Dave Matthews Band turns Polo Fields into one sweet world

Oakland Tribune, Sep 14, 2004 by Jim Harrington - CONTRIBUTOR

HAVING thrilled a zillion New Yorkers with a historic concert at Central Park last year, the Dave Matthews Band balanced the continental equation Sunday by performing a free show at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.

It was by far the biggest concert that the Bay Area will likely witness this year. Dave Matthews and crew delighted more than 50,000 "Dancing Nancies" and "Tripping Billies" with a solid three-hour set at the cavernous Polo Fields that clearly illustrated why this band is one of the top-drawing acts in the industry.

Although it was a free concert, produced by East Bay-based concert promoter Another Planet Entertainment, tickets were required, and fans who made a charitable donation got first dibs. The money raised will benefit a variety of Bay Area causes, including local environmental, music education and AIDS research charities.

Kicking off just after 3 p.m., vocalist-guitarist Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer Carter Beauford, saxophonist Leroi Moore, violinist Boyd Tinsley and regular-accompanist keyboardist Butch Taylor first teased "Everyday" before settling into the real opener, "One Sweet World," the track that provided the inspiration for the Ben & Jerry's ice cream-flavor "One Sweet Whirled."

Fifty thousand Dave-Heads grooved under the pleasantly warm sun and chanted along to the lyrics as the group turned up the intensity for an early fan-friendly run through "What Would You Say," "So Much to Say" and "Rapunzel."

Matthews has long lamented lending his name to the band, chalking it up to laziness and the urgent need to put something on fliers to advertise shows, and he's been clear that it doesn't really tell the story of how the group operates.

That's not just Dave being generous. In concert, DMB certainly comes across as more of a collaborative effort than just about any act on the touring circuit.

Each song is a conversation between players with new musical ideas being introduced, digested and commented on within the broad framework of the melody. It's never clear where or when the spark will come that will make the song special until it actually happens.

The result is that each tune is unique to a particular night.

For instance, the peak moment of "One Sweet World" came when Matthews entered into a dialogue with Lessard, playing off the bassist's rubbery grooves with his own wild vocal scatting. Moore then led the way with a flowing alto-sax lead on "What Would You Say" before producing short foghorn-deep blasts on the baritone horn to punctuate "So Much to Say."

Each player had ample time in the spotlight. Tinsley, for one, played so fiercely at times that it appeared he might saw through his instrument.

What the violinist lacks in range, he makes up for with passion. During the full-throttle jam in "Lie in Our Graves," he twisted his head back and forth in such a feverish manner that a Linda Blair- style 360 seemed likely.

Matthews displayed a huge amount of vocal range, sounding friendly and good-natured on "Lie in Our Graves" and then placing the weight of the world on his shoulders with "The Stone." His rant to end "Jimi Thing," which mixed scatting with politics, was the most fun had all day.

As good as each musician is individually, they sound better playing with each other than they would in any other ensemble. For example, the complex musical changes laid down in "Drive In Drive Out" were handled as expertly as anything one will hear at a jazz club.

Yet that's why the "surprise" musical guest didn't really work. But even Carlos Santana's unnecessary appearance couldn't dim the brightness of the occasion as DMB finished up with an encore of "Everyday" and "Too Much."

You can write music critic Jim Harrington at jimthecritic@yahoo.com .