Re: the (2021) summer so far
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.
Last edited by crounsa810; 07-29-2021 at 07:49 PM.
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