Tour summary

[ut4ever8]

This is on the main page at dmbalmanac and i thought it was worth posting.


The 2006 Tour was highlighted by new unreleased songs, great returns of old songs, reworked song structures, exciting venue runs, and memorable guest performances.

New unreleased songs that the band had been working on in the studio were all brought out early in the tour, some of them featuring Dave on a Veillette soprano 12-string "tiny" guitar. The Idea of You led the pack as the featured new song with the most performances. Can't Stop was literally written on the road and grew extensively through constant playing. Break Free was another feature new song that received steady play and detailed refinement. Shotgun, while played sparsely at first, received a lot of structural work during soundchecks to make it a steady feature towards the end of the tour. Kill The King, while featuring intense and refined musical arrangements, was only played 7 times before it was removed from rotation at the quarter mark of the tour. The tour also featured a Dave's new solo number titled Sister as a frequent first encore slot.

The most noticeable highlight of this tour was the participation of Rashawn Ross as a full-time performer who together with Roi formed an impressive horn section that added a new life of flavor to a large number of both new and old songs. Many guests on horns got a chance to play with the horn section, including long time band collaborator John D'Earth and saxophone deity Jeff Coffin. The band also got a chance to reunite with Béla Fleck and the Flecktones at Randall's Island. After years of separation, DMB and the Flecktones played their 28 minute epic #41 (Sojourn of Arjuna) and marveled the audience on other songs as well. Warren Haynes also guested with the band, shining once again on the classic Cortez the Killer. Ultimately, it was Robert Randolph who was the prevailing highlight guest, as he has been on the last two tours DMB has done. His performances with DMB expanded the kindred connection of musical collaboration that has formed between them with new participation on Two Step, You Might Die Trying, and an improvised lead-in to Louisiana Bayou.

The tour also featured many triumphant long-time returns. The long anticipated return of JTR happened a month before the tour started at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival after mysteriously not being played for nearly five years. Among the other long time returns were Raven, Pay for What You Get, The Dreaming Tree, The Last Stop, Proudest Monkey, Digging a Ditch, Sleep to Dream Her, So Right, and Big Eyed Fish. Joyride also made a brief but steady return to the delight of fans who were afraid that it was permanently shelved after not making the cut on the last album.

Some frequently played songs from the last few tours were also noticeably missing: Hello Again, Stand Up, Old Dirt Hill (Bring That Beat Back), Out of My Hands, and Everybody Wake Up (Our Finest Hour Arrives)were among the newer songs missing from rotation. Sugar Will and Crazy-Easy were also missing, alluding to the possibility that they may have been permanently shelved after not making the cut on the last album.

The tour also featured some very memorable venues. Topping their tour off in home town Charlottesville's new John Paul Jones Arena was a fitting end to a tour where their travels included a double-night return to Randall's Island Park, a performance in the Hollywood Bowl, a return to Shoreline Amphitheatre, and a two night run in none other than America's oldest ballpark, Fenway Park, where they played two very memorable shows that ended up being released live.

Among other notable surprises: The Stone found itself a rarity, only being played once. All Along The Watchtower was only played three times, and did not debut until nine shows before the tour's end. Both Pig and So Right enjoyed several encore slots. What You Are, usually a steady slotter on tour, only came out 4 times, only one of which was a slot (encore). #40 was played full band the second night at Deer Creek after Dave made a promise to the audience the night before following a heavy tease. The band returned to expanding on Loving Wings with the help of interpolative magic from Rashawn. If I Had It All, Dreamgirl, and You Might Die Trying all received structural changes. Stay (Wasting Time) found itself as the premier encore song, ending out one third of all shows.

[fede]

I don't really like Stay as a show closer / final encore song.

What are those structural changes it's talking about?? I'm interested!

Fede

[AlpineValley]

wow, that is pretty in depth. what is the deal with KTK??? does that mean that it might not be on the next album????

[Lbacker]

I don't really like Stay as a show closer / final encore song.



Fede

agreed

[Grachi]

a little biased...example:

"Kill The King, while featuring intense and refined musical arrangements"

I beg to differ on this one

but I like the statistics

[ut4ever8]

I don't really like Stay as a show closer / final encore song.



Fede

agreed

me too, i got it twice this summer, first time it was alright, second time i was hopin for something else but i still like the song

[carter29]

good article, AATW ony played 3 times. I think it's good they are resting some of the frequent songs and when they come back maybe they will have some fresh energy

[Elliottman]

Good article./ I hope they havent shelved KTK. i Really like that song.

[6_strings_for_life]

Good read, thanks for posting

It sucks the stone only made one apperance on this tour

[a1075dd63aa12]

Can't Stop was literally written on the road and grew extensively through constant playing.

[fede]

I don't really like Stay as a show closer / final encore song.



Fede

agreed

me too, i got it twice this summer, first time it was alright, second time i was hopin for something else but i still like the song

I'm thinking ants marching with the funk intro has a lot more power than stay, or perhaps something darker...

Fede

[Mikey]

I don't really like Stay as a show closer / final encore song.



Fede

agreed

me too, i got it twice this summer, first time it was alright, second time i was hopin for something else but i still like the song

I'm thinking ants marching with the funk intro has a lot more power than stay, or perhaps something darker...

Fede

8 shows and ive only seen stay once, so i dont mind it as a closer.

[paulaitchison]

someone on here described ending a show with sstay as ending a show with a fart.

i like stay, but i picture it as a 7 or 8 th song

[paddymor]

[quote="ut4ever8"]
#40 was played full band the second night at Deer Creek after Dave made a promise to the audience the night before following a heavy tease. quote]




Never heard that, wheres Deer Creek and what was the date?

[proudestmonkey41]

#40 was played full band the second night at Deer Creek after Dave made a promise to the audience the night before following a heavy tease. quote]




Never heard that, wheres Deer Creek and what was the date?

it was on june 3rd i believe?.. and deer creek is in indiana. im just leaving for school put i can post the version later today. its decent, i like when boyd comes in near the end