There's more to Dave than radio songs

By Josh Werner
Waddup Big Wern?

: Rock giant Dave Matthews Band give listeners a taste of their live talents with the double-disc Live at Red Rocks set (Bama Rags/RCA).

Dave Matthews Band has progressed from a Charlottesville, Virginia club band to a grassroots favorite to international superstars. While popularity since their breakthrough album Under the Table and Dreaming has been achieved mainly through radio airplay and media hype, Live at Red Rocks gives the listener a chance to hear how the band became such a huge grassroots success.

Leading off the set is an extended version of "Seek Up," a song that appears on Dave Matthews Band's first album, Remember Two Things. The track climaxes with a long jam and passionate vocals from guitarist/songwriter Dave Matthews. Dave and company then progress to an old standard, "Proudest Monkey," and into an even older but more recognized song, "Satellite." "Two Step" is another crowd pleaser, highlighted by a jam led by the band's longtime friend and studio musician, Tim Reynolds, on guitar. Other stand-outs from the first disc include "Recently" with a rendition of the late John Denver's "Sunshine On My Shoulders" as an intro, "Dancing Nancies," and the disc closer, "Warehouse."

The second disc continues the live set with another recently (no pun intended) popular song, "Tripping Billies." This is later followed by the previously unreleased "#36," a song dedicated to the late South African freedom fighter, Chris Hani. As in most of Dave Matthews Band's live shows, "Ants Marching" closes out the set. The encore finds Dave playing solo on "Typical Situation," something he did often in the band's infancy. A raucous cover of Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" closes out the evening and the second disc.

Overall, Live at Red Rocks is a fabulous album for fans of the Dave Matthews Band or rock music in general. It contains a lot of old favorites and tracks from previous albums, but shows the listener that the studio and stage are two entirely different atmospheres as far as improvisation goes. The album also allows devout fans a chance at a high quality recording not seen since the band's early days of allowing soundboard feeds. This album is the first in a series of live releases, the next supposedly slated to be a recording at Richmond's The Flood Zone from 1993. With that and the release of a studio album early next year, Dave Matthews Band fans will have their hands full with new music. Be sure to get your hands on Live at Red Rocks and become one of those fans.

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