Dave Matthews not that into himself anymore

[SmoothedShredder]

Dave Matthews Not That Into Himself Anymore

August 24, 2005 | Issue 41•34

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA—Dave Matthews, the 38-year-old singer and guitarist for the multi-platinum group The Dave Matthews Band, announced Tuesday that he is no longer into himself.

"I used to be a hardcore Dave Matthews fan," said Matthews on the porch of his Virginia home. "I had all my records and posters. I was so blown away by everything I did—especially my live performances. I remember me and my buddies used to drive for hours just to go to one of our shows."

Matthews, who formed the Dave Matthews Band in 1991, is perhaps best known for the hit songs "Crash Into Me" and "The Space Between."

"Me and my band are still okay, but I feel like I've grown out of us," Matthews said. "Back when I was in the college charts, we were about all I listened to, but I guess I'm at the point in my life where my music just doesn't speak to me."

Matthews admitted that most of his current Dave Matthews listening is confined to overhearing a hit single on a jukebox or PA system. However, while doing dishes last weekend, he tried listening to 1998's Before These Crowded Streets, an album he had not heard in over two years. The singer admitted that by the fourth track, he was barely even listening.

"It sounded like this sort of worldbeat background drone," Matthews said. "So I took it off and put on some Stevie Ray Vaughan instead."

"Rock music with a violin? I don't know," Matthews added. "Seemed cool once."

Although Matthews continues to attend every single performance of his band, and even his own solo appearances, he claims it's "more out of obligation" than out of passion for his music.

Matthews said that while he once felt exhilarated whenever his group launched into one of their famous prolonged jam sessions, he can now "barely sit through them." Said Matthews: "Lately, I try to vary my routine so I don't get bored on stage. Usually, if there's a long solo, I'll go get a beer or check out the T-shirts."

Matthews even feels isolated from fans with whom he once felt a strong bond, disparaging them as "lame." He also admits that the older he gets, the more out of place he feels around "kids in their Dave Matthews phase."

"I used to talk for hours about my music or spend a whole night in a DMB chatroom," Matthews said. "But now, the people at the shows seem like such geeks, standing there with their elaborate taping equipment. They're really, really young, too. What do I have in common with them? They're just a bunch of kids who need someone to look up to. Why would I look up to me? I'm so 1997."

Yet for all his disenchantment with the Dave Matthews Band, he'll still "probably check me out at Farm Aid in September." Added Matthews: "If I'm even playing there this year. I don't even know. Dave Matthews—that is to say, me—just isn't where I'm coming from anymore."

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Welcome to August 29 there William =)

[Deeps]

I wasn't around on August 29th and missed this thread.

Thanks Will

Interesting alienation of some folk that may or may not need it.

I feel the the same way about DMB. Upon Dave Matthews' release of Some Devil, a great album I was sold that Dave should move on.

DMB is just not all that forward moving anymore, but then again maybe progressive is an after thought when you approaching 40.

He seems pretty inspired though and likely has some cool stuff to do.

DMB should go the way of Phish. Everyone trying to go it on their own and due to their good musicianship and good attitudes towards putting a band on a stage they'd likely succeed on some sort of personal level. Maybe not as much as the Trey, Gordon, Paige, and Fishman projects, but they'd be fine and wouldn't starve without DMB I'm sure.

I say pack it in and let the legacy take on its own life.

Deeps

PS The Stones are a lame lame lame show.

PPS The Stones' albums are undeniably some of the most important rock albums ever made.

[Kaidy Mae]

PS The Stones are a lame lame lame show.

Well, when Dave-O and I saw them last weekend they were far from lame. Tired? Perhaps. Rich to the point of instilling jealousy? Definitely. My parents have been taking me to see the Stones since I was a little kid. No other band I've seen puts on a show of that magnitude. To even suggest a comparison between a fuckwad like Dave Matthews and a group who have survived 40+ (successful) years in the music industry is pretty weak. I can't think of any other band who Beck would agree to be an opening act for.

Setlist:

Start Me Up

It's Only Rock 'n' Roll

Live With Me

Tumblin' Dice

Rough Justice

Ruby Tuesday

You Can't Always Get What You Want

All Down the Line

Night Time Is The Right Time*

The Worst

Infamy

Miss You

Oh No Not You Again

Midnight Rambler

Honky Tonk Woman

Sympathy For The Devil

Paint it Black

Jumpin' Jack Flash

Brown Sugar

ENCORE: Satisfaction

*Ray Charles cover w/Lisa Fisher on backing vocals. Holy shit!

[Deeps]

Just because a band evolves into major megalomania does not absolve them of lameness.

Can you say Las Vegas?

Mick Jagger's contrived stage prescence was completely irritating when I saw them, and I have little doubt it pervades all shows in recent history.

Waving his arms threw the set with an involvement level close to what I would be in a university lecture on mushrooms.

Showy and animated, but little to do with the context and therefore after about 5 minutes pretty much annoying and what most could do without.

my $0.02 is all.

[Deeps]

Nice use of fuckwad dude.

The point wasn't to compare DMB and the Stones it was to point out what happens when you let it go on beyond your true involvement as a musician to satisfy other goals that have little to do with playing tunes.

Edited September 12, 2005 by Guest

[dave-O]

Midnight Rambler!

That is all.

[Kaidy Mae]

I hear what you're sayin' Deeps. The Stones certainly aren't for everyone. I don't mention their longevity because sustaining popularity is a reason to get a hearty pat on the back. Rather, because this is the band who gave us Exile on Main St, Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers and Goat's Head Soup. They have more money than they could ever spend yet they STILL perform. They still put a lot of work into their shows. "Let the legacy take on its own life"? Sure, they could do that. But I think true musicians, artists, writers, doctors, etc. continue to do what they do regardless of accolades and monetary success because it is what they love to do.

Okay, perhaps Mick wiggles around a lot and Keith can barely stand for an entire song (poor bastard), but I admire a band who will still build elaborate (megalomaniacal?) sets, play small club gigs and take their music to cities and towns that no other large act would ever go to. They keep playing music because they are musicians. They don't say, "Yeah, we've made enough cash" and retire to their decked-out lairs to age and swell. They don't create a legacy and then quit. They don't subject their fans to decades of groveling and begging for them to reunite. I can understand that you may not like them; they're not everyone's thing. I see that there's definitely an over-the-top quality to them (akin to Vegas). But dude, have you ever been to Vegas? That crazy place in the middle of the desert is still one fucking great place to party.

Their goals that have little to do with playing tunes still have a lot to do with entertainment and performing. It's hard to appreciate what they do from a musically puritanical perspective. Sure, they don't sound like they used to. They're old!

As for Dave Matthews being a fuckwad, I wouldn't even know where to begin. I've honestly tried to like him. A good friend of mine in college was a huge fan (even going so far as to have "dmb" tattooed on her upper back). I figured there must be something I wasn't getting. There must be some reason for this smart, young girl to permanently brand herself. Tried as I may to understand, I certainly never did. The Onion article was hilarious. Here's a guy who takes himself far too seriously. I find his political commentary and Bono-like aspirations to be highly inarticulate and unoriginal. The credulous loyalty of his fans just nauseates me further.

Not trying to pick a fight with you Deeps. I think we're on the same page here.

[Deeps]

Get off my page.

Let's fight.

.......

Kidding.

[Kaidy Mae]

It's on bitch!

See you on Friday!

[MarcO]

The new Dave Matthews Band CD is excellent. There I said it.

Apparently the band is revitalized live recently also. I haven't seen them for a couple of years but from what I've heard from this Summer, they sure were on top of their game.

Great band. Long may they run.

[Booche]