I started listening to the Dave Matthews Band about 10 years ago while still in high school. My first show was May 11, 1999 and since then I have seen the band perform 13 other times. I went through what I jokingly call a "healthy obsession" my freshman and sophomore years of college. I was really into collecting live shows on CD and would trade people on-line for shows they had and I wanted, and in return I'd send them something that I had in my collection that they were interested in. I have compiled well over 100 DMB CDs over the years and I can imagine that some people think that's a little nuts. It really was just a hobby though. For the record, yes, I have listened to every CD at least once. My obsession slowly dwindled but I have continued to keep up-to-date with what's going on with the band. Now defunct www.nancies.org, and the still flourishing www.antsmarching.org are fan sites that I check pretty regularly to see what songs that band has been playing in concert, what other projects the band members may be working on, and updates on the band's studio recordings. Although I spend a lot less of my free time consumed by DMB I can say with certainty that the Charlottesville quintet has had a profound impact on my musical taste.
The thing I think I love most about the band is that they are a band in every true sense of the word. Although their name prominently places Dave at the forefront I'm know every member of the group believes their strength is found in their unity. The Dave Matthews Band is not the Dave Matthews Band without Dave, just like they're not the Dave Matthews Band without Stephan, Boyd, Carter, or LeRoi. Each member provides such a distinct and vital facet of the bands unique sound that it's difficult to imagine them any other way than how I've known them the past 10 years. I truly can't imagine the band going forward together from here, but they chose to play Tuesday night even after they learned of the terrible news.
I have so many distinct memories of listening to the band's music. The first time I intently listened to Under The Table And Dreaming and laid there in awe, the first time I heard "Big Eyed Fish", going to the post office on campus and picking up new shows that had just arrived in the mail, the often told "tracking down Bo and giving up the shirt on my back to receive front row tickets in Saratoga" story, anticipating new albums, playing "Say Goodbye" on the Branch jukebox every weekend in college, and of course the absolutely unbelievable 14 shows I've seen.
My most recent show was on June 28, 2008 here in Virginia. Little did we all know that night that it would be the last time LeRoi Moore would ever perform. He was in an ATV accident the following day at his home in Charlottesville, VA. He punctured his lung and was out indefinitely. The only real details that I have read are posted on the band's official website. This is what was written:
08/19/2008
We are deeply saddened that LeRoi Moore, saxophonist and founding member of Dave Matthews Band, died unexpectedly Tuesday afternoon, August 19, 2008, at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles from sudden complications stemming from his June ATV accident on his farm near Charlottesville, Virginia. LeRoi had recently returned to his Los Angeles home to begin an intensive physical rehabilitation program.
It is two nights later and I'm still in shock. I have chosen to mourn LeRoi's death by celebrating his music. I am dusting off some of those old CDs I haven't listened to in a while (now in digital form on my computer and iPod of course) and listening especially close for his parts on each of the songs. Here are a few photos from what nobody expected to be LeRoi's final show:
Greatest tailgating spot... EVER
Julie, Micah, Me, Amanda... Progress Baby!
LeRoi Moore, doing his thing
There is no doubt LeRoi Moore will be missed by many. My thoughts go out to his family and the Dave Matthews Band.
