from Dave's POV, he probably just wants to play music with the musicians he respects and enjoys making music with. They're a 30 year old band now. They don't have to worry about hitting the charts or getting radio play or being in pop culture. They can really do whatever the hell they want at this point because who knows how much longer they have left to do it? Their diehards are going to be there no matter what, and those who won't be there won't really be too missed. I think since the band hit it big, he's tempered that drive to do his own thing with a feeling of obligation towards his fans, constantly split between making the music he wants to make while also releasing something the fans will want too. I think LeRoi's letter probably called him out on this and challenged him to either do what he wants or do what the fans want. Big Whiskey seemed to very much be an album of Dave doing what Dave wanted to do, and we generally liked that. Everything since has come off a little bit uneven. With Come Tomorrow, I think he might have had a little bit of 'fine, let's release this shit they want' and a little bit "this is what I wanna make and hopefully you like it, but I don't care if you do because I had a good time making it." That resulted in an uneven album that we all don't like as a whole but enjoy bits and pieces of. The next album seems to be just Dave writing what he wants with the people he wants to write with and producing it with who he wants to produce it. For probably the first time since those early albums, he doesn't really have any pressure to be something he doesn't want to be and most likely doesn't have that pressure from record execs to release a certain kind of album since 'nobody's really clamoring for a new DMB album."

You can see the line where Dave wanted to do something different and didn't fully commit to it (for whatever reason), and that's made up most of the 2000's and about 2011-2016. Since 2018, people have been saying the band is less DMB and more Dave Matthews's Band. Maybe that's a good thing. Sure, it doesn't sound exactly like DMB, but that's because it's not really the same band. It's the core of Dave, Stefan, and Carter (and Tim). That's who he's got, those are the one's he's always admired, and those are the ones he wants to make music with. I think we see the horns turning into more rehearsed canned lines because Dave probably acknowledges that eventually, Rashawn and Jeff might want to go do something else. I wouldn't be surprised if Rashawn goes his own way in the near future, especially with how disinterested he came across on the Sirius interview. Jeff might stick around, but really, in Dave's mind, it all comes down to him, Carter, and Stefan. Those are the pieces he knows he cannot lose/replace and continue touring as DMB. Everything else he's already had to replace in some way and been able to keep it all going.

Rashawn ain’t going anywhere. He’s got it made with this band and Dave oohs and ahhs over him and his “musical directing” abilities.

I feel like Rashawn likes to give off this “I’m too cool to be here”/disinterested persona, and it’s always rubbed me the wrong way.

[Xcacel]

Originally Posted by ToySoldier#34

The '19 European spring tour was aggressively awful

I don’t think I agree with this

[#41#36#40]

Originally Posted by TheStone91

Rashawn ain’t going anywhere. He’s got it made with this band and Dave oohs and ahhs over him and his “musical directing” abilities.

I feel like Rashawn likes to give off this “I’m too cool to be here”/disinterested persona, and it’s always rubbed me the wrong way.

Agreed… the last few years especially he puts off a disinterested vibe.. maybe he’s in it for the $… or that the band relies on him heavily and could crumble if he quits.. either are no fun.. but he definitely seems bored..

But then again.. so did Roi.. maybe it’s just a cool thing..

[#41#36#40]

Originally Posted by Xcacel

I don’t think I agree with this

I agree with you it was good

[songthatmclikes]

Any violin 🎻 sightings this summer?

[Bearclaw_]

Rashawn seems bored a f. I didn’t see him smile once in the first four concerts.

[Xcacel]

Originally Posted by Bearclaw_

Rashawn seems bored a f. I didn’t see him smile once in the first four concerts.

Probably misses his mum

[Xcacel]

Tampa show is on Dreaming Tree

https://images2.imgbox.com/d1/a9/oaOB61yA_o.jpeg

I will always be grateful to tapers (always) but also this one has a really bad quality (more or less the same of Alpharetta).
And the guy placed the mics just in front of the speakers. I don’t know if is a problem with instrumentation or post processing, but audio is far from what I’d expect by a 2021 tape.

I wonder what happened to our legendary tapers (Eric Naylor, Scott Brown, Joe Shambro, etc..).

[ToySoldier#34]

Originally Posted by Xcacel

I don’t think I agree with this

Worst run of sets they've had for a while, everyone was talking about it at the time, contrasting fall '18 which was strong to spring '19 which wasn't

[CatchThePhoenix]

Originally Posted by Bearclaw_

Rashawn seems bored a f. I didn’t see him smile once in the first four concerts.

I don't understand why he gets so crapped on. Dave is a huge fan of his and in the end that's really what matters. Any and all interactions I've had with him have been super genuine. A solid and humble dude.

[Bearclaw_]

I’m not cracking on him - I like Rashawn. He just has a negative stage presence. Doesn’t look excited to be there at all. Never smiles.

[willndmb]

Originally Posted by Xcacel

Tampa show is on Dreaming Tree

https://images2.imgbox.com/d1/a9/oaOB61yA_o.jpeg

I will always be grateful to tapers (always) but also this one has a really bad quality (more or less the same of Alpharetta).
And the guy placed the mics just in front of the speakers. I don’t know if is a problem with instrumentation or post processing, but audio is far from what I’d expect by a 2021 tape.

I wonder what happened to our legendary tapers (Eric Naylor, Scott Brown, Joe Shambro, etc..).

I didn’t listen to it but there are lots of reason it might not sound as good.
For starters, that entire taping set up cost less then 1 mic Naylor used.
Those mics are also overpowered volume wise, real easy - although he does have the mod which helps.
Could be under powered power wise.
Could have been the mix too. Many people posted on Jeff’s social media posts that they couldn’t hear him in the mix up close and it sucked

Listen to and compare his 7/24 recordings of at853 vs mk4 and see if you notice a difference

[Xcacel]

Originally Posted by willndmb

I didn’t listen to it but there are lots of reason it might not sound as good.
For starters, that entire taping set up cost less then 1 mic Naylor used.
Those mics are also overpowered volume wise, real easy - although he does have the mod which helps.
Could be under powered power wise.
Could have been the mix too. Many people posted on Jeff’s social media posts that they couldn’t hear him in the mix up close and it sucked

Listen to and compare his 7/24 recordings of at853 vs mk4 and see if you notice a difference

I am listening now 7/24 from the same taper, recorded with schoeps mk4 (on internet a couple of those microphones is around 3000$) and it sounds fairly good. Probably the best tape so far.

Audiotechnica (which it sucks in most of their stuff) 853 microphones are quite low budget ones: 200$ new. I can understand the difference now, I don’t think at this point it is necessary to compare the 2 recordings of 7/24: I suppose that AK853 will be much lower.
At this point the question is why even publishing the lower quality tape.

Thanks for the explanation, anyway.

[Jh4124]

The Tampa tape isn't bad, but I can definitely tell the mix is off. Could be a number of factors, but the biggest is usually placement of the mics. Keep in mind that the speakers cover hundreds of feet, and are optimized with eq and levels for people standing 6ft off the ground, not 15ft.
That being said, I can definitely hear something weird going on at the start of JTR, sounds like either the kick or snare mic dies and starts popping, which I saw in another thread about the snare being "off beat"
I do concert sound for a living so I'll definitely report back after tonight's show, but I'm confident it'll sound good. I don't think I've really been to a truly bad sounding show here

[seanbrutus]

Originally Posted by Bearclaw_

I’m not cracking on him - I like Rashawn. He just has a negative stage presence. Doesn’t look excited to be there at all. Never smiles.

I saw him laugh in Atlanta. Most I got lol

[Alexis17]

Originally Posted by Xcacel

I wonder what happened to our legendary tapers (Eric Naylor, Scott Brown, Joe Shambro, etc..).

How did Joe Shambro make the legendary cut? ha.

Nice move putting your location as Italy and claiming you've seen European shows as your alter, Joe.

[Alexis17]

PS, love your Antioch 2000 tape, Joe.

[Xcacel]

Originally Posted by Alexis17

How did Joe Shambro make the legendary cut? ha.

Nice move putting your location as Italy and claiming you've seen European shows as your alter, Joe.

You got me Alexis! Joe

Originally Posted by Jh4124

]b]The Tampa tape isn't bad, [/b]but I can definitely tell the mix is off. Could be a number of factors, but the biggest is usually placement of the mics. Keep in mind that the speakers cover hundreds of feet, and are optimized with eq and levels for people standing 6ft off the ground, not 15ft.
That being said, I can definitely hear something weird going on at the start of JTR, sounds like either the kick or snare mic dies and starts popping, which I saw in another thread about the snare being "off beat"
I do concert sound for a living so I'll definitely report back after tonight's show, but I'm confident it'll sound good. I don't think I've really been to a truly bad sounding show here

I cannot compete with you since you are a pro, but…are we listening to the same tape??

[Dannyyankou]

We've been spoiled by Sirius streams, the Tampa tape is fine. Definitely up to par as far as audience tapes go.

[Route_2]

Originally Posted by Xcacel

Tampa show is on Dreaming Tree

Also on antsmarching.org

[Alexis17]

Originally Posted by Xcacel

You got me Alexis! Joe




I cannot compete with you since you are a pro, but…are we listening to the same tape??

I’ve been listening to the at853 all morning and it’s the best tape I’ve heard on the tour so far.

[Alexis17]

Originally Posted by Dannyyankou

We've been spoiled by Sirius streams, the Tampa tape is fine. Definitely up to par as far as audience tapes go.

The Raleigh XM is the worst tape I’ve heard this tour so far :-)

[Jh4124]

The Sirius streams are likely either pulled directly from the sound board or they are split and mixed in a truck by a hired gun. Either way, they're not going to have nearly the same level of attention as someone intimately familiar with the music who has time to mix in post (say for livetrax or an official live release).
Any "SBD" is going to sound cleaner without as much crowd noise, but they often sound very sterile because the PA tonality and the massive amount of air being moved around in the venue play a big role in what we perceive as "the mix". It's still cool that we get a handful of pseudo releases for the tour though. I'm still holding my breath for when they open the vault. Seeing those early 2000s shows from the Drive-in definitely reignited my love for this band.

[Xcacel]

Originally Posted by Alexis17

The Raleigh XM is the worst tape I’ve heard this tour so far :-)

Originally Posted by Alexis17

I’ve been listening to the at853 all morning and it’s the best tape I’ve heard on the tour so far.

Tu quoque, Brute, fili mi?

[Alexis17]

yeah mate. maybe your headphones aren't plugged in all the way :-)

[Xcacel]

Originally Posted by Alexis17

yeah mate. maybe your headphones aren't plugged in all the way :-)

Headphones are high-res and correctly plugged. Most likely is a problem with my ears that are not correctly plugged.

Let’s see what comes tonight.
This time I will try to make the rip available before the show is over.

[NeatFreakGeek]

Originally Posted by Xcacel

Tampa show is on Dreaming Tree

https://images2.imgbox.com/d1/a9/oaOB61yA_o.jpeg

I will always be grateful to tapers (always) but also this one has a really bad quality (more or less the same of Alpharetta).
And the guy placed the mics just in front of the speakers. I don’t know if is a problem with instrumentation or post processing, but audio is far from what I’d expect by a 2021 tape.

I wonder what happened to our legendary tapers (Eric Naylor, Scott Brown, Joe Shambro, etc..).

does dreaming tree no longer stream? not really interested in downloading shows at this point but would love to stream.