Folk rocker drones out a tiresome test of endurance
Friday May 25 2007
DAVE Matthews may be an international superstar but he has never been a hit with music critics.
Despite approaching this Point concert with an open mind I, too, was distinctly underwhelmed by a tiresome marathon of dreary folk rock.
Matthews mightn't be cool but he can still pack them in on the night of a Champion's League final, which isn't bad at all for an artist considered to be a Stateside success but a flop in Europe. His band's appropriation of the Grateful Dead's style in a more mainstream format has unquestionably paid off.
The Dave Matthews Band (or DMB) is renowned for its lengthy sets. When they played the National Stadium a few years back, they were onstage for a whopping three-and-a-quarter hours.
This show is just shy of three hours, so if you are a hardcore fan you can't complain about bad value for money.
Excruciating
Personally, I found this to be an excruciating endurance test. The champions of DMB who claim that critics of the band merely have short attention spans are well wide of the mark, as the lack of variety in tone and texture in this set would try anyone's patience.
The more dedicated fans on the ground floor near the front may have risen to the occasion, but the rest of the auditorium looked bored and restless.
The problem with the Dave Matthews Band is that they're all highly competent musicians, but their delivery is as bland as it gets.
The saxophone can be the most mesmerising instrument on earth or the most irritating. The manner in which these bloated histrionic solos are performed are, sadly, the latter.
The performers Matthews has been inspired by play with passion, intelligence and personality. However, his own one-trick pony show is nothing more than a yawn-inducing snooze fest.
EAMON SWEENEY
- Dave Matthews Band
