Is this the end?

[crounsa810]

Hey guys, in 10 years:

Tim and Carter will be 74 and 73.
Dave will be 63

I also vaguely remember someone mentioning earlier that Tim had a cancer treatment in the past few years. Whether we want to admit or acknowledge it, we’re kinda hitting into the bands twilight years here. We can see it with the number of classics becoming rarities because Carter gets run down playing them. I’m sure Dave will keep it going as long as he can, and I’m sure Carter will push as long as he can, but once Tim or Carter is unable to continue, I’m not sure he’s even going to WANT to tour anymore. Sure, he could add other people to the band and keep kicking with him, Stefan, Jeff, Rashawn, and Buddy, but I just can’t see him wanting to get up on stage as Dave Matthews Band without Carter being there. I also don’t see him doing solo type gigs without Tim. Those two have always been his right hand so to speak, and I’m not sure he’ll have the heart to continue touring without them being there with him.

[MikeyCarson40]

Nope, they'll tour at least another 10-15 years health permitting. Maybe longer. Dave and Carter will tour until they are physically not able to anymore.

[daspfund22]

Originally Posted by DMBWatchtower19

Is this the:

1. Beginning of the end

2. Middle of the end

or...

3. The end of the end

Let's discuss...

Personally, I'm having a hard time as while you can still see the energy on stage, the sets seem to not reflect this. There is no real mix-up in setlist writing (Yes, I know it's never been Dave's strong point) but with father time catching up to them, this will be a real thing at some point. Wanted to see what others are feeling about it too.

I think there are obvious signs that lead you to believe its the beginning of the end but even though there were a number of predictable songs, up until they got to Gorge and Carter/Stefan's Covid adventure the sets were really good and there was at least one tour debut (if not more) almost nightly to that point, I really think that weekend and that uncertainty and everything knocked a little bit of the wind out of their sails, b/c they still sound really good. They are still making new music too so I think the newer stuff will reflect father time catching up to them so while we might not see as many of the songs on the holy grail going forward, they will still be doing this thing for a good while yet.

[Gunz]

I’d pay to see every Dave solo show that I could afford. Especially in his elder years. He plays beautifully.

[CryFreedom17]

I think the band has a new energy and sounds good still but once you take Roi and Boyd out of DMB, you just have a different band. I think they will tour as long as they can and i bet Dave and Tim will do shows long after DMB ends.

[Route_2]

So, the real question is.....the end of what?

[Slackdoodle]

Of America? Definitely the beginning of the end.

[scollie41]

As long as Dave can play and sing, he will tour. The question is who back’s him up once Carter cannot tour. We saw a glimpse of what could be possible at the Gorge and that was thrown together last minute.

I would bet the tours get shorter and with bigger breaks between shows to help Carter be able to perform at the top of his game and wouldn’t be surprised if they adopted some sort of modified two-set approach in the future too so you get 2.5 hours of music but it’s not full band the entire time.

I fully expect to see Dave doing live sets for many years to come.

[spoot388]

right now is as much "the end" as the people who said 7 years ago was the end back 7 years ago

[spoot388]

Originally Posted by scollie41

As long as Dave can play and sing, he will tour. The question is who back’s him up once Carter cannot tour. We saw a glimpse of what could be possible at the Gorge and that was thrown together last minute.

I would bet the tours get shorter and with bigger breaks between shows to help Carter be able to perform at the top of his game and wouldn’t be surprised if they adopted some sort of modified two-set approach in the future too so you get 2.5 hours of music but it’s not full band the entire time.

I fully expect to see Dave doing live sets for many years to come.

ya, i think the 2 set format or something similar to the gorge is what they go with if carter needs to slow down. 3 or 4 dave solo songs and a handful of dave and tim to make up the first hour. a handful of "acoustic" full band songs like 2014, and then electric for the last 5-10 songs. they could probably make that work until 2035+

[Cscottrun]

The end of the middle is probably more accurate. We’re taking about a band that’s about to release an album and will tour heavy in support of it. Dave has spoken pretty openly about how happy he is with the state of the band. Carter is taking steps to support his health. They’re in the midst of a huge summer tour. If there’s a sign, like a much much smaller tour than usual, I think that’s when we need to have this conversation. The exact opposite of that is about to happen though.

[Roose13]

Nah, this isn't the beginning, middle or end. It's the start of slowing down, but I think we have at least another decade left with Dave, Carter and Stefan together. Dave has at least two more decades of fresh music left in him and longer for performing.

[Dannyyankou]

As others said, Dave will always perform. Just look at Billy Joel, he doesn’t play with any of the original band members anymore.

Carter would be a lot more difficult to replace though.

[kidjoey]

If The Dead can tour without Jerry then Dave can tour without Carter

[ElijahSoRight72]

Originally Posted by Cscottrun

The end of the middle is probably more accurate. We’re taking about a band that’s about to release an album and will tour heavy in support of it. Dave has spoken pretty openly about how happy he is with the state of the band. Carter is taking steps to support his health. They’re in the midst of a huge summer tour. If there’s a sign, like a much much smaller tour than usual, I think that’s when we need to have this conversation. The exact opposite of that is about to happen though.

...does this mean you have heard an update on the status of the album...?

[willndmb]

It’s 100% up to Carter

[UrsadonDMB]

Won't be surprised if we go back to #DMB2sets in a year or two.

[Gunz]

Originally Posted by UrsadonDMB

Won't be surprised if we go back to #DMB2sets in a year or two.

Sounds good to me. I thought those shows were fantastic.

[johnnybgoode196]

Everyone seems to be having fun and they are still making money doing what they love so I doubt we see the end of the band anytime soon. That being said, its a different band than it was with the original lineup. I hope they lean further into the funk as things go forward. Dave's strength has always been surrounding himself with interesting/fantastic musicians.

[johnnybgoode196]

Originally Posted by kidjoey

If The Dead can tour without Jerry then Dave can tour without Carter

this lmao

[Gunz]

Originally Posted by johnnybgoode196

Everyone seems to be having fun and they are still making money doing what they love so I doubt we see the end of the band anytime soon. That being said, its a different band than it was with the original lineup. I hope they lean further into the funk as things go forward. Dave's strength has always been surrounding himself with interesting/fantastic musicians.

Well he is an interesting and fantastic musician so it makes sense haha

[CaptainRaven]

Seeing them at SPAC was confirmation to me they've got years to come and look forward to, all that matters

They have years left snd they always kill it at SPAC. They looked like they needed a nap at Merriwrsther Post Pavillion. They had really good shows when tested and very mundane sets after a long trip which had been typical for this band the last ten years. The thing is you are not likely to ever hear the “best version” of any song anymore. They’ve already been okayed and the violin is gone. The 2016 tour was good but whoever said this was the best since then is wrong. 16 was fun for the 25 anniversary and of course Boyd’s last tour but since then even the SPAC sets from the 18 and 19 shows were better than this year. This year where was JTR where’s recently why come out with a good song like Bismarck and shelf it. Why keep playing ants so much if they really don’t have the sound for it. When the band first wrote recently they thought that was gonna be their most popular song- it turned out to be ants. Now that ants doesn’t sound as good and recently doesn’t need Boyd, let’s flip the script and play recently every night. Let’s also open more with the stone and songs like that that everyone wants to see open a show instead of one sweet world every other night. I had to work a lot this summer so I sold a lot of my shows I’ve seen 134 full band shows and if I went to all 8 shows this year OSW would have opened 6. The people that say they lack of variety may be right but for me it’s that I see a set okayed last week it really isn’t great then they kill it in Mansfield and come down to Maryland and play a snoozer. Mansfield got the stone opener grey street don’t drink encore, we got the OSW, Ants closer, Watchtower encore with the SDL and gravedigger in there. Our “treat” was time of the season and say goodbye….it seems like they getting a pattern of strong sets alternating with weaker ones nowadays.

Anyway- I’m still always going to go to SPAC blossom star lake bristle va beach Holmdel (if they have shows) until they don’t have shows anymore. I think this is the beginning of a stark transition that will take the band into another 15 years at least. Carter will eventually have to move on but Dave will do whatever it takes to keep playing until he himself can’t.

Like someone else said, I think Dave and Tim will always do shows until one of them passes away

[CaptainRaven]

Hey guys, in 10 years:<br>
<br>
Tim and Carter will be 74 and 73.<br>
Dave will be 63<br>
<br>
I also vaguely remember someone mentioning earlier that Tim had a cancer treatment in the past few years. Whether we want to admit or acknowledge it, we’re kinda hitting into the bands twilight years here. We can see it with the number of classics becoming rarities because Carter gets run down playing them. I’m sure Dave will keep it going as long as he can, and I’m sure Carter will push as long as he can, but once Tim or Carter is unable to continue, I’m not sure he’s even going to WANT to tour anymore. Sure, he could add other people to the band and keep kicking with him, Stefan, Jeff, Rashawn, and Buddy, but I just can’t see him wanting to get up on stage as Dave Matthews Band without Carter being there. I also don’t see him doing solo type gigs without Tim. Those two have always been his right hand so to speak, and I’m not sure he’ll have the heart to continue touring without them being there with him.

He will either get friends to play with him or will play solo- he’s Dave Matthews- this is what he does. He’s going to keep playing in some form until he forgets how to

[#40BigEyedFish]

at this point why would they break up and dave continue on as a solo performer....it'd still be 50%+ dmb songs when he'd perform live, so why not just keep the name, and let fonz and carter still make money touring and royalties. i think dave carter and fonz view the band now as a small business, they're so close with the crew and touring group its hard to look at all those people and say the gravy train is over.

[Gunz]

Originally Posted by #40BigEyedFish

at this point why would they break up and dave continue on as a solo performer....it'd still be 50%+ dmb songs when he'd perform live, so why not just keep the name, and let fonz and carter still make money touring and royalties. i think dave carter and fonz view the band now as a small business, they're so close with the crew and touring group its hard to look at all those people and say the gravy train is over.

Lol small business.

Dmb has been a money making machine on a very large scale for almost the entirety of my life. I’m 38.

[madhatter]

As long as I've been on this forum, people have been saying the band has about 5 years left. I've been here for like, 15 years.

[karczews41]

I would pay a 50% premium to go back to TwoSets for a year or two.

[chadizzy1]

David Byrne is 69 and hasn't been with Talking Heads in ages.

But he's done some phenomenal solo work, collaborations, and other live works.

Even after DMB is done, Dave will continue on doing a lot of other things.

[RSSR]

I think Carter plays another decade. That's why I haven't even voted, nor intend to vote.

[8nalive]

We don't know what is in their heads. No one knows what is going on in other people's heads. Sometimes people pretend to know what is going on in my head. It's all really guesswork. How convenient it must be for people to accuse other people for their thoughts. I make the easy decision to give other people the benefit of the doubt rather than condemn them for things I know nothing about