Jones Beach, Wantagh, NY, originally uploaded by One Ping Only.
So I guess I have to hang up my indie credentials and tell everyone who reads this blog–all five of you–that the Dave Matthews Band show Erica and I went to at Jones Beach last Wednesday was one of the better concerts I’ve been to in years. And yeah, I know, I know–DMB’s fans are a bunch of suburbanites whose musical tastes don’t extend past what they hear while playing beer pong in their parents’ basements, and that the DMB represents pretty much the lowest common denominator in the jam-band scene, which is already pretty much a lowest common denominator in and of itself. But damn, man, when you have a band that can actually a) play and b) create earworm after earworm, how can you expect anyone not to like them?
This was my first DMB show in about a decade, after a three-show run of never having to buy a ticket (my sisters were big fans when they weren’t quite old enough to go by themselves, so I was the driver/chaperon back then). Before going to my first one, I genuinely wasn’t interested. I was into music I thought was more challenging–Nine Inch Nails, John Zorn, the Residents–and wasn’t about to allow myself to won over by a pop group like the Dave Matthews Band. So I went to the New Haven Colisseum, fully prepared to be miserable, and actually came out of it liking a couple of the songs enough to want to listen to Under the Table and Dreaming.
What struck me most of all was that the band could actually play, and play really well. I’ve always been one of those guys who get captivated by really well-played music, which is why I adore Rush and Steely Dan, and the Dave Matthews Band could do that in spades. The drummer was a monster and the rest of the band was beyond tight.
Wait. What am I doing? Why do I have this urge to defend my taste when it runs toward something that might seem a bit out of character? And hold on a second–out of character? Who am I? Why would I write something like that? Am I really still one of those people who define themselves by the music they listen to, the art they like? Aren’t I too old for that crap? I had a great time at the show. I really like the new Dave Matthews Band album (I keep sneaking it away from Erica and putting it into my car stereo–it’s a great summertime driving around CD). I’ve been catching up on the stuff they’ve recorded between Crash (when I was in college) and Big Whiskey, and finding that I like a whole lot of it.
I think the upshot of the whole thing is that I wish more bands would do what the DMB is doing–play smart, technically impressive music that people actually want to hear. I play in two bands, as I’m sure you know, and though this might be purely anecdotal, that’s pretty much what any musician wants. Why make boring music that nobody enjoys?
I’m not saying that all pop music is great–that “Don’t Trust Me” song by 3OH!3 should be considered a capital offense–but obscurity certainly doesn’t equal awesomeness either.
Or am I just getting old?
Filed under: Matters Musical & Artistic
