There are many good acts on the smaller stages I am keen to see. Allman-Betts Band, Larkin Poe, Walter Trout ( who I think I have read good things about on this forum ) John Mayall, Mavis Staples (I think ? ) George Benson,
Patti Smith, Tal Winkenfeld and some more .

You know, Dave Matthews Band has never really been what ya would call my cup of tea, for a lot of the same reasons that you cite. They were really popular for a while here. But I have never seen them live, perhaps they are more enjoyable that way?

I have seen Allman Betts Band, Mavis Staples and Walter Trout live and they are all great. Walter Trout in particular is an amazing guitarist. You are in for a treat there.

I have seen them twice as I haved a friend who is a huge fan and flys around the country to see them.

I think they are very talented but find their music to be too bland for my taste

Tried to get into them with an open mind but couldn't.

I don't get it but happy other people enjoy them.

There are things I admire about DMB.

They don't really sound like anyone else. That is hard to do.

They have talent, definite chops on their instruments. And they jam.

I don't so much mind the oddness of Dave's voice - I can enjoy Geddy Lee and Billy Corgan, ish - though at times it makes me cringe.

Like some other posters, I don't always feel the soul. I feel all of these comments can apply to Sting's solo music also.

However, if I am to be honest, I also have a really freaking DUMB reason to dislike DMB: I have had too many people who I'm not that impressed by or fond of try to shove DMB down my throat.

That is an immature reason to dislike a band, but there ya go. You really shouldn't judge music by its fan base, but....

In general, I land more on the side of the "not enough soul" camp, like others said above. However, they do jam (or they did at least at one point in time) and there is still very high musicianship. Just not my cup of tea, but certainly can still be very enjoyable.

And, of course, throwing in a little bit of some Brother Warren into the mix never hurt either. See below. His solo starts around 8:20 mark and I find it amazing to watch a guest performer come in and have the entire band rally behind them like Warren does to the band here. The energy of the whole band during Warren's solo is pretty neat. Always loved this particular performance from DMB in '03.

[Edited on 11/21/2019 by SkyDog4President]

My only problems with them is they seemed to be everywhere from 94-98, you couldn't escape them so the burnout was easy.

Well that and their die hard fan base annoys me.

Thankyou everybody for your input.
I am going to take Jack-Frost's and others' advice and reserve my judgement till I have seen them live.
I can think of three examples in my recent history of being converted .
1) George Clinton and Parliament/ Funkadelic. I had most of the albums but didn't really "get " it. On record . They seemed really messy and scattered.
Saw them live and was blown away. Went back to the records and after the live experience they all made perfect sense !
2) Nick Cave. I thought I truly disliked his whole shtick but girlfriend dragged me along to his most recent tour and I became a fan overnight. His more recent CDs are his best . Most unusual .
3) Got free tickets to a weekend festival here where all the names were new to me. Did not know a thing about anybody because all were young and from this decade. I expected to be bored or pissed off. You know, turned out ALL were entertaining and could play. Some I liked more than others . Every act was different genre. ( Punk / Soul/ Rap / Folk / Techno / World music / Blues /rock. ) Everything except jazz and classical in fact. There was one act of interest to this site. The Teskey Brothers. A bunch of young guys ( some real brothers ) who , before they even hit the stage I knew were trying to channel the ABB.Their logo in the program is pure ABB style graphics.. I would put it up here but have no computer skills.
Anyway there is no escaping the DMM as they are headlining on the main stage .
I WILL TRY TO KEEP AN OPEN MIND.

[Edited on 11/21/2019 by midnightvwdriver]

[Edited on 11/21/2019 by midnightvwdriver]

Jim Sheridan ; that seems like perfectly good reason not to like something. Not dumb at all.
If the fan base are simply annoying to you then that sounds perfectly legit. ( to me. )
But then I'm just a grumpy old man. ( trying to give it up. )

DMB is one band I never really "got". I don't know..... just does not move me. I use to work with a girl that she thought "Dave" was a religion. Followed him around to different shows.

A couple other that are popular I never got either are Pearl Jam and Springsteen. If Bruce comes on the radio , I turn it off.

Dave Matthews also is a band I never warmed to either. But millions of people did. Their commercial success was phenomenal. Dave Matthews is worth more money than ever musician that was ever in the ABB combined. But so are Eric Clapton, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Don Henley etc so it's not unique to Dave.

Can't change the station fast enough.

Regarding the DMB i'm kinda stuck in the middle. Some stuff i really like, a big chunk i find rather generic, and some stuff makes me cringe. I enjoy them in small doses. I bought the Live In Europe boxset (3cd/1Dvd) rather cheap a few years ago but it's still on my "bought it but still have to check it out" pile.
Recently i bought a live 3CD set but only because Gregg and Warren are guesting. I wouldn't travel far or spend much money on a ticket but if they would play at a festival that i'm visiting anyway i would certainly check them out.

But on a side note this still makes me laugh (sorry if i have a sick sense of humour):

https://riotfest.org/2016/08/one-time-dave-matthews-band-dumped-800-pounds-poop-boat-full-people/

Maybe the tour manager thought it was a boat load of Jerry Clower or Porter Wagoner fans.

DMB is one band I never really "got". I don't know..... just does not move me. I use to work with a girl that she thought "Dave" was a religion. Followed him around to different shows.

A couple other that are popular I never got either are Pearl Jam and Springsteen. If Bruce comes on the radio , I turn it off.

Eddie Vedder's voice is like listening to sandpaper on a chalkboard to me but I have friends that love it and the band.

I've seen the DMB about a dozen times thru the years - never been disappointed.

There are some songs that I can do without, but IHMO the energy at the shows from the band and crowd is amazing.

If you see them in the summer at one of the sheds, it has a lot of the same feel as seeing a Jimmy Buffett show; don't take it seriously - just have fun.

Also, as of a couple of years ago, the violin player was dismissed from the band. He was replaced with a keyboard player named Buddy Strong who is a monster. The arrangements have changed from what was commercially released on CD; horns, guitar, and keys doing parts that were originally for the violin.

Tim Reynolds is a great guitar player, and Carter Beauford is an amazing drummer.

I suggest checking them out.

"A couple other that are popular I never got either are Pearl Jam and Springsteen. If Bruce comes on the radio , I turn it off."

I like Bruce's first few albums a LOT. He was very steeped in r'n'b a la Van Morrison. After the first 4 albums I got less interested, but I hear his love shows are amazing.

I loved Pearl Jam's first album but sort of lost the thread, but I was given a ticket for a show about 10 years back and it was very, very good. The crowd knew every word, even the obscure songs.

Saw them once - I like some of their songs, but don't see why someone would travel around to see them - but my cousin has seen them almost 100 times - more than the 72 or so that I saw the Allmans...... 😮

I like some of their songs. Saw them once, had fun, have no need to see them again.

Agree that Carter is a very good drummer, also like Tim Reynolds. I liked Jeff Coffin when he was with the Flecktones, haven't heard him in this band.

As others have said, they do jam, and they have some good musicians in the band. Give credit where credit is due.

I have always said I like everything about the Dave Matthews Band....except Dave Matthews. I can't stand his mumbly vocal delivery, and his overall persona seems very douchey to me.

Turns out, if you don't like the guy whose band it is, that is kind of a dealbreaker.

Before DMB hit it big, they used to play a bunch of festivals here locally on a regular basis. They also used to play a lot of Wednesdays at a local club called the Flood Zone (no longer exists).

On another note, I used to see a jazz fushion band regularly here around the same time called Secrets. They were really good. The band was loaded with great players - some became part of DMB and other names are heavy hitters. I picked up the below tune from you tube along with someone's musician list.

Secrets was a Richmond-based band formed sometime in the mid 1980's that was active until the early 1990's. They released 3 CD's in their time. Notably, members Carter Beauford, Tim Reynolds, and Butch Taylor went on to play in the Dave Matthews Band in differing capacities.

Secrets is:
Dane Bryant -- Keyboards
Keith Horne -- Bass
Butch Taylor -- Keyboards
Carter Beauford -- Drums
Steve Wilson -- Saxes and Flute
John D'Earth -- Trumpet and Pennywhistle
Mike Winters -- Drums
Tim Reynolds -- Guitar
Eddie Williams -- Saxes

As others have said, they do jam, and they have some good musicians in the band. Give credit where credit is due.

I have always said I like everything about the Dave Matthews Band....except Dave Matthews. I can't stand his mumbly vocal delivery, and his overall persona seems very douchey to me.

Turns out, if you don't like the guy whose band it is, that is kind of a dealbreaker.

Same here. Just not a voice for me.

Throw in that something always seems slightly out of tune when I see them. The violin just seems slightly off pitch to me. After a bit, it has a "John Popper" effect on me where I have had enough.

Carter Beauford keeps me interested as he is awesome.

first saw them on the horde tour in 94. never heard of them. thought they had good energy. bought one of their cds and thought it was terrible. never saw them or bought another one of their albums again....oh well. rusted root was great on that tour.