I read it and cried some more..... LOL the people at work keep asking if I am ok, I told them my allergies are acting up........ They really would not understand, that I am this upset about someone I had never met.
Review: Hours after the untimely death of sax man LeRoi Moore, the group delivered an inspired elegy at Staples Center.
By BEN WENER
The Orange County Register
Comments 5| Recommend 22
Even if it had been a merely half-hearted performance – which it wasn't, not even close, though who'd have blamed 'em if it were? – Tuesday's inspired show at Staples Center would still linger long in Dave Matthews Band lore.
For this, sadly, was the night the group played a nearly three-hour elegy for its fallen brother, LeRoi Moore.
You could tell something was different – something wasn't quite right – from the way Matthews approached the microphone after opening with a tremendous roar through "Bartender." Clearly striving for some sort of grieving catharsis during that track's dozen-minute running time, eventually achieving a high-pitched, hollered fervency like I haven't felt shake my soul since Bono was in his prime, he suddenly looked sullen, sad-eyed, kinda lost – yet at the same time all business, as if out to impress.
"We got some bad news today," he told the quickly quieted crowd. It was a heavy blow: Saxophonist and founding member Moore – DMB's own Clarence Clemons – who had suffered health complications ever since sustaining serious injuries from an ATV crash on his Virginia farm in late June, had died earlier that afternoon at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles, not far from where the band would play hours later. He was 46.
"(He) gave up his ghost today," Matthews said matter-of-factly, "and we will miss him forever."
That Matthews and his mates were able to soldier on so valiantly with an often profoundly moving and largely unsentimental performance wasn't just admirable – it was downright astonishing. What's more, it spoke to the inexplicable but immense healing power of live music.
"We're gonna raise our spirits up a little bit," the generally easygoing but this night stoic icon explained to the crowd after finding his smile as "Proudest Monkey" smoothly dovetailed into the roiling syncopated figure of "Satellite" and drummer Carter Beauford started letting the spirit stir him. "It's always easier to leave than to be left," he pointed out. And yet, as he acknowledged later in the set, before a hearty cover of Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer," "There's nowhere I'd rather be than with my family on stage."
Naturally, the band turned the evening into a de facto tribute to Moore – something it has done at tour stops all summer, actually. But now there was a shift in tone: Where before heavier moments were meant to conjure good vibes for the ailing Moore, here those epics took on a distinctly funereal tone.
Granted, little about the selections was outright dour. Though accompanied by the bleak visual of raindrops cascading down a window pane, the soaring, shining finale of "So Damn Lucky," for one, felt as if the glory of heaven were opening up before the musicians' eyes. The relatively new African-derived gospel groove "Eh Hee," meanwhile, arrived like a celebration of the circle of life, with an evil-slaying Matthews insisting he'll "drop the devil to his knees."
But then there was the added resonance to the hopefulness that emerges amid the identity-crisis storm of "Dancing Nancies." There was the Johannesburg lull of "Water into Wine" to bring a tear – and there was Tim Reynolds' solos on "Proudest Monkey" and the closing "Two Step," yearning wailing like you get from Nils Lofgren on a good night, to do the crying for us.
There was the parting sorrow of the rarely aired "Loving Wings" and the baptismal cleansing of "The Maker." (The hypnotic refrain "river, rise from your sleep" that concludes that latter piece was as calming as a Ladysmith Black Mambazo lullaby.) Then there was the most wrenching moment of all, at least for me, when the ensemble dusted off "The Dreaming Tree," a moody epic that recalls the elegiac intensity of Sting's "The Soul Cages."
And yet this hardly came across like a strictly solemn occasion. How could it when Matthews also led his group (including Moore's ace replacement, Jeff Coffin from Bela Fleck and the Flecktones) through the stress-relieving exaltation of Talking Heads' "Burning Down the House" and the skin-shedding funk of Gabriel's "Sledgehammer"? How could it when for all its introverted indulgence it also made room for crowd-pleasers like "Crash into Me" and "Ants Marching" and the all-you-need-is-love optimism of "Everyday"?
"That's professionalism," I heard one fan say to another outside afterward. Yes, but there was more than the-show-must-go-on determination happening here. Who can know what Matthews, Beauford, fiddler Boyd Tinsley and bassist Stefan Lessard were remembering and feeling and mourning in song after song? What was evident in their joyful noise this night, though, was just how much staggering on stage with battered hearts might have been their only option.
Remember: They had spent the better part of two decades making music with Moore; this is how they related to one another most. First time Matthews heard Moore play, he recalled as the encore began, was in a bar in Virginia: "He leapt on the cash register – 'cause standing had become something of a chore at that point. And he played the most beautiful rendition of 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' I've ever heard.
"If I could, I would," he added, as if to say why he wouldn't attempt it, before instead offering a haunting rendition of his own "Sister." Indeed, all that he – and they – could do here was richly revive some of Moore's favorite songs, disappear into their frameworks, savor lyrics that now had new meaning – and deliver the emotional immediacy the moment demanded.
It was brave, it was brilliant – it was a performance unlike any I've ever seen Dave Matthews Band give
I can't believe they managed to play last night. That had to be difficult. They're never gonna sound the same, even if they get a replacement. I assume they've had someone playing with them this summer in his place.
Wow. reading that review made me realize just how long it's been since I was into DMB. I don't know half o f the songs from last night set, or more. I was a big fan in the late 90's, but I started to lose interest. Didn't like a few later albums
I can't believe they managed to play last night. That had to be difficult. They're never gonna sound the same, even if they get a replacement. I assume they've had someone playing with them this summer in his place.
someone said earlier that its the sax player from bela fleck... so that doesnt sound like it could be a permanent replacement... im sure theyll find someone though if they choose to continue as DMB
R.I.P. LeRoi - you'll truly be missed. I hope the band and his family and friends are all doing fine.
I have so much respect for the band to go out last night. I couldn't have done it. I guess the show was pretty emotional, with the band in tears most of it. People reported that the setlist was made up of LeRoi's favorite songs.
It should be the least of my worries, but anyone have any idea what they're planning to do as a band? They've been in the studio recording a new album and have been on tour every year since 1992...
"I am not going into details regarding my source but many of you know i've been around this community for 12+ years and have many contacts in the dmb org.
just so you all know, the band and some of it's personel discussed what would happen and a very close "source" of mine was in that "meeting"
apparently the band knew way back in June that Leroi would probably never be able to play again with the band, at least not within the next 1-2 years as the injury was ALOT more serious than people were leading on. secondly, the band knew that this outcome, (death) was a possiblity.
all this being said, mentally, they have been prepared for this and the rest of the tour will go on as planned.
last night was the night they needed to get through and they did."
By the way, cutback, thanks for sharing your experience from last night. It was very moving just to read it.
I am really surprised at how hard this has hit me today, I have broken down in tears twice and have been on the verge of tears all day. I feel like someone I knew really well is gone and I am truly heartbroken. I can't even imagine how the boys managed to play such an amazing show amidst such intense emotion.
By the way, cutback, thanks for sharing your experience from last night. It was very moving just to read it.
I am really surprised at how hard this has hit me today, I have broken down in tears twice and have been on the verge of tears all day. I feel like someone I knew really well is gone and I am truly heartbroken. I can't even imagine how the boys managed to play such an amazing show amidst such intense emotion.
if anything, last night was therapeutic...dave screaming during bartender....carter's beating the shit out of his drums....if i were in the band, i'd much prefer to play than to sit in my hotel room crying or something
apparently the band knew way back in June that Leroi would probably never be able to play again with the band, at least not within the next 1-2 years as the injury was ALOT more serious than people were leading on. secondly, the band knew that this outcome, (death) was a possiblity.
I really suspected as much. Not that he would pass away, obviously, but that he wasn't going to be around for awhile, if at all. I mean, the dude is a horn player who suffered a punctured lung and other major chest and body injuries. It would have been a long, long process to come back from that. I figured the band were respecting his privacy and keeping all details to a minimum. But really, the writing was on the wall if you were looking for it.
That said, I'm sure it still took a significant effort to muster the will to play the show last night (and even tonight).
I certainly don't think this is the end of the band, though, and am surprised at the number of people who think it might be or that it should be.
08/20/2008
We would like to take a moment at this sad time to thank everyone for the outpouring of condolences and notes celebrating LeRoi’s life. Thank you for the many inquiries we have received about making a gift in LeRoi's name. A fund has been created in honor of LeRoi Moore in support of charities that reflect both his spirit and passion. Donations via check referencing the "Charlottesville Area Community Foundation for the LeRoi Moore Memorial Fund" may be mailed to:
Charlottesville Area Community Foundation
PO Box 1767
Charlottesville, VA 22902
Donations may also be made online by clicking here.
I've listened to Bartender a few times today, gave me the major chills.
Almost every DMB song I listened to today gave me chills......it's like Roi's parts stood out a little more & every lyric could be applied to what's going on.
headed out the door for tonights show...this is weird
Another one? Damn looks like your the official DMB info guy. Still listening to DMB in honor of them. I wanted to see them for quite some time but never got around to it. I hope my chances aren't ruined now.
Favorite Roi moment was sitting about 15 feet from him at Target Center in '05 and watching him all night. He was never overly comfortable being on stage. When he wasn't playing or backing vocals, he was practically hiding off stage.
Seek Up *
Warehouse *
Gravedigger *
Rhyme And Reason *
Crush *
Old Dirt Hill *
#41 *
You Might Die Trying *
Where Are You Going
Pantala Naga Pampa *
Rapunzel *
Out Of My Hands +
Jimi Thing *
So Much To Say *
Anyone Seen The Bridge *
Too Much
Louisiana Bayou *
__________________
Sledgehammer *
Stay (Wasting Time) *
Show Notes:
Send good thoughts for LeRoi
* Jeff Coffin
+ No Horns, Dave on piano
Another one? Damn looks like your the official DMB info guy. Still listening to DMB in honor of them. I wanted to see them for quite some time but never got around to it. I hope my chances aren't ruined now.
ha! well i had been planning to go all along....i always go their shows when they're in town
the band will go on....if tonights show is any indicator, the band will not dissolve....they will never be the same....this is definitely the beginning of a new era for dmb
I have a feeling the rest of the tour will be a celebration for Leroi. I saw them in Houston this past Friday. Now I wish I could catch another show this year, to celebrate and to pay tribute.
Seek Up *
Warehouse *
Gravedigger *
Rhyme And Reason *
Crush *
Old Dirt Hill *
#41 *
You Might Die Trying *
Where Are You Going
Pantala Naga Pampa *
Rapunzel *
Out Of My Hands +
Jimi Thing *
So Much To Say *
Anyone Seen The Bridge *
Too Much
Louisiana Bayou *
__________________
Sledgehammer *
Stay (Wasting Time) *
Show Notes:
Send good thoughts for LeRoi
* Jeff Coffin
+ No Horns, Dave on piano
Great setlist. i am really surprised they played Gravedigger though. I heard that Dave said that Roi didn't like #41 haha. How was the vibe last night? BTW the recording of the first night is up on Dreamingtree.
Comments
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/d...16-leroi-moore
I read it and cried some more..... LOL the people at work keep asking if I am ok, I told them my allergies are acting up........ They really would not understand, that I am this upset about someone I had never met.
Dave Matthews Band's farewell to a fallen brother
Review: Hours after the untimely death of sax man LeRoi Moore, the group delivered an inspired elegy at Staples Center.
By BEN WENER
The Orange County Register
Comments 5| Recommend 22
Even if it had been a merely half-hearted performance – which it wasn't, not even close, though who'd have blamed 'em if it were? – Tuesday's inspired show at Staples Center would still linger long in Dave Matthews Band lore.
For this, sadly, was the night the group played a nearly three-hour elegy for its fallen brother, LeRoi Moore.
You could tell something was different – something wasn't quite right – from the way Matthews approached the microphone after opening with a tremendous roar through "Bartender." Clearly striving for some sort of grieving catharsis during that track's dozen-minute running time, eventually achieving a high-pitched, hollered fervency like I haven't felt shake my soul since Bono was in his prime, he suddenly looked sullen, sad-eyed, kinda lost – yet at the same time all business, as if out to impress.
"We got some bad news today," he told the quickly quieted crowd. It was a heavy blow: Saxophonist and founding member Moore – DMB's own Clarence Clemons – who had suffered health complications ever since sustaining serious injuries from an ATV crash on his Virginia farm in late June, had died earlier that afternoon at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles, not far from where the band would play hours later. He was 46.
"(He) gave up his ghost today," Matthews said matter-of-factly, "and we will miss him forever."
That Matthews and his mates were able to soldier on so valiantly with an often profoundly moving and largely unsentimental performance wasn't just admirable – it was downright astonishing. What's more, it spoke to the inexplicable but immense healing power of live music.
"We're gonna raise our spirits up a little bit," the generally easygoing but this night stoic icon explained to the crowd after finding his smile as "Proudest Monkey" smoothly dovetailed into the roiling syncopated figure of "Satellite" and drummer Carter Beauford started letting the spirit stir him. "It's always easier to leave than to be left," he pointed out. And yet, as he acknowledged later in the set, before a hearty cover of Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer," "There's nowhere I'd rather be than with my family on stage."
Naturally, the band turned the evening into a de facto tribute to Moore – something it has done at tour stops all summer, actually. But now there was a shift in tone: Where before heavier moments were meant to conjure good vibes for the ailing Moore, here those epics took on a distinctly funereal tone.
Granted, little about the selections was outright dour. Though accompanied by the bleak visual of raindrops cascading down a window pane, the soaring, shining finale of "So Damn Lucky," for one, felt as if the glory of heaven were opening up before the musicians' eyes. The relatively new African-derived gospel groove "Eh Hee," meanwhile, arrived like a celebration of the circle of life, with an evil-slaying Matthews insisting he'll "drop the devil to his knees."
But then there was the added resonance to the hopefulness that emerges amid the identity-crisis storm of "Dancing Nancies." There was the Johannesburg lull of "Water into Wine" to bring a tear – and there was Tim Reynolds' solos on "Proudest Monkey" and the closing "Two Step," yearning wailing like you get from Nils Lofgren on a good night, to do the crying for us.
There was the parting sorrow of the rarely aired "Loving Wings" and the baptismal cleansing of "The Maker." (The hypnotic refrain "river, rise from your sleep" that concludes that latter piece was as calming as a Ladysmith Black Mambazo lullaby.) Then there was the most wrenching moment of all, at least for me, when the ensemble dusted off "The Dreaming Tree," a moody epic that recalls the elegiac intensity of Sting's "The Soul Cages."
And yet this hardly came across like a strictly solemn occasion. How could it when Matthews also led his group (including Moore's ace replacement, Jeff Coffin from Bela Fleck and the Flecktones) through the stress-relieving exaltation of Talking Heads' "Burning Down the House" and the skin-shedding funk of Gabriel's "Sledgehammer"? How could it when for all its introverted indulgence it also made room for crowd-pleasers like "Crash into Me" and "Ants Marching" and the all-you-need-is-love optimism of "Everyday"?
"That's professionalism," I heard one fan say to another outside afterward. Yes, but there was more than the-show-must-go-on determination happening here. Who can know what Matthews, Beauford, fiddler Boyd Tinsley and bassist Stefan Lessard were remembering and feeling and mourning in song after song? What was evident in their joyful noise this night, though, was just how much staggering on stage with battered hearts might have been their only option.
Remember: They had spent the better part of two decades making music with Moore; this is how they related to one another most. First time Matthews heard Moore play, he recalled as the encore began, was in a bar in Virginia: "He leapt on the cash register – 'cause standing had become something of a chore at that point. And he played the most beautiful rendition of 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' I've ever heard.
"If I could, I would," he added, as if to say why he wouldn't attempt it, before instead offering a haunting rendition of his own "Sister." Indeed, all that he – and they – could do here was richly revive some of Moore's favorite songs, disappear into their frameworks, savor lyrics that now had new meaning – and deliver the emotional immediacy the moment demanded.
It was brave, it was brilliant – it was a performance unlike any I've ever seen Dave Matthews Band give
2006: Camden 1&2, East Ruth 1&2
2008: BONNAROO, MSG1, MSG2, Hartford
2009: Philly 1, 2, 4
2010: Hartford, MSG1, MSG2
2012: Made in America
2013: BK1, BK2, Hartford
2015: Global Citizens
2016: MSG 2 (ISO MSG1)
EV Solo: NJPAC 2008; Tower Theatre, PA 2009; Hartford 2011
Wow. reading that review made me realize just how long it's been since I was into DMB. I don't know half o f the songs from last night set, or more. I was a big fan in the late 90's, but I started to lose interest. Didn't like a few later albums
http://seanbriceart.com/
Yeah, Jeff Coffin of the Flecktones. He's been really good.
I have so much respect for the band to go out last night. I couldn't have done it. I guess the show was pretty emotional, with the band in tears most of it. People reported that the setlist was made up of LeRoi's favorite songs.
It should be the least of my worries, but anyone have any idea what they're planning to do as a band? They've been in the studio recording a new album and have been on tour every year since 1992...
Madison Square Garden 6/25/08
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say they probably haven't made any decisions just yet... it hasn't even been 24 hours.
after nearly 20 shows, i agree
i wish i could tell you my thoughts right now but the more i think about last night the more i can't find the words
"I am not going into details regarding my source but many of you know i've been around this community for 12+ years and have many contacts in the dmb org.
just so you all know, the band and some of it's personel discussed what would happen and a very close "source" of mine was in that "meeting"
apparently the band knew way back in June that Leroi would probably never be able to play again with the band, at least not within the next 1-2 years as the injury was ALOT more serious than people were leading on. secondly, the band knew that this outcome, (death) was a possiblity.
all this being said, mentally, they have been prepared for this and the rest of the tour will go on as planned.
last night was the night they needed to get through and they did."
I am really surprised at how hard this has hit me today, I have broken down in tears twice and have been on the verge of tears all day. I feel like someone I knew really well is gone and I am truly heartbroken. I can't even imagine how the boys managed to play such an amazing show amidst such intense emotion.
if anything, last night was therapeutic...dave screaming during bartender....carter's beating the shit out of his drums....if i were in the band, i'd much prefer to play than to sit in my hotel room crying or something
sorry to hear that.
:(
I really suspected as much. Not that he would pass away, obviously, but that he wasn't going to be around for awhile, if at all. I mean, the dude is a horn player who suffered a punctured lung and other major chest and body injuries. It would have been a long, long process to come back from that. I figured the band were respecting his privacy and keeping all details to a minimum. But really, the writing was on the wall if you were looking for it.
That said, I'm sure it still took a significant effort to muster the will to play the show last night (and even tonight).
I certainly don't think this is the end of the band, though, and am surprised at the number of people who think it might be or that it should be.
i too am wondering what tonight's show will be like....definitely be 2 of the strangest concerts i'll ever go to
until i saw someone say that i hadn't given it a thought...and don't plan to
I've listened to Bartender a few times today, gave me the major chills.
We would like to take a moment at this sad time to thank everyone for the outpouring of condolences and notes celebrating LeRoi’s life. Thank you for the many inquiries we have received about making a gift in LeRoi's name. A fund has been created in honor of LeRoi Moore in support of charities that reflect both his spirit and passion. Donations via check referencing the "Charlottesville Area Community Foundation for the LeRoi Moore Memorial Fund" may be mailed to:
Charlottesville Area Community Foundation
PO Box 1767
Charlottesville, VA 22902
Donations may also be made online by clicking here.
https://secure.donortownsquare.com/SSL/donate.aspx?sgst=-1&amt=0&ai=169&qs=32FJL
Please make sure to reference “LeRoi Moore Memorial Fund” in the comments section if making a gift online.
Almost every DMB song I listened to today gave me chills......it's like Roi's parts stood out a little more & every lyric could be applied to what's going on.
Another one? Damn looks like your the official DMB info guy. Still listening to DMB in honor of them. I wanted to see them for quite some time but never got around to it. I hope my chances aren't ruined now.
8/7/08, 6/9/09
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRZGvONoj3g
last night was a remembering a friend
tonight was a celebration for a friend
Seek Up *
Warehouse *
Gravedigger *
Rhyme And Reason *
Crush *
Old Dirt Hill *
#41 *
You Might Die Trying *
Where Are You Going
Pantala Naga Pampa *
Rapunzel *
Out Of My Hands +
Jimi Thing *
So Much To Say *
Anyone Seen The Bridge *
Too Much
Louisiana Bayou *
__________________
Sledgehammer *
Stay (Wasting Time) *
Show Notes:
Send good thoughts for LeRoi
* Jeff Coffin
+ No Horns, Dave on piano
ha! well i had been planning to go all along....i always go their shows when they're in town
the band will go on....if tonights show is any indicator, the band will not dissolve....they will never be the same....this is definitely the beginning of a new era for dmb
Great setlist. i am really surprised they played Gravedigger though. I heard that Dave said that Roi didn't like #41 haha. How was the vibe last night? BTW the recording of the first night is up on Dreamingtree.