Justification for Dave Revival.

For 34 days now the only music that I have listened to in my car has been Dave Matthews. Thats right, you heard me correctly. I know, I know... it sounds a little ridiculous. I'll explain.

For those of you who don't know, the live trax series is a set of soundboard Dave Matthews Band concerts that have been released since 2004 that are only sold on Dave's website. So far there have been 9 releases. Yes, I am a big Dave Matthews fan, but having to own all of these releases just didn't seem necessary, it seemed a bit excessive (especially since the prices range from 17.99 - 29.99 each). The latest release was actually a concert that Becca and I attended this spring in Las Vegas so naturally we had to order it. On June 1st our pre-order arrived in the mail and my interest in these live trax series escalated. Apart from the live trax series recordings, I have owned every single Dave Matthews Band commercial release to date. The only thing stopping me from owning everything was the Live Trax series. To make a long story short, the new Las Vegas live trax release was just the thing that reeled me in. I now own all of the live trax releases.

To justify my ridiculous hiatus from any music except for Dave Matthews this past 34 days you must know that I had to go through and listen to all of the releases consecutively from 1 to 9. This has taken me 34 days.... yes 34 days. Among all of this, I have received a new found appreciation for why DMB decided to release the live trax series. Initially I thought that the reason was for the money. 20 bucks on average per release has got to get some cash flow going, right? After listening to them all.. I have reached the conclusion that they didn't decide to come out with these releases for the money... they did it for the fans.

Click Here to Read More

Each and every live trax release that I have recently listened to have all taken me back. To a place remembered, a field of grass, maybe even a stadium seat. They've all taken me back to somewhere and someplace in my life. Most of these historical reminiscence's (<--- if thats a word) are of Dave concerts that I have attended and I want to share a brief list with you about what they consist of.

Vol. 1: 12.08.98
at the Centrum Worcester, MA
This release strikingly reminded me of the DMB concert I attended at the E center on May 23, 1998. I was so taken back by the massive energy that came from a Dave concert inside of an arena that I'm sure I made a fool of myself whilst singing at the top of my lungs the whole concert and pumping my fist out of excitement. That night I went home and stayed up all night perfecting the song "Stay" on the guitar.

Vol. 2: 09.12.04
at Golden Gate Park San Francisco, CA
This volume takes me back to the concert I attended at USANA Amphitheater 4 days prior to this Golden Gate concert on Sept. 8th, 2004. I remember sitting on the grass in the general admission seats. The Golden Gate Park release took me back and reminded me how excited I was to be hearing some new Dave songs that he had been playing (sugar will, Hello Again, Joy Ride, Crazy Easy). Truly a refreshing sound.

Vol. 3: 08.27.00
at the Meadows Music Theatre Hartford, CT
This concert reminds me of a bitter sweet time in my life as a Dave fan. I was smack in the middle of my mission and had heard some rumors that Dave had been playing some brand new songs live in concert (Busted Stuff, Grey Street, JTR, Bartender, Grace is Gone, Raven). What a great summer tour! Dave was expected to be releasing a new album (that never came to fruition because of the leaked Lillywhite Sessions and some personal issues). And here I was, on my mission unable to hear any of it. The reason why it was bittersweet is because I knew that in 2 years I was going to have all of this fresh new music waiting for me. Live Trax Vol. 3 once again took me back to this unique time in the history of DMB.

Vol. 4: 04.30.96
at the Classic Ampitheatre Richmond, VA
Classic old school Dave Matthews Band. This concert was played approximately 3 months prior to my first encounter with becoming obsessed with Dave Matthews. An old golfing buddy played Under The Table and Dreaming for me on the way to a Golf Tournament and that was "all she wrote." This concert took me back to a time when it was all so new and fresh. Two Step, Satellite, Lie in our Graves.... back when life was simple.

Vol. 5: 08.23.95
at the Meadow Brook Music Festival Rochester Hills, MI
Live Trax Volume 5 reminds me mostly of the time in my life when I discovered the internet. My junior year in high school I discovered that through long and excruciating hours searching online I could sometimes find some live bootlegs and tapings of old DMB shows. My favorite finds were the earlier ones from 1995 and earlier such as this Vol. 5 release. Maybe I was trying to catch up for what I thought was missed opportunity for not discovering Dave earlier on in my life. This Live Trax release took me back to this time in my life. I had actually downloaded an amateur taping of this very concert in 1998. The recording quality was awful but I loved it because the band played Bob Marley's "Exodus" in the middle of the show. If only I would have known that later on in my life I would have a pristine sound board official recording of this show.... the future would have been that much brighter.

Vol. 6: 07.07 – 07.8.06
at Fenway Park Boston, MA
Fenway Park is just a great recording. This Volume took me back to the DMB concert I saw at USANA during the 2006 summer tour. On August 30, 2006 I remember being blown away by the fact that the Dave Matthews Band just keeps getting better. At this point in my life I had been to 7 different DMB shows and they never got old. I officially gave Butch Taylor an honorary membership into the band based on his amazing performance and Vol. 6 at Fenway is a great example of how he has slowly grafted himself into the heart of the Dave Matthews Band.

Vol. 7: 12.31.96
at the Hampton Coliseum Hampton, VA
This Live Trax release took me back to my first DMB concert. The following summer at Wolf Mountain on July, 7 1997 I attended my first Dave concert. I can remember Dave starting out with "Two Step" (a popular opener at the time)and then going on a streak playing "Best of Whats Around," "The Song that Jane Likes," "#41," and then "Say Goodbye." I was like an infant child in a mothers arms that day. If I had any idea what was taking place at that time I probably would have drifted off to the other side for good. Instead... I just drifted off to the other side temporarily. Vol. 7 was a great release that reminded me of this early bliss.

Vol. 8: 8.7.04
at Alpine Valley Music Theatre East Troy, WI
This concert in 2004 took me back to the time that I saw Dave in 2003, and 2004 at the Gorge. With songs from the album "Everyday" mingled into the setlist this was the perfect addition to the bands changing dynamic at the time. Alpine Valley is a great representation of this time in the bands history.

Vol. 9: 3.23.07 – 3.24.07
at MGM Grand Garden Arena Las Vegas, NV
What can I say more. This concert was the 8th DMB concert that I had attended and it only reassured my attitude that this band gets better and better each day that passes on. I mean c'mon! What else could possibly drive someone to listen to the same band for more than a month straight! The answer is nothing. Nothing apart from the greatest band on the planet earth. The Dave Matthews Band.