The list of the top tours of 2009 is out, and Dave Matthews Band is in eighth place.
DMB was one of six acts to sell more than a million tickets, joining U2, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Kenny Chesney, the Jonas Brothers and the Walking with Dinosaurs exhibit, according to Pollstar.
The tours that finished ahead of DMB on the list of the top tours of 2009 in North America were U2, Springsteen, Elton John and Billy Joel, Britney Spears, AC/DC, Chesney and the Jonas Brothers. Fleetwood Mac and Metallica rounded out the top ten.
Making the list of the top tours of 2009 is the latest of several tour-related recognitions DMB has received. Pollstar already named DMB its artist of the decade, and Rolling Stone recognized the band for having the highest-grossing concerts of the decade.
A Dave Matthews Band PNC Park concert may be in the works.
Several third-party ticketing Web sites have listings up for a DMB PNC Park concert on July 10, 2010. PNC Park is home to the Pittsburgh Pirates and has never hosted a DMB concert before; the Pirates have an away game in Milwaukee on July 10, so the stadium is available for a concert on that date.
Dave Matthews Band usually plays at Post-Gazette Pavilion (formerly Star Lake Amphitheater) in nearby Burgettstown, Pa. The band will likely be on tour in that area of the country in mid-July, because a date at the HullabaLOU Music Festival at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. is scheduled for July 25.
DMB has not officially announced any 2010 summer tour dates for North America, except the HullabaLOU Music Festival.
Europe 2009 likely suffered because it is a box set that appeals more to hardcore fans and carries a $70 list price. It also wasn't available on iTunes.
Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds' Live in Las Vegas album will be a recording of their Dec. 12 concert at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino, according to Amazon.
The Dave and Tim Live in Las Vegastrack listing includes every song performed at that concert, including Tim's solo version of Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir." (Interpolations of two Led Zeppelin songs, "Heartbreaker" and "Stairway to Heaven," were cut from the Dave Matthews Band Europe 2009 box set DVD.)
Dave and Tim Live in Las Vegas will be a two-CD set featuring the first acoustic releases of 10 songs: "Squirm," "Alligator Pie," "Loving Wings," "Kundalini Bonfire," "Funny the Way It Is," "Shake Me Like a Monkey," "Lying in the Hands of God," "Kashmir," "Little Red Bird" and "You and Me."
The Dave and Tim Live in Las Vegas release date is Feb. 9.
DMB topped Pollstar's list of the highest-grossing tours of the decade with nearly $350 million. Earlier this month, Rolling Stone also recognized DMB for having the highest-grossing concerts of the past 10 years.
"What they have accomplished is truly unprecedented," DMB agent Chip Hooper told Pollstar. "Many artists tour often, but not as consistently and not even remotely at the same level."
Celine Dion, Kenny Chesney, Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones, U2, Madonna, the Eagles, Elton John and Jimmy Buffett rounded out the top 10 on the Pollstar artist of the decade list.
The Dave Matthews Band Europe 2009 box set does not include the Michael Jackson, Prince and Led Zeppelin songs that DMB performed during its concerts in London and Lucca, Italy.
During DMB's June 29 concert at Brixton Academy in London, the band played parts of Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" during "All Along the Watchtower," and Tim Reynolds played the guitar riff of Led Zeppelin's "Heartbreaker" during "Anyone Seen the Bridge."
Both interpolations were edited out of the Across the Pond DVD, which captured that concert for the Europe 2009 box set. Dave Matthews also played the first verse of the Jackson 5's "I'll Be There" as a tribute to Michael Jackson during that concert, and that song didn't make the DVD either.
And during the July 5 concert in Lucca, DMB played Prince's "Sexy M.F." during the end jam of "Jimi Thing." Live from Lucca, the CD portion of the box set, omits that part of the song as well.
Europe 2009 features two other cover songs -- Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" and the traditional "Rye Whiskey" -- and features interpolations of several others, including Little Feat's "Dixie Chicken," "Also Sprach Zarathustra," Bela Fleck and the Flecktones' "Sojourn of Arjuna," "Down by the Riverside," Tay Zonday's "Chocolate Rain" and the themes from "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" and "The Six Million Dollar Man."
DMB has never edited cover songs out of its live releases before, so it's very odd to have four such instances in one release. It's unclear why the band's management couldn't -- or wouldn't -- get the rights to these four songs.
Here's fan video of Dave playing "I'll Be There" in London:
I went to see "Larger Than Life in 3D," the Dave Matthews Band 3D movie, last night, and it was great. I highly recommend seeing it before tomorrow, its last day in theaters.
Here are some of my random thoughts on the "Larger Than Life in 3D" movie:
Gogol Bordello is, um, interesting.
Ben Harper's drummer needs a longer shirt.
There weren't many wacky 3D effects like in other 3D movies. But you really feel like you're right on stage with DMB, unlike their other concert videos.
The sound mix is awesome. You can hear every instrument really clearly, even parts you probably never picked up on before.
Dave Matthews' voice sounds great. He has no problems hitting the high notes on songs like "Seven."
You really get to see how much fun the band has on stage. Everyone is always smiling and laughing at each other, and you catch Stefan Lessard and Jeff Coffin singing along, even though they don't have microphones. Anyone who says DMB just goes through the motions in concert would not think so after seeing this movie.
Dave sweats. A lot.
"Shake Me Like a Monkey" isn't always the live train wreck like it was on Saturday Night Live. This version is just as energetic as the studio version.
Other highlights include "You Might Die Trying," "Funny the Way It Is" and "Burning Down the House."
These Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds photos come from Lewis Cooper, a freelance photographer who attended the Dec. 10 Dave and Tim show in Las Vegas.
You can check out more of Cooper's Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds photos on his blog, GonzoShots.com, his Flickr page and the Denver Post's Reverb blog.
In addition to these Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds photos, this video of Dave and Tim playing "Oh" also comes from Cooper:
The private Dave Matthews concert in Las Vegas was for radio station contest winners and came before the second of three Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds concerts at Planet Hollywood. Here's a brief video clip of "Hurricane," the new Dave Matthews song.
The private Dave Matthews concert in Las Vegas opened with Dave playing The Beatles' "Let It Be" on piano. The show also featured covers of "Rye Whiskey" and Danny Barnes' "Road," which Dave Matthews Band played this summer at the Gorge.
Live in Las Vegas, a Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds live album, will be released Feb. 9, 2010, according to Amazon.
Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds Live in Las Vegas will feature recordings from this weekend's three Dave and Tim concerts at Planet Hollywood. Amazon lists Live in Las Vegas as only a CD, but there will likely be a Dave and Tim DVD as part of the release as well.
There has been no official announcement of the Live in Las Vegas track listing or other details. The Dave and Tim shows featured several songs that have never been released before, including covers of Blind Faith's "Can't Find My Way Home," John Prine's "Angel from Montgomery" and Neil Young's "After the Goldrush."
The Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds Las Vegas concerts this weekend featured rare Dave Matthews Band songs and new covers.
We've already gone over the first Dave and Tim Las Vegas concert on Thursday night, where Dave and Tim debuted Blind Faith's "Can't Find My Way Home" and DMB's "Little Red Bird."
They followed that up with a 25-song show on Friday night, playing Neil Young's "After the Goldrush" (featuring Dave on piano) for the first time ever and bringing back John Prine's "Angel from Montgomery" after an eight-year absence. Other highlights of that concert included the first Dave and Tim version of "Squirm," Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth" as an outro to "Jimi Thing," and covers of "Rye Whiskey" and Neil Young's "Down by the River." Saturday night's show had no cover songs, except for a Tim solo version of Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir," but was heavy on DMB favorites like "Dancing Nancies," "Grey Street," "Typical Situation" and "Two Step."
There will be a CD featuring songs from these Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds Las Vegas concerts, and a Dave and Tim Vegas DVD may also be in the works.
Dee Snider and Yukon Kornelius covered "Halloween" by Dave Matthews Band at Friday night's concert in Vail, Colo.
The Dee Snider-Yukon Kornelius "Halloween" cover marked the first time Yukon Kornelius has played a DMB song. Yukon Kornelius features Stefan Lessard, Barenaked Ladies' Ed Robertson, Guster's Adam Gardner and N.E.R.D.'s Eric Fawcett; the band has played songs by Barenaked Ladies and Guster before.
Snider, the lead singer of Twisted Sister, sings a few songs at every Yukon Kornelius concert. Friday's concert in Vail also featured actor Jason Biggs on cowbell, Fuel frontman Brett Scallions, Ratt's Warren DeMartini and Kevin Hearn from BNL.
A Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds Las Vegas DVD could be on the way.
A video crew recorded last night's Dave and Tim concert at Planet Hollywood. There are cameras at every Dave Matthews Band show, but typically not at Dave and Tim concerts, which don't have video screens. The crew is prominently seen in this clip of Dave and Tim playing "Shake Me Like a Monkey":
The presence of the video crew has led to speculation that there will be a Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds Las Vegas DVD produced from this three-night stand at Planet Hollywood. But video crews sometimes record concerts for other reasons as well, like documentaries or television features. So we'll have to wait and see if a Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds Las Vegas DVD will become a reality.
"Little Red Bird" is from Dave Matthews Band's eponymous bonus CD that came with some versions of Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King. "Can't Find My Way Home" is the 1969 classic by supergroup Blind Faith, which featured Steve Winwood (the song's writer), Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker.
Coincidentally (or not), Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King received one of its two Grammy nominations in the Best Rock Album category, where it's up against Winwood and Clapton's Live at Madison Square Garden. "Can't Find My Way Home" appears on that album.
Last night's Dave and Tim Las Vegas concert also marked the first time the duo has played several Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King songs: "Shake Me Like a Monkey," "Alligator Pie" and "Time Bomb." The show also featured the return of "Eh Hee," which had not been played since October 2008, and a Dave Matthews a capella version of "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas."
