By: David Schultz

Labels: Dave Matthews Band, Phish

By: David Schultz

In Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser’s expose on all facets of the fast food industry, he confronts the fact that McDonald’s does an incredible amount of business despite the low nutritional value of their food. Basically, McDonald’s tastes good and it tastes good because it’s designed and engineered to taste good. Schlosser’s thoughts popped into my head while listening to Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King. Not that the Dave Matthews Band’s music has little value; to the contrary, any band with Stefan Lessard, Boyd Tinsley and especially Carter Beauford has a lot going on. Rather, the DMB sounds good cause they’re built to sound that way. It may not sound like it but that’s a compliment.

Bands spend innumerable hours trying to come up with an appealing sound. Some even go the other way and try to curry favor by being as unappealing as they can. Since emerging in the mid 90s, the Dave Matthews Band has managed to brew up a large catalog of relatively inoffensive yet highly enjoyable songs. A DMB song accomplishes music's most difficult trick, it's designed to sound good . . . to everybody.

The memory of Leroi Moore, the titular Groogrux King, looms large throughout Big Whiskey. It's not a "Tears In Heaven" style eulogy though; Moore appears on the majority of the album, much of the recording sessions having taken place before the unfortunate ATV accident that led to his untimely death. His plaintive sax opens and closes the album, the latter in a repetitious code reminiscent of the loop The Beatles snuck into Sgt. Peppers' runoff groove.

On Big Whiskey, Matthews goes through the numerous cycles of his vocal range: high falsetto, smooth Peter Gabriel-like growl, schoolyard chanting and stream of consciousness scatting. He hasn’t really added much over the years, only he doesn’t have to. The way in which he’s able to insinuate his voice into the rest of the band’s intricate playing remains a calling card of the band. The album separates itself from the pack halfway through with "Squirm," the simple power chords played throughout giving a Matthews song a rare fist pumping surge. Matthews has such a clear-cut image, mainly based upon the surfeit of songs that revolve around existential happiness, that "Time Bomb," detailing a descent into madness takes on a Patrick Bateman vibe as it kicks into high gear. The family man is also present: "Alligator Pie (Cockadile)" centers on his daughter's desire for Dad to put her in a song.

The album may not live up to its purported hype of being the best DMB album ever but it is one of their most entertaining and ambitious releases since Under The Table And Dreaming.

Labels: Dave Matthews Band

By: David Schultz

When the Dave Matthews Band comes to New York City, they usually play large fields like Randall’s Island or Central Park or when forced to economize manage to cram their whole show into the tiny, little Madison Square Garden. On the eve of the release of Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King, dedicated to saxophonist LeRoi Moore who passed away last year from injuries suffered in an ATV accident, the DMB played, for them, an intimate performance at the Beacon Theater. In a nice touch, the Fuse network, (hey, a channel dedicated to music, didn’t MTV once do that), simulcast the show commercial free.

For some reason, television networks do a lousy job broadcasting live concerts, feeling the need to enhance the event with moronic commentary or poor camera angles. Until HBO figured out how to properly telecast a show, home viewers were subjected to atrocities like the MTV VJs squawking all over Live Aid or VH1 deciding that the middle of The Who tearing through “Won’t Get Fooled Again” would be a good time cut to a commercial break. Doing a fine job of staying out of the way, Fuse had the cameras in the right places and let Matthews and the band carry the show. While a broadcast will never replace the live experience, I thought Fuse admirably made you feel like you were in on what was transpiring. They also didn’t care that the show ran over, staying with it until the final note. My only complaint, Steve Smith, our insipid host for the evening, was absolutely atrocious during the encore break, patronizing the viewing audience about whether there would be an encore and conducting a God-awful interview with fans at the back of the theater, asking such incisive questions like “Did they play the song you wanted?” Really? They should have just let the cameras roam the crowd until Matthews returned.

As for the performance, the DMB predictably focused on their latest album and based on the live renditions, the new stuff sounds great and I can’t recall when Matthews seemed as loose and relaxed with his stage banter. In playing a solo acoustic rendition of Pete Seeger’s “Rye Whiskey,” Matthews made up for his failing voice on the high notes with sheer will, winning the already convinced crowd over with the effort. The Beacon’s enthusiasm came across pretty well on TV and almost created a spontaneous moment when the overwhelming chant for “Halloween” seemed to place the band on the verge of calling an audible. When the audience began chanting “LeRoi! LeRoi! LeRoi!,” I couldn’t help but wonder what was going through the band’s mind. While I’m sure Matthews Band fans are affected by Moore’s death, it cannot possibly be on the level that it touched Moore’s band mates whose lives and careers were dramatically affected by their friend’s passing. They must have been touched on an instinctive level but at the same time must have wondered what the audience was trying to accomplish by chanting Moore’s name. It was a truly nice gesture and the intent admirable but was it sympathetic, empathetic or purely self-aggrandizing and selfish. Days later, I'm still not sure.

Labels: Dave Matthews Band

State Radio, who put on a great show, announced a string of tour dates for 2009 as well as one more show this year on December 26th at DC's 9:30 Club. You can get all the tour dates on their MySpace page and you can also download "Right Me Up" here.

Lex Land, who I had the pleasure of meeting earlier this year when she toured with Intelligent Noise label mate Joshua James, is giving away a download of her cover of Joni Mitchell's "River" - you can get it here. You can also download "As Much as You Lead" from her well received release Orange Days on Lemon Street here.

Old Crow Medicine Show will perform on Conan O'Brien tonight. They'll likely do a song from their new release Tennessee Pusher. They also announced some springtime dates with the Dave Matthews Band on April 17 and 18 in Charlottesville, VA at the John Paul Jones Arena, and April 20, 2009 in Pelham, AL at the Verizon Wireless Music Center. They will also do some 2009 shows with The Felice Brothers, another band I look forward to seeing at some point.

Labels: Dave Matthews Band, Mp3s, Old Crow Medicine Show, Tour Dates

The Black Crowes announced show and ticket sale dates for their "Euphoria or Bust Tour" that will see them sweep across North America all summer an into the fall. Although the tour, in support of their new record Warpaint, officially kicks off June 28th in New Hampshire, the band is also playing what should be a monster show with the Dave Matthews Band on June 27th in Hershey Pennsylvania. Among the more interesting dates will be a three night stand at the fairly intimate Philadelphi Fillmore a/ka/ The Theater of the Living Arts on South Street. Tickets go on sale on May 2nd and the venue should sell out very quickly. If you can get there do so as it will be a great place to see them play.

Labels: Dave Matthews Band, The Black Crowes

Even Timothy Leary came to realize that his infamous catch phrase from the sixties might have been sending the wrong message. Leary later explained that "drop out" was not meant for people to "Get stoned and abandon all constructive activity." Today, some key love generation veterans are putting Leary's clarification into action.

HeadCount, a volunteer-run voter registration organization, is getting major help from the Grateful Dead's Bob Weir and this week had a presence at fellow Dead alum Phil Lesh's shows in NYC. The group registered nearly 50,000 voters in 2004 through alliances with Dave Matthews Band and other artists, and intends to register another 200,000 voters by staging voter registration drives at more than 500 concerts over the next year. Beyond the DMB, Weir and Lesh, the Allman Brothers Band, members of Phish and newer artists like O.A.R. are aligned with the movement.

“If we don’t protect democracy today, there won’t be a democracy to protect in a few years,” said former Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir, a member of HeadCount’s board of directors. “I think for the younger folks this is particularly important, because the decisions we make will largely affect the rest of their lives.”

Marc Brownstein, bass player for The Disco Biscuits, serves as HeadCount’s co-chair. “This was something we started as a dream, just a crazy idea that we believed we could pull off,” said Brownstein. “Now it’s almost four years later, and we are in it for the long-term. We hope HeadCount leaves a permanent imprint on the live music community, forever getting fans more engaged in the political system and democracy itself.” Timothy would be proud.

Labels: Allman Brothers Band, Bob Weir, Dave Matthews Band, Disco Biscuits, Phil Lesh

Farm Aid announced the lineup for their first ever benefit in New York City, which will take place September 9th on Randall's Island. Joining founders John Mellencamp, Neil Young, Willie Nelson and their fellow board member Dave Matthews will be The Allman Brothers Band, Counting Crows, Matisyahu, Guster, The Derek Trucks Band, Warren Haynes, Supersuckers, The Ditty Bops, Montgomery Gentry and Tim Reynolds. Plans are for Mellencamp, Nelson, Young, Matthews & Reynolds and the Allmans to play full sets.

Farm Aid can trace their genesis to Bob Dylan's off-the-cuff comment at Live Aid. To the rumored anger of Bob Geldof, the always outspoken singer suggested that perhaps some of the money raised could be given to American farmers to help pay off their mortgages. The original Farm Aid, held in Champaign, Illinois, featured such varied acts as Lou Reed, Don Henley and the first performance of the Sammy Hagar led Van Halen. The 2007 all-day event will be the organization's 21st benefit since 1985.

Labels: Dave Matthews Band, Farm Aid, John Mellencamp, Neil Young, Willie Nelson

The Dave Matthews Band released their summer tour schedule and, as in years past, it will consist primarily of outdoor stadium venues. After an April 29 appearance at N.O. Jazz Fest, the DMB will commence traveling the country on May 30, kicking off the tour at the UMB Bank Pavilion in Maryland Heights, MO.

Earlier this year, DMB asked their fans to let them know who they wanted to see and hear as opening acts on the 2006 tour. While the results were not published, bands with strong grass roots followings apparently received much band-love from their adoring flock. Over the course of the four month tour, early arriving DMB fans will be treated to G Love & Special Sauce, Matisyahu, Animal Liberation Orchestra (ALO), Of A Revolution (O.A.R.), Gomez, Umphrey's McGee, Gov't Mule, Bela Fleck & The Flecktones and Pat Green. More supporting acts will be announced in the future.

On August 5-6, the DMB will return to Randall's Island for another weekend "Island Getaway." Last year's day-long events were notable for wonderful music but deplorable conditions. Gov't Mule and Bela Fleck & The Flecktones are already confirmed for the New York City shows.

Labels: Dave Matthews Band

By David Schultz

The Dave Matthews Band has worked hard to cultivate a reputation that they are a band who cares about their fans. Unsurprisingly, the DMB used their popularity to turn the New York leg of their summer tour into a weekend festival that would present established acts like the Barenaked Ladies and the Black Eyed Peas and give exposure to wonderful new burgeoning superstars like Ray Lamontagne and Robert Randolph & The Family Band. While the DMB should be commended for putting together a terrific slate of performers, their choice of venue was horrific. On this last weekend in July, the Dave Matthews Band showed not love and respect for their fans but rather complete and utter disdain for their audience’s concert-going experience.

DMB billed their weekend shows at New York City’s Randall's Island, an inconvenient and relatively inaccessible venue, as an Island Getaway. Although they created a viable festival atmosphere, complete with a wide variety of food and beverages, the resemblance to any proper lawn concert ended there. Notably, there was no lawn! Concert-goers with general admission lawn seats, who were forbidden from bringing beach chairs and the like, were offered a large expanse of dirt for their blankets. Within moments of claiming a patch of dusty earth, each blanket and its occupants were immediately covered with the dirt kicked up by the breeze or tramped onto them by other people ambling through the grounds. Those who seated themselves to the rear of the lawn were forced to watch the bands through a Pig-Pen like quarter mile dust cloud that defiantly hovered over the crowd. This weekend's badge of courage is surely a hacking case of "brown-lung."

Inversely proportional to the excessive number of food and drink vendors were the number of garbage cans. Those that did exist quickly overflowed and were rendered useless by 3:00 in the afternoon. Rather than create garbage mounds in the vicinity of the cans, fans simply dropped their refuse at their feet. If your ideal concert experience involves sitting and standing amongst garbage, this weekend was made just for you.

For the right to sit in dirt and garbage to catch the faintest sight of the bands onstage, Dave Matthews charged his beloved and adored fans $54.50 apiece - with an additional $9.60 if you purchased them through Ticketmaster. Anyone who still believes that Dave Matthews and his band love their New York fans deserves a punch in their nose, a kick in the stomach and the most egregious of atomic wedgies.

The Dave Matthews Band does attract a mighty crowd, and deservedly so. I am sure the majority of the thousands of fans that were drawn to the shows mistakenly imagine themselves as children of the Deadheads. With exceptions, this scene falls far short of embodying the camaraderie and compassion of the Dead crowds. A Dave Matthews fan will just as soon stomp you into the ground as share his joint with you. Scratch that, DMB fans don’t share their weed with anyone. The Daveheads are also well equipped and proficient with their cell phones. While useful for finding your friends if you get separated, the mobiles have led to a disconcerting proliferation of phone calls to friends to tell them what they’re missing at the show.

Given all the venue’s annoyances, and there were many, the music was well worth it. Each night's concert was apropos to the weather. Saturday was hot and humid so DMB kept the music upbeat, giving the crowd a reason to sweat with Matthews and violinist Boyd Tinsley cranking up classics like Tripping Billies and Warehouse. Sunday night was cooler with a nice breeze and Leroi Moore's sax solos were the centerpiece of a laid back and relaxed show that featured a beautiful rendition of Under The Table And Dreaming’s #34.

Ever the gracious hosts, DMB invited Robert Randolph onstage to close out both shows. Imbuing the band with what seems to be an endless reserve of enthusiasm, he was the center of gravity for Tinsley and Matthews during Saturday's blistering version of Stand Up's Louisiana Bayou. The next night, Randolph emerged for the news album's titular Stand Up and remained on stage for the band's warhorse cover of All Along The Watchtower. After Matthew's dreary intro, Randolph was handed the entire song and nearly set his pedal steel on fire with his scorching solo. Randolph was not the only guest in the house. Phish's Trey Anastasio appeared onstage on Saturday and helped give Jimi Thing an exciting 20 minute workout that included an extended intro incorporating Buffalo Springfield's For What It's Worth. Putting on airs for the important guest, every member of the band amped up their game with Trey on stage.

The arrangements of most DMB songs are not simple and Carter Beauford does an amazing and usually underappreciated job of anchoring the band. Over the course of the weekend, each band member was given time to shine. Tinsley, shredding strings, literally and figuratively took center stage during Dancing Nancies. Sunday's encore of Seek Up featured bassist Stefan Lessard and Leroi Moore, who soloed often throughout the night.

The only change in the weekend's lineup was the penultimate act in which the Barenaked Ladies narrowly edged the Black Eyed Peas in the battle to shameless suck up to Dave Matthews. With every rap, the Ladies and the Peas worked in references to the headliner. Unsurprisingly, the Barenaked Ladies crafted the more entertaining and witty freestyle references, with Ed Robertson winning significant brownnosing points for incorporating and plugging Matthews' appearance in Because of Winn-Dixie.

Outside of currying favor, the Saturday concert was greatly improved by the Ladies' presence. Aware that they had a stadium to entertain, BNL made sure to mix their well-known songs like One Week, complete with Chicken Dance, and the always popular lottery promoting If I Had $1,000,000 with the idiosyncratic Pinch Me and the weepy ballad Break Your Heart. They also got huge bonus points by acknowledging the back of the crowd.

The Peas appearance at this show, as well as others on the upcoming tour, is a troubling proposition. Your thoughts on whether the Black Eyed Peas belong on the same bill as Dave Matthews depends upon your thoughts of where DMB sits on the musical landscape. If you think of them as an offshoot of the jamband scene, then the Peas are sorely out of place; but, if you think of them as a Top 40 radio darling, then the Peas are right at home.

It is the Peas' Top 40 leanings that fail them in an expansive setting. The Peas are essentially four average singers and none of them have a strong voice like Mariah Carey or the charisma of Bruce Springsteen to keep the interest of a stadium audience. To put a band behind them that could keep the interest of the back rows would be to upstage the stars of this act and obviously there is no chance of that occurring. The Peas tried to play reggae, 70's funk, blues and surf rock, succeeding only in presenting a generic, homogenized version of music ill-suited to the band's strengths.

While not inspiring the audience to wonder whatever happened to the Fugees, the Peas offered an overly simplistic but well intentioned rationalization that our gathering together to listen to music was an effective way to battle the evils of terrorism. They then immediately implored us all to "get retarded." Quite possibly, they wanted company.

Ray Lamontagne, looking very shaggy and a bit uncomfortable in the midday sun, was the star of the side stage. Lamontagne's warm and intimate songs, which are better suited to a candlelit late night listen with a friendly companion, were not especially suited to the brightly lit open-air venue. However, there is no denying the power and emotion of Lamontagne's wonderful, emotional Van Morrison-esque songs.

Every bit the musician that he is not a performer, Lamontagne opened both sets with his yearning heartfelt ballad Burn. Plagued by an apathetic audience and apparent sound problems on Saturday, Lamontagne unnecessarily apologized to the audience, feeling he was having a bad day and that he shouldn't be up there. With a more appreciative audience on Sunday, Lamontagne played a longer set, closing with Danielle, a new song which held its own with any other rocker played that day.

After Lamontagne closed the side stage, Jem and Mike Doughty performing earlier, the focus moved to the grand main stage and Robert Randolph & The Family Band. Randolph's set has evolved but not changed much over the past 18 months. Although they clearly know what gets the crowd on their feet, Randolph & the Band run the risk of becoming a cliché by overusing the stage tricks that are currently endearing them to fans everywhere.

On this weekend, Randolph shuffled the set list but retained the core elements that have become trademarks of his shows. Drummer Marcus Randolph and bassist Danyel Morgan seemed to relish the opportunity to dive into the rhythm sections of the now obligatory Michael Jackson cover. In a sly nod to the "Hendrix of the pedal steel guitar" raves, Robert Randolph always makes sure to include a scorching rendition of Voodoo Chile or Purple Haze. Saturday's performance closed with Unclassified's Nobody, during which Randolph and his cousins took turns playing each other's instruments. Just to show that they truly could switch off at will, they did it again on Sunday during the gospel inspired I Don’t Know What You Come To Do.

It is a shame that the weekend's concerts were marred by the abysmal conditions of the venue because the music, for the most part was fantastic. It is an even worse shame that most of Matthews' fans consider these conditions acceptable and felt no compunction about spending a ten-hour day in a scene straight out of The Grapes Of Wrath. If his fans will sit through this, you can expect the New York leg of the 2006 Dave Matthews Band tour to take place in a Staten Island landfill.

Labels: Dave Matthews Band, Ray LaMontagne, Robert Randolph, The Family Band, Trey Anastasio

Tweeter Center at the Waterfront
Camden, NJ
Capacity (Summer): 25,000
July 5, 2005
by Jim McCoy

Any poll, formal or informal, would likely find that few Philadelphia-area concert veterans over the age of 25 or so are fond of seeing a rock act at the Tweeter Center. Opened just over ten years ago, the amphitheater was part of a chain of ambitious redevelopment projects along Camden's waterfront that included an aquarium, a minor league baseball stadium and an office building designed by noted architect Michael Graves.

Its setting along the New Jersey side of the Delaware River is impressive enough, affording generous views of the Philadelphia skyline and the nation's most decorated warship - Battleship New Jersey - which is permanently docked in the waters alongside the venue. On a day which an event takes place, a significant police presence, restricted access to the areas off the main thoroughfare and evidence of slowly moving gentrification can make one forget that Camden often trades places with Compton, CA and Gary, IN when academics and agencies that analyze statistics release their yearly studies that contain listings of the most impoverished and/or dangerous cities in the United States.

Truth be told, the sound at the Tweeter Center is for the most part loud and clear with video screens and a large center projection that allow patrons to catch the action from all areas of the venue. The problem lies in that it is a most sterile and unhip environment in which to take in a performance by a rock band. Unlike the original Philadelphia Spectrum (or even its more modern counterpart located down the block in South Philadelphia) the Tweeter Center gives off a constant suburban movie theater vibe that is difficult to shake. Security can be very helpful, but sometimes walk in small packs sporting a mall Rent-a-Cop attitude that is neither friendly nor service-oriented. (The Tweeter Center was the first venue in which I was told to sit down in my 12th-row seat for a Van Halen concert some years ago.) Security is also rather fond of walking through rows and conducting random ticket checks during the performance itself.

Contrast this to a gritty old hockey and basketball arena filled with history whose management has chosen to adorn the arena's ceiling with banners highlighting the accomplishments of the Grateful Dead and Billy Joel alongside those which commemorate Philadelphia's legendary athletes and precious few world championship teams. Security is both professional and competent, and most importantly knows how to exercise discretion. Vito from South Philly is more likely to give you and wink and a nod as he discovers you moving up four rows into empty seats in the same section, rather than call out an army of his yellow jacketed brethren and causing a scene.

Fortunately, the less-than-stellar environment provided by the Tweeter Center does not appear to affect the acts themselves. The Dave Matthews Band, joined by usual suspect Butch Taylor on keyboards, managed to provide an energetic and strong - but not spectacular - performance on Tuesday night. The Stone, a mid-paced, ominous-sounding tune that gives way to a lush chorus as it nears its conclusion, was an unusual but most welcome choice as an opener. American Baby, from the band's latest studio offering, found itself in the second slot and received a very enthusiastic response from the sold-out crowd despite the mixed reviews of the album among the rank-and-file DMB fans. Another sure crowd pleaser - Grey Street - followed. Ants Marching was given an extended intro with a funkier groove; Carter Beauford took a short drum solo at the end of Hello Again; a jam was added to the debut-album gem Typical Situation; a verse of Everyday was given a brief double-time treatment by Beauford; and, Louisiana Bayou was played with an intensity that suggested that the tune had been in the rotation for years rather than weeks, with violinist Boyd Tinsley and Matthews standing close and facing each other grinning as the song roared to an intense conclusion.

There were some disappointments. Boyd Tinsley's wah-wah touched solo was curiously placed at the end of Everyday - a tune that doesn't provide the jamming opportunity afforded by Lie in Our Graves, which Tinsley often single-handedly turns into a barnburning showstopper. Fans also began anticipating that the drawn out synth-droned intro to the second encore - with touches of the harmonic minor or other darker scale tones subtly thrown across by the other instruments - would lead into the powerful crowd favorite The Last Stop, which has been missing from the rotation for some time. (Fans can be heard clamoring for the song so loudly on the band's 6-CD boxed set from the 2002 stand at The George that Matthews responds to them from the stage, even joking with the fans as the chants continued following Matthews explaination that the song would not be played that evening.) Many fans began an early break for the exit when the band instead launched into What You Are from Everyday, even though an inspired rendition of the tune was played. (Given the parking situation at the venue and the large number of roads blocked off by law enforcement before, during and following an event, it is difficult to blame them.)

Critics and fans alike have chosen to place the "jam band" label on DMB, but this show - along with the voluminous amount of live material that has been tumbling forth from the band's vault - demonstrates that this term has been misapplied with respect to this band. Case in point is Dream Girl, the delightful opening track to Stand Up. Matthews went to a chord near the song's conclusion that is found neither on the studio track nor in the Live8 performance given across the river in Philadelphia only three days prior.

This provided a perfect opportunity to morph the song's conclusion into an extended jam over which LeRoi Moore could continue to lay down licks with his soprano saxophone. A band like the Grateful Dead or latter-day Phish would twist through different chord progressions and modulate into different keys, allowing their soloists to shine and explore new territories before bringing the song back home or abandoning it altogether in order to smoothly segue into a different tune. Instead, Matthews and the band continued to move between two chords for a short time when it seemed that the ending could be built into a much more ambitious musical exploration. Given the soloing abilities of Tinsley, Moore, Taylor (showcased on Live Trax 1) and Matthews' penchant for quirky chord voicings and inversions, the band is certainly capable of doing so. Of course, the band is known to extend songs in a live setting and shake-up arrangements- but any band that does not play exactly like the album versions should not automatically be placed into a jam band classification. However, DMB's focus on crafting a solid song will have the band selling out arenas long after most contemporary jam bands have played their final notes.

Labels: Dave Matthews Band

(RCA Records) 2005
DMB Finds a Good Groove on a Thoroughly Modern Effort
by Jim McCoy

Highlights: Dreamgirl; Old Dirt Hill (Bring That Beat Back); Smooth Rider; Everybody Wake Up (Our Finest Hour Arrives); Stolen Away on 55th & 3rd.

A thick a cappella choir of Dave Matthews' own voice, bolstered by a heavy dose of reverb and delay, seems a most unlikely way for America's reigning top touring rock act to kick-off their sixth and latest studio effort. Then again, the band was obviously determined to create something different from the jump; a new producer was enlisted (Mark Batson) and a rebuilt studio employed in an effort to capture the sound of a band now more known for its live prowess than its studio-issued releases.

Fortunately for the Dave Matthews Band and its fans, Stand Up is successful on several levels. Batson not only manages to expertly record the various instruments and breathe life into the band's studio sound, but also contributes organ, piano and string arrangements in tasteful and appropriate doses. The combination of Matthews' up-front and dry lead vocals, layered backing vocals from Matthews and other band members (see Dreamgirl and Old Dirt Hill), the more generous use of percussion and the presence of a wide range of guitar sounds - from dobros to distorted electrics - leaves no question that the fourteen-track effort sounds fresh and thoroughly modern. But most importantly, the band actually moves throughout. Batson and the disc's mixers highlight the rhythm section to its fullest, refusing to bury Stefan Lessard's creative bass lines and utilizing drum and percussion sounds that stray outside the regular rock realm. Indeed, some of the tracks on Stand Up would sound no less at home on a modern R&B recording. That is not to say that the disc sounds soft, sterile or contrived; to the contrary, its captured grooves effortlessly ooze sex and the creativity is far from lacking.

A track like Stolen Away on 55th & 3rd might sound 'smooth,' but Matthews' unique voice, competent guitar and Lessard's bass line never allow it to degrade into something only worthy to be heard while on hold with your credit card company or student loan servicer. Similarly, You Might Die Trying contains all the hallmarks of 1001 formulaic tracks of urban contemporary music - a large helping of electronically treated drum sounds, deep bass and a break with echoing vocals and lyrical clichés (If you give/ you begin to live)- but the Batson and the band (Boyd Tinsley's violin work in particular) make it an enjoyable, grooving departure rather than simply a bland disc filler. The percussive opening to Old Dirt Hill (with drummer Carter Beauford providing vocals) and its breezy acoustic guitar riff has the potential to be afforded Muzac status in lesser hands; instead, a deep, lyrical bass line, Matthews' up-front delivery, smartly placed backing vocals and chord changes far outside standard rock fare make it a very catchy and listenable ode to the adventures and misadventures of youth.

Batson and the band manage to put a number of slinky grooves to disc - the kind of grooves that have all-but-escaped modern rock, which somehow lost its 'roll' somewhere along the way in favor of radically drop-tuned, ultra-distorted guitars over which screaming vocals launched from the center of a distant musical netherworld punish the listener. Stand Up, the lone electric riff-rocker in the way of the tracks on the oft-maligned Everday, is anchored by a booming bass placed over a variety of drum sounds and a splash of well-played saxophone. Lousiana Bayou successfully melds a host of bluesy guitar sounds, moving bass and a clavinet underneath Matthews' faux-bluesman vocal delivery in a song that somehow blends elements of Stevie Wonder, the Grateful Dead's China Cat Sunflower and Led Zeppelin's Trampled Underfoot without sounding exactly like any of them.

Matthews also manages to credibly play the role of the backdoor man in the short but notable Smooth Rider, the familiar themes of the angry father and the sheriff with his guns placed over a sexy, creeping minor blues riff (complete Batson on organ) that does not ring hollow in Matthews' hands.

Not all of Stand Up is refreshingly creative or brilliant; Hunger for the Great Light may possess a title of grandiose proportions, but the reality is that it is little more than power chords strummed in a lame tribute to oral sex that will succeed only in perpetuating the stereotype that the band's fan base consists only of giggling teenage girls and the beer-swilling undergraduates found on the front lawn of the nearest chapter of TKE. At least the band wisely saved the worst for last; the rest of the disc displays the sound of a wildly successful group that, thankfully, still cares about creating quality music despite the fact that they could now comfortably sit back and sell millions of discs on reputation alone.

Labels: Dave Matthews Band