The Review:
As many of you know I really used to be a really big DMB fan seeing over 55 DMB shows and 10 Dave & Tim shows. I stopped going to alot of shows this year as I felt that they were losing touch with their music and their fanbase. Plus the fanbase got to the point where I couldn\'t stand going to a show anymore. So anyways I get a ticket to go see the Dave & Friends show at MSG and I\'m going to the show with a very open mind. As I\'m getting close to the show you start to see all the drunk girls wearing next to no clothes. I was like here we go again. After some struggling trying to pass out flyers, I run into the promoter from BB Kings and we found a good spot to pass out flyers. After passing out about 600 flyers I decided to go into the show. As I\'m walking in, I\'m getting this really weird vibe. It was like a fashion show with half drunk idots falling down stairs. So I run into a few friends and make my way to my seats on the floor. I get to my seats and wait for the show to start. From the beinging it seemed more people were concered with talking on their cell phones then the show.
So finally Dave & Tim take the stage to play a few acoustic tunes. As the take the stage the venue gets real loud and your thinking that this could be a cool crowd, how wrong was I. They start out with a very nice haunting intro to Bartender. The venue was too large for two guys with acoustic guitars. The setting wasn\'t right, it was too open and not the right place for them to play. After playing seven acoustic songs with Tim Reynolds, the friends came out. This was the part of the show that I was looking forward to. When the Friends took the stage the crowd was like wtf, they look very confused. I think that alot of them went there thinking that this was going to be a DMB show. You have no idea how upset they would be.
When Trey and Tim first take the stage they start into a very short but cool improve jam. Dave takes one look at them and they stop and proced to play Dodo. It sounded just like the studio ablum expect for the outro where Trey did some cool guitar riffs. The whole band was very tight and they were playing all the right notes. Dave and Trey were having a blast on stage as they were jumping around all over. The only time that you would get a reaction out of the crowd is when Dave would do some chicken dance. It seemed that Trey could not really get into the show. He was all over the place playing some cool riffs, then he would just stop. I was hoping that Trey would open up and add a little classic Phish sound to a few tunes. As the show progress the crowd gets more and more restless and some people started to walk out and sit down. The Some Devil songs are missing so much in the terms of music. Dave should have brought out some horns. The sound that they were making was very incomplete. It was just like all of them up there playing a different song. They notes didn\'t blend into each other. I was more impressed with the covers then the Some Devil songs. They are just boring and go nowhere. As I\'m debating on wether to walk out or not I decided to stick it out since the curfew at MSG is 11:30.
The whole night Dave & Friends had no control over the crowd. I mean people in the front row were sitting down. The crowd was dead and not liking the show. Dave & Friends could not control the crowd and get them into the show. So finally Dave and Trey start talking and they decided to bust out Sweet Up and Down, a song from the Lillywhite Sessions. Trey really did a nice job on this song and started to really open up. This was the turning point in the show. Trey and Tim were actualy jamming during this song. I would like to see Tim and Trey jam out in a small club. That would be something else to see. From here out the show got pretty good. Which is sad considering that this was the last song before the encore. The encore starts out with Trey and Dave on acoustic guitars. They played a DMB song called Everyday which had the crowd doing a Hani, Hani chant in the beginning which was kind of cool. Trey look amazed. It was funny towards the end of the song Trey turned the guitar over and played it like drums. After Everyday they segwayed into Bathtub Gin with Trey and Dave alternating verses. I had no clue that this was coming, the crowd was like what\'s this? Some idoit next too me thought it was American Song by Paul Simon. I was like LAMO. The crowd didn\'t appericate the bathtub and they were more in shock to as what it was. Trey was doing the oh part at the end and then the crowd picked up. It was very quite as no one had a clue what Trey was doing. As Dave is dancing around the stage like a fool, people are screaming and Trey walks over to the electric guitar. I was thinking maybe they would bust out an awesome jam with Trey on electric and Dave on acoustic. They were sitting up there just looking at each other then the rest of the friends come out to play Fool in the Rain. That was the true highlight of the night.
From Sweet up and Down to Fool in the Rain it was a totaly different story. They had it working for them. As for the rest of the show it was a train wreck and the band needs alot of work in learning how to play together. If I had a choice to go see another Dave & Friends show I would not go.
The bottom line is that the venue was way to large for this type of event. They also need more material to work from, playing the same set every night isn\'t going to cut it. Also Dave needs to let Trey play like Trey and not like one of his sidekicks. In the end I feel that this tour has no direction as the sound is not full and the muscians don\'t seem to play well together. It was like six guys up there all playing there notes, but the sound didn\'t flow.
A note from me to concert goers:
Please DO NOT do the following things at shows.
1. Grope and make out with your girlfriend all night.
2. Call all your friends during the show to tell them what they are playing. (I\'ll smash your cell phone if I see you doing this.)
3. Scream out that you want to fuck the musican and have his kids.
4. Get drunk and fall all over the place. You look like a fucking idiot!
