By Devon J. Cavanagh
April 05, 2002
Last night's tour opener at the MCI Center not only marked the beginning of the 2002 tour, but also a break in the Dave Matthews Band's approach to touring.
Over the course of their career, the Dave Matthews Band has had a fairly formulaic approach to touring. Prior to the release of Crash, the approach was simple: tour relentlessly, record albums with little time off from the road, throw a release party, continue touring and ride through the album's success. With the release of the band's second hit record, having proven their ability to overcome the "sophmore slump," the formula changed slightly. Beginning in early 1996 the musicians abandoned their non-stop tour cycle in favor of a legged-tour structure, and with this format change, a new approach to touring was born.
For the next five years, the Dave Matthews Band's touring followed a new trend. In years when the band was promoting a new album (1996, 1998, 2001), they utilized a spring tour to support the release. The remaining years saw the spring tour omitted. Instead the touring year began on the stadium/amphitheatre circuit with a summer tour, though in both 1997 and 1999, the gap in the early part of the year was partially bridged by a Dave Matthews/Tim Reynolds Acoustic Tour. In each instance in which the band was actively promoting a new release, the album's first single hit the charts prior to the tour kick-off -- an end of April release party in Virginia: the 04.29.1996 Crash release party in Charlottesville, the 04.18.1998 Before These Crowded Streets release party in Roanoke, and the 04.21.2001 Everyday release party in Charlottesville. The setlists from these shows all displayed a certain confidence, as the band wrapped 6-7 new songs (some actually newer than others) into the set.
The predictability of the past had always carried with it a certain excitement; but this year, something was slightly different. Last night the 2002 Tour kicked off with more of a tempered curiosity in the crowd than the energy of past. This year's release will not be hitting stores for weeks; even the first single is weeks away. At the same time, the anticipated tracklist for the upcoming release has songs that have been heavily road tested and which were extremely well received when leaked to the public under the name "The Lillywhite Sessions." In addition, the band forsaked the pomp and circumstance of an official release party in an overcrowded venue for the more comfortable arena show, though still starting the tour close to home. All in all, the band's organization took several measures to avoid the hype and glitz of album promotion. Still, there was something familiar about the show's format.
In application, the approach that the band took to last night's show was extremely interesting. The set began with a powerful trio of Top 40 hits. Not coincidentally, each of the first three songs played was the debut hit single off of a previous album -- Too Much (Crash), What Would You Say? (Under the Table and Dreaming), I Did It (Everyday). Perhaps most telling, however, was the song that directly followed this grouping. The brief tour through the band's past hit singles was followed up by Busted Stuff, a song rumored to be the namesake for the band's July release. (Humorously the song also harkened back to the band's formative years with an interpolation of Prince's Sexy M.F., once sung routinely as a part of Jimi Thing while Peter Griesar was in the band.) The robust setlist continued, hosting a total of 7 songs expected for the upcoming album, before completing the show with another notable tune. Just as the show began with the initial singles from three of the band's previous releases, it closed with the first single from 1998's Before These Crowded Streets: Don't Drink the Water.
The band made no attempt to bill the 2002 Spring Tour opener as a release party, as had always been the case in the past, and in fact, did not mention the upcoming release at all. Still, the setlist could not have been more finely crafted to support a new album. High energy singles of the past gave way to Busted Stuff and six other officially-unreleased tracks, with closure to the show coming from a final hit from the past. All in all, the band was faced with an interesting dilemma. The timing of the release did not fit into their traditional timeline for promotion -- a release party would have been premature, but holding off on a spring tour altogether was equally inappropriate after an extended tour hiatus. In hindsight, the band's approach seems to have been simple yet effective. They maintained the exact approach as in the past, but with a small twist: treat the show as a release party in every way, promote the album through the strength of a well crafted setlist -- but whatever you do, don't make any reference to the album.
Special thanks to nancies.org reader John Kelley for providing excellent tickets to a well-played show.
nancies.org | April 5, 2002