Search - Dave Matthews :: Live At Mile High Music Festival

Ho hum

Kiel | TX | 04/29/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"DMB still continues to hold out the best from us.



2008 was a great tour year for the band, against all odds - keyboardist Butch Taylor left at the last minute; Leroi Moore was injured (and eventually passed on, RIP) in the middle of the tour, to be replaced by the very competent Flecktone Jeff Coffin; guitar master Tim Reynolds joined the band for the whole tour. I suppose all this made fans nervous, but DMB delivered, resulting in one of the their best tours in a long while. Dave Matthews continues to improve his singing voice; new songs (#27, CornBread, Eh Hee) were played extensively, some of Matthews' solo songs were added (Gravedigger, So Damn Lucky), a handful of cover songs were played, while older songs were re-worked and/or resurrected. It was a great year. When the band's online-only Live Trax Volume 15 comes out, it will mark the 4th (!) show from this tour released.



This show? Not one of their best. Moore was recently injured at this time; Coffin, who has turned out to be pretty good, had just joined the band and was not entirely up to speed on all the tracks. The loss of Butch Taylor hurts, especially on tracks like Two Step and Jimi Thing. Tim Reynolds made up for it, though, with his impressive texture and solo work.



First of all, the recording is decent. By some accounts, the actual sound at the show wasn't too hot, so this is a good thing. The show starts off well enough with a rousing Don't Drink the Water. New songs Eh Hee and Corn Bread are nice additions, as is the re-worked Old Dirt Hill. A better version of You Might Die Trying, a popular tune on the tour, can be found on both Live Trax 13 and 14.



Two Step is always a great song, and drummer Carter Beauford really shines here, though the song fizzles out compared to other versions. Proudest Monkey saw a little resurrection on this tour, and is very welcome, especially with trumpeter Rashawn Ross and Reynolds adding a lot of flavor. Jimi Thing is competent, but like I said, it really misses something, as does the re-worked Anyone Seen the Bridge.



#41 is perhaps the best song from this show, and maybe it's because of Jeff Coffin, having played with the band before on this song as part of the Flecktones. It's just a pitch-perfect AND energetic performance. Reynolds adds so much to a song that was getting slightly stale and bloated in recent years.



So Damn Lucky and Ants Marching are both solid songs, if a bit overplayed on the tour. The new cover of Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer is a lot of fun, but the cover of Sly Stone's Thank You is pretty ho-hum. In fact, the combination of the dull Louisiana Bayou and Thank You was one of the most dreaded encores on the tour for DMB faithful (the full band version of Gravedigger is certainly welcome, though).



See what I'm getting at? It's just a pretty mediocre show. It's not as atrocious as last year's Live at Piedmont Park, but there were so many better shows on the tour. Of course, everyone has a show they want to see officially released, but there are better versions already available on the band's website! Shows like Live Trax Vols. 13 and 14, and the upcoming 15.



If you're a casual fan, this is a suitable release. Even though it's mediocre, it's still coming from the best DMB tour in years. If you're a hardcore fan, you've already bought it. If you're somewhere in between, head on over to the band's website and get Live Trax 13 (early in the tour, while Moore was still healthy), or even 14 (Moore's last show)."

Better quality sound than the show itself.

Julia M. Baldwin | 01/17/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"We were at the show and the sound quality of this venue was terrible. So I am amazed how well this album turned out. I have seen DMB a bunch of times and this by far the best show I have seen them put on, despite the sound issues. So naturally I was very excited to see this album was out!"

Dave Snuck One In

W. Dietrich | Las Vegas | 12/24/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I did not realize that there was going to be a new live retail cd (DMB has been selling their lives shows on their website) until I saw it while I was doing Christmas shopping. Like any DMB fan I realized I had to have it. I have all the albums and I suppose this one does the best job of providing both the Old / Classics and the New Songs (which dont seem to as raw or emitional). The treat is two songs that are covers that to my knowledge are the first time played on a live retail DMB cd.

All in all the quality is way better than a bootleg which with a little effort you could most likely find and the cd does a good job capturing the show.



This will give any DMB a quick fix until the new studio album is released in the Spring."