Dave Matthews Band Earned Their Rock Hall Spot Whether You Like It Or Not
Next month, the Dave Matthews Band will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. This probably annoys some people, as their music also annoys some people. That probably doesn’t bother the band though: Dave and the guys have been extraordinarily successful in their three-plus decades together. They’ve sold over thirty million CDs and DVDs. and have consistently sold out huge venues. They come from the cult world of jam bands, but they also write great songs.
Their commercial heyday began thirty years ago with their debut studio album, Under The Table And Dreaming, released on September 27, 1994. Over the next eight years, they landed nine top 40 singles. That’s a lot for a rock band, particularly one with its roots in the jam scene: Neither the Grateful Dead nor the Allman Brothers Band ever enjoyed that kind of pop success. In the AAA format, they’ve had 30 hit songs. Sure, when they play live, they can extend their songs well past the ten-minute mark. But whether you like them or not, you have to acknowledge that, without having great songs, they would not even be in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame conversation. And regardless of your feelings about the pop charts, most jam bands don’t score lots of hit singles. There’s something about the Dave Matthews Band that is different.
I remember the first time I saw the Dave Matthews Band. I went to the H.O.R.D.E. festival in the summer of 1994 at New Jersey’s Waterloo Village. The Allman Brothers Band was the headliner; Blues Traveler and Big Head Todd and the Monsters were also on the bill. My recollection is that the Dave Matthews Band was on the second stage. I wasn’t particularly interested in roaming to that stage. But I was walking around the grounds, and I heard this really unusual sound. So, I wandered over to see who was playing.
It was, as you’ve guessed, the Dave Matthews Band. The song was “Ants Marching.” It sounded so different than anything I’d heard before. It was certainly very different from anything that was happening in 1994. There were White dudes and Black dudes: That in itself was fairly rare. There was a violinist and a saxophonist. Outside of the ska scene, no bands had sax players anymore. And outside of John Mellencamp’s band, who had a violinist? Their leader had a funny voice and played acoustic guitar, but they were more like a jazz band. Also, they didn’t seem very “jammy” – probably because, as with most second-stage bands, they didn’t have a long timeslot. I thought, “These guys are way too weird, they’re not going anywhere!” Little did I know!
I was, and still am, pretty “scene agnostic.” That summer, I also went to Lollapalooza and Woodstock ‘94. Over the next few summers, I spent lots of my time and money at OzzFest, the Warped Tour and the Lilith Fair. I always liked most of the mainstage acts (but rarely all of them), and I loved to find new bands on the smaller stages. Remember, this was before streaming, so finding new bands wasn’t cheap. I also spent a lot of time at those listening kiosks at Tower Records. (Remember them?)
But I rarely found new bands that I was excited about in the jam band scene, even though I respected the musicianship, which was obviously pretty incredible. I got a copy of Under The Table and Dreaming and, while it was different from most of the music I listened to, I dug it. I had tickets to see them a few months later at New York’s Roseland Ballroom with Big Head Todd and the Monsters. My recollection is that the show was billed as a co-headlining situation, but by the time the concert took place, it was clear that the Dave Matthews Band was the headliner.
I’d been to some jam band shows by this point. I’d seen the Dead and the Allmans before. And let me tell you, the people-watching at these gigs is really fun. But my attention was drawn to the stage for most of the show. Dave had a weird kind of charisma, and the band – drummer Carter Beauford, bassist Stefan Lessard, violinist Boyd Tinsley and the late sax player LeRoi Moore – were just fantastic. In a headlining scenario, I got a better idea of how they fit into the jam band world: They definitely did longer versions of their songs with lots of improvisation. I appreciated what they did with the songs.
Over the next few years, it was wild to see this band, who were very unlikely stars, become constant presences on MTV and VH1 and become stadium headliners. They consistently knocked out massive albums over the next few years: 1996’s Crash, 1998’s Before These Crowded Streets, 2001’s Everyday, 2002’s Busted Stuff and 2005’s Stand Up. That’s quite a run.
They no longer occupy the zeitgeist the way they used to, although they had a viral moment when a few million people saw this clip. They’re now a heritage band like so many other classic rockers. To me, their music makes sense not just alongside the Allmans and the Dead, but also the Doobie Brothers, the Steve Miller Band and Chicago. They’ve got a solid catalog of great songs, fueled by amazing musicianship that doesn’t get in the way of those songs.
It’s easy to be cynical about the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, especially when you disagree with some of their omissions. But even when I question one of their inductees, it’s usually because I’m not familiar with the artist. Over the years, I’ve checked out artists who I wasn’t that familiar with because of the Rock Hall. Some of these include the Zombies, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Laura Nyro, and this year Kool & the Gang. Every time, I come away from my deep dives with respect for an artist who I didn’t know much about, even if I didn’t become a massive fan. Whether or not the Dave Matthews Band is your cup of tea, they deserve the respect they’re getting with their upcoming Rock Hall induction.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place on October 19 at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland. It will air live on Disney+ starting at 7 pm ET/4 pm PT. It will be available to stream following the ceremony. ABC will air a primetime special, “2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony,” featuring performance highlights and standout moments on January 1, 2025 (from 8:00-11:00 p.m. EST). That special will be available the next day on Hulu and Disney+.
