Live in Las Vegas

Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds are back at it again! December 12, 2009 the duo got back together to play a show in Las Vegas, and the album was released Feb 9. Tim Reynolds became a part of Dave Matthews Band last year when Big Whiskey and the Groo Grux King was released, but they’ve always been together for the acoustic shows. Live in Las Vegas is the third acoustic album for the duo, following Live at Luther College (1999), and Live at Radio City (2007).

The album starts off with a song that DMB only plays live, Eh-Hee. Next up is a fan favorite written in 1994, Dancing Nancies. If you’re a Dave fan, you’ve got your Dancing Nancy window decal proving your devotion to the band. It’s played almost identical to the other acoustic versions of the song, but still, a classic. Tim does, indeed, go crazy on his guitar once the singing stops.

The duo then plays Squirm, a song from Big Whiskey. Dave plays his guitar as he would normally, while Reynolds provides us with the guitar that fills in for the rest of the instruments in the band that are lacking in the acoustic show.

Matthews vents about his broken heart and the only way he can move on in Grace is Gone from 2002. The live version follows closely to the Busted Stuff album version. At the end, you hear Dave finally speak, “Thank you kind people. I don’t gamble so I didn’t win anything, and I didn’t lose anything either. Life is a gamble!” I love when he talks at concerts.

After he finishes his gamble ramble, the duo starts playing the southern, folk, Louisiana style, “Alligator Pie.” Without the banjo, the two manage to make the song sound awesome acoustically.

Another favorite about our Mother Earth, “One Sweet World” makes my stomach rowdy as soon as I hear the introduction. Dave uses his traditional vocal noises to fill in spots where no singing of words are involved. This act by Dave is an example of his South African roots. At the four and a half minute mark, Dave decides to turn the song into a childhood favorite, Ring Around the Rosy.

The next song, Dave begins to explain it as, “Cause love can save your life more than food, you can feel it. Like water.” Then, with the guitar combined with his quote, you know it is “Loving Wings.” The guitar gets lower in the second verse and almost tricks me into thinking Stefan Lessard is back with his bass guitar. Dave begins “coughing” on beat. At first I thought he was really coughing, and then I realized he’s substituting the drum part of the song with his vocals again. Love it.

Dave gives Tim a chance to show his stuff with Kundalini Bonfire. It’s an extremely face paced song in which he needs to use a guitar pick. This song makes you think that Tim Reynolds is a crazy, crazily awesome guitar player. It’s like he can’t stop, won’t stop, and the song gets more and more intense each minute. As the crowd expresses their love for the song with a ridiculously loud and long applause, I’m pretty sure I hear Dave expressing his love for him as well.

Dave goes into singing, “Oh,” a classic song that he claimed at Radio City, to be about his grandfather. Then, as soon as the first notes are played of the next song, the crowd goes crazy. “Christmas Song,” which isn’t played live very often for obvious reasons. Talking about Jesus, “A surprise on the way, any day, any day, one healthy little giggling dribbling baby boy, the wise men came three made their way to shower him with love. It’s a very sweet song.

Then Dave and Tim together acoustically change up the style of hit song, “Funny the Way it Is,” while keeping it the same. It’s amazing how the two can use their guitars to sound like the instruments they aren’t using. “Stay or Leave,” is next up and still as beautiful as it always has been. “Shake Me Like a Monkey,” and “Lying in the Hands of God,” from the new album are also featured on this one. Both great songs in their own ways. One’s ridiculously crazy lyrics, while the other’s are more deep and thoughtful. “Save your sermons for someone who’s afraid to love… If you never flew, why would you cut the wings off a butterfly?”

At first I was waiting to hear some covers, since Dave always does a cover. I heard this new one, Little Red Bird and thought it was one. Nope, in the album booklet it says Dave wrote the song in 2009, so yes! A new song for fans to fall in love with. It’s soft, higher pitched and somewhat precious. “Guns and gods and little red birds
'comfort to count the battles won after the war is lost.”

I’m running out of room by rambling, but this 26 track, two-disc set, also features the new song, You & Me, an F-bomb in Bartender, fan favorite Crush, my personal favorite, Typical Situation, and Two Step for the encore. If I had ten thumbs, all of them would be up for this album, but I’m also obsessed with David John Matthews.