The Idea Of 08
By Jake Vigliotti
May 14, 2008
Every two years I write a column that begs for Doobie Thing. So this year, I won’t dwell on it. Much.
Why has this piece of music not been revisited? For those out of the loop, it’s a lyric-less song from 1993 that the band performed a few times, and then it died out. According to the Minarets Mailing List, the band had a plan of reviving it in the studio in 1994 during the work-up to Under The Table And Dreaming, but clearly nothing came from that.
I know that Dave has some lyrics just floating around that can be dropped into a song (original Raven, I’m looking in your direction). So why not take a half-day in the studio and see what happens if they try to throw some lyrics on it? See you in two years when we return to our bi-annual plea for Doobie Thing.
So, what sort of tour do we get this year; 2000, 2002, or 2004? The first was a year with some new songs, which became popular, and then the album never appeared. 2002 began with some of the songs from Busted Stuff being held back for the album release. In 2004, 2 of the 4 songs died, and only one made an album; a year later.
Of the three, unfortunately, I think that 2000 is the tour most likely to resemble this one, given the tour history of the band. But that’s a very broad answer to a narrow question (bad writing, who came up with that question? Never mind) Perhaps a better question would be: Are we going to hear songs from ’07, and will we hear new stuff? Absolutely. Cornbread has single written all over it. 2006’s The Idea Of You seems like it’s here to stay, although the creepy ’06 version sounded better then the watered down, expurgated version. There is new stuff, so in one form or another, we will hear it (more on that later…)
The thing I think will not happen is some recently rare song to make an appearance. The Dreaming Tree, thankfully, is back in rotation, and seems a safe bet to be around this year, but if you haven’t heard a song last year, I don’t think you’ll hear it now. The reason is simple; the band is focusing on new music, and they’d have to relearn some stuff to get it down now. And also make sure Tim and Rashawn have a part in it, it’s not as simple as pulling a song out of the bag and saying, ‘here ya go!’ So, Spoon, Song That Jane Likes, and Captain all seem to fall into the “ain’t gonna happen” category.
The one song I think is a mortal lock this tour is Shotgun. It is already an epic live, and the more casual fans that hear it, the more the Shotgun legend will grow. Could you imagine if we ever got the 2000’s holy trinity of Shotgun, You Never Know, and Raven in the same show? That’s what we’re all waiting for; a sign from above.
Lets face it; we’re fickle, nervous, superstitious and down-right rude when it comes to our DMB. It’s really like we are waiting for some hidden, “Paul Is Dead” message in a song, show, or email to let us know that all is well in the studio. It drives fans to make up ‘interviews’ and makes people believe things they want to hear (like from said interview, for example). I already told everyone who would listen that you’d find info rarely about this studio session.
The band is making a conscious effort to keep the word mum. Stefan mentioned in a blog that they are taking a break. Wait! Don’t throw the rope over the tree yet! He meant what he said; they’re just taking a break. No clear thinker really thought the album would be here by tour time, and Matt, Joe and I have been saying in our podcasts that November 2008 to January 2009 is realistic. There’s nothing wrong with that. From their own (past) words, this band isn’t exactly the most focused studio-session band. They’ve probably got 3-4 new songs (or shells of songs) now, plus what they think will make the potential album. They will slowly try a few this tour; working during their Sound Checks on them often (as they have in the past). It won’t take long before someone hears or records one, and the hype game will begin again. But please remember this, the reason they sound check songs rather than play them live is they aren’t ready. Anyone who’s heard the fan-named “Run While We Can” (the Florida SC song) can attest to that. So give them a chance, and when and if some new stuff is ready, it’ll make it out.
The band has had a great run of tours. The ’05 tour was better than ‘04, and ’06 better than 05, and yes, 2007 trumped ‘em all. There’s no reason this tour won’t eclipse 2007, which could (and should) be referred to as the best tour since the fabled 2000 tour. Sure, that’s a lot of pressure, but the band can handle it. And this year, we – your friendly neighborhood dmb-fansite antsmarching.org – will be keeping you up to date with all the happenings out tour with our Podcasts.
Enjoy the tour, and see everyone at the PGA National in West Palm Beach!
The views and comments expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of antsmarching.org.
