Listener Supported vs Red Rocks

[Captainnumber36]

I prefer LS over RR because Dave's execution with vocals and lyrics is much stronger.

There is some fire musicianship on RR though.

[OneSweetMonkey]

They were younger on Red Rocks. A bit more "raw". Just coming out of the club and small venue days. There's actually just something magical about all of '95. I'm a big fan. But Listener Supported is a perfectly executed show. On purpose, though. They knew it was going to be a PBS special that would be seen by an audience larger than that of what would just go out and buy a live release.

[schutter]

RR95 will always be my favorite live DMB recording. I know there are shows that sound better, have better setlists, etc. But RR95 was my gateway to live DMB. Listening to them perform that show after listening to poor quality bootlegs was something I will never forget and it solidified my love for the band.

[Typical_Ant]

Red Rocks was my first DMB listening experience outside of radio singles. I think it's a high energy raw exciting show. And if you listen to other shows from the summer of 95 in comparison, it's likely the best. It was magic, and having Tim Reynolds on it I'm sure made the band that much better. They captured something very special.

LS is a close second. I love how very different the bands sound had become in those 4 years. Much jazzier, slower paced, the BTCS songs added a new dynamic. It also is likely the best show from 99. I don't think other shows that tour are on this level.

I think in those earlier days when the band knew they were recording a live album, it was more intentional. Rather than the way they typically do it now, which is mark the good shows for potential release later.

[Bearclaw_]

Always loved LS and that era of the band. RR95 is good but if I'm in that era, i prefer 92-94 in the smaller venues.

[Captainnumber36]

Butch's solo on Two Step and Dave's lil guitar solo on Jimi Thing kick ass! Wish Dave would solo more, he's got a unique voice.

[ISawTheBridge10]

I've been hooked since I first heard the notes that Roi hits at 4:41 of the RR Two Step. It's perfect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkL-gfSS5vM

[UrsadonDMB]

It's RR for me, that album really hooked me in to what the band was capable of. Listener Supported is an amazing snapshot of where the band was at that time, but it was planned to be released that way.

[Cptn. Monkeyman]

Red Rocks 95 is my favorite live album of all time. But Listener Supported is an essential DMB album and one of their best and most iconic concerts.

[ToySoldier#34]

They played better, sound better, mixed better, better vocals, better guitar sound in Listener Supported and I like the songs more ... so maybe RR '95?

[crashintonickdm]

Both played major roles in making many fans, but I’ll go RR95 because I heard that before LS.

[Andy Meeks]

I became a fan in 1999, and saw my first show that year. At the time, all we had was RR95 and Luther College, which were great, but I was longing for a current live release from them. So I have to go with LS. I loved getting Granny, #40, True Reflections, Long Black Veil, not to mention our first full band live releases of Jimi Thing, #41, Too Much, DDTW, Crash Into Me (I was glad to have that Dixie Chicken bit), Rapunzel, and others. Two Step and #36, which did appear on RR95, are different beasts here. Love it. Takes me right back to that time. Here’s what I posted on Facebook on its 20th anniversary of it being released, in November 2019.

20 years ago today, my favorite Dave Matthews Band live album - and one of my favorite live albums of all time - got released. Listener Supported. By now, we have about 100 officially released Dave Matthews live albums to choose from, but in 1999, all we had was Live at Red Rocks (from 1995) and an acoustic Dave Matthews/Tim Reynolds show from 1996. I became a fan and saw my first show of theirs in the summer of 1999, so what a thrill it was to get a live album of theirs from a concert played that year. September 11, 1999. Easy date to remember. I've been listening to it today. I devoured it, and know just about every note - from when he messes up the words to the third verse in Rhyme and Reason (by starting to sing the second verse again until finally finding his footing and finishing out the third verse strong) to my favorite performance of Granny (and the first full-band Granny I'd ever heard). Not to mention the first officially released #40, and a beautiful cover of Johnny Cash's Long Black Veil. The show begins with Dave saying "Y'all smell good this evening!" My 18-year-old self thought it was just one of Dave's weird non-sequiturs, but now I know that people in the audience were smoking something that smelled good, and he was commenting on that.

This was back when new music got released on Tuesdays. Certain Media Play stores had "midnight madness" on Monday nights at midnight, where you can get all the new releases right at 12:00 am. I remember driving to Marietta from Alpharetta that night, and remember what happened, in an instance where I still get the knotty feeling in my stomach because there was a misunderstanding where I didn't do anything wrong, but didn't speak up for myself. I went back to the usual place where all the CDs are, got mine, and went to the cash register at about 11:50. The cashier, Cheri, said "we don't sell new releases until midnight, that's why there's plastic around it" - pointing to a display up front near the cash register covered in plastic. Somebody had broken into it, leading her to say "Somebody opened the plastic over there!" She rang me up at the "appropriate" time, and left me without a thank you or have a good day. All I had to say was "I didn't get it from over there - I got it from the usual place in the back, where there was no plastic." Could've cleared everything up. It's funny - the times where I did speak up for myself don't seem to weigh as heavily as the times when I didn't, and think "If I had just said..."

So, it wasn't me, Cheri. And enjoy Listener Supported. I have for 20 years, ever since I snagged it from the shelf without the plastic around it.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...4EtByPzAqMTMno

[Typical_Ant]

LS is over due for the vinyl treatment. I am not sure why DMB seems to have stalled on the classics. We were on a roll there for a few years.

LS and BTCS seemed like they were both up next, and then nothing.

[Sniper15]

Originally Posted by Andy Meeks

I became a fan in 1999, and saw my first show that year. At the time, all we had was RR95 and Luther College, which were great, but I was longing for a current live release from them. So I have to go with LS. I loved getting Granny, #40, True Reflections, Long Black Veil, not to mention our first full band live releases of Jimi Thing, #41, Too Much, DDTW, Crash Into Me (I was glad to have that Dixie Chicken bit), Rapunzel, and others. Two Step and #36, which did appear on RR95, are different beasts here. Love it. Takes me right back to that time. Here’s what I posted on Facebook on its 20th anniversary of it being released, in November 2019.

20 years ago today, my favorite Dave Matthews Band live album - and one of my favorite live albums of all time - got released. Listener Supported. By now, we have about 100 officially released Dave Matthews live albums to choose from, but in 1999, all we had was Live at Red Rocks (from 1995) and an acoustic Dave Matthews/Tim Reynolds show from 1996. I became a fan and saw my first show of theirs in the summer of 1999, so what a thrill it was to get a live album of theirs from a concert played that year. September 11, 1999. Easy date to remember. I've been listening to it today. I devoured it, and know just about every note - from when he messes up the words to the third verse in Rhyme and Reason (by starting to sing the second verse again until finally finding his footing and finishing out the third verse strong) to my favorite performance of Granny (and the first full-band Granny I'd ever heard). Not to mention the first officially released #40, and a beautiful cover of Johnny Cash's Long Black Veil. The show begins with Dave saying "Y'all smell good this evening!" My 18-year-old self thought it was just one of Dave's weird non-sequiturs, but now I know that people in the audience were smoking something that smelled good, and he was commenting on that.

This was back when new music got released on Tuesdays. Certain Media Play stores had "midnight madness" on Monday nights at midnight, where you can get all the new releases right at 12:00 am. I remember driving to Marietta from Alpharetta that night, and remember what happened, in an instance where I still get the knotty feeling in my stomach because there was a misunderstanding where I didn't do anything wrong, but didn't speak up for myself. I went back to the usual place where all the CDs are, got mine, and went to the cash register at about 11:50. The cashier, Cheri, said "we don't sell new releases until midnight, that's why there's plastic around it" - pointing to a display up front near the cash register covered in plastic. Somebody had broken into it, leading her to say "Somebody opened the plastic over there!" She rang me up at the "appropriate" time, and left me without a thank you or have a good day. All I had to say was "I didn't get it from over there - I got it from the usual place in the back, where there was no plastic." Could've cleared everything up. It's funny - the times where I did speak up for myself don't seem to weigh as heavily as the times when I didn't, and think "If I had just said..."

So, it wasn't me, Cheri. And enjoy Listener Supported. I have for 20 years, ever since I snagged it from the shelf without the plastic around it.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...4EtByPzAqMTMno

This is awesome. Thanks for sharing this

[ToySoldier#34]

RR '95 isn't in the top tier of my favorite DMB releases but the thing I do like is that it seems like it's far better than any other full band live release from that era, while I think LS is superior there are other similar options

[Typical_Ant]

Originally Posted by ToySoldier#34

RR '95 isn't in the top tier of my favorite DMB releases but the thing I do like is that it seems like it's far better than any other full band live release from that era, while I think LS is superior there are other similar options

When did you start listening to the band? If you got LS first I could see that Red Rocks would sound like a lesser album. I think it depends which one you got into it initially because that would be the comparison.

[RSSR]

I think RR95. Tim was just on that night, he really did sound like a world beater world-class guitarist that night, more so than now. And that mix is perfect.

[ToySoldier#34]

Originally Posted by Typical_Ant

When did you start listening to the band? If you got LS first I could see that Red Rocks would sound like a lesser album. I think it depends which one you got into it initially because that would be the comparison.

1998 and I had RR '95 and Luther College before Listener Supported, order of events makes no difference for me personally

[willndmb]

If I had to pick one for a plane ride or something, RR95 for sure.
I was at LS
One of the more impressive things about both is they didn’t have any screw ups. How many times after those shows did they have a planned release that didn’t happen because of screw ups in some form or fashion

[bigeyedfish1979]

I prefer LS but you can't go wrong with RR95.

RR95 is great, it's the first DMB live album I purchased.

[kelchlsm]

LS just way too good

Jazzy and smooth and the Martin guitar

RR95 prob has my favorite typical and ants though