The Dave Matthews Lesson
One of my first great freelancing gigs was covering a Dave Matthews Band show for Rolling Stone’s fledgling Web site. This was back in ’96, when the jamband star from Charlottesville, Va., was charting with hits So Much to Say and Crash Into Me. The show was at the old Cap Centre in Washington, D.C. I didn’t know Matthews too well, but I couldn’t turn down the job. So I brought a friend, Mike Cohen, who claimed he was a huge DMB fan. The plan was simple: Mike would give me all the song titles in exchange for a ticket, I’d write up the review — and with a cornucopia of highfalutin' wordplay, I’d be a Rolling Stone stud in no time.
But as the night wore on, my friend’s knowledge of Dave Matthews turned out to be suspect. The band would kick into another cut, I’d ask Mike for a name, and he'd scrunch up his face, think for a second and say, "I don’t know the name...but I call this one the Scorpion Song!" What? The Scorpion Song?! What in the hell is that? This went on for three hours. Mike didn’t know a damn thing; most of the time he hadn’t even heard the song before. In all fairness, Matthews was already a prolific songwriter, with more than enough material to swap out setlists night after night. Regardless, it was a bleepin' nightmare. My heart was racing. I was sweating profusely. My notebook was basically empty. There was a cute girl in front of me distracting with her undulations. Rolling Stone was going to slaughter me.
Long story short, as I crouched over my computer later that night, minutes ticking down 'til deadline, I learned some very valuable writing lessons: (1) Go with what you got and (2) Stretch like hell. The review wound up running, and if I recall, I was reeeaaally impressed with his live versions of So Much to Say and Crash Into Me.
Dave Matthews Band, with the Wailers, performs Wednesday, Sept. 12 at 7 p.m. Ford Amphitheatre, Tampa. $40-$65. (813) 740-2446.
Sean Daly is the pop music critic for the St. Petersburg Times. His CD collection -- from Journey to Dylan, Prince to U2, Public Enemy to Stan Getz -- is much bigger and better than yours.
The world may be full of poseurs but we can always count on Sean Daly keepin' it real.
Posted by: MarieElaine | September 04, 2007 at 10:11 AM
I see birds of prey aloft.
Posted by: Chu Cha | September 05, 2007 at 12:17 AM