Here are some reviews of the DMB 2010 Italian tour, including interviews with Corsina Andriano and Luigi Lenzi, respectively President and Founder of Con-Fusion.
Palasharp, Milano, 2010 february 22
by Luca Salminitranslated by Carla Melis
Thanks to the precious work of Con-Fusion, Dave Matthews Band's Italian fan club, to the enthusiastic praise of two of Italy's most famous music writers, Marco Denti e Mauro Zambellini, but also to the word of mouth of those who attended the by now legendary Lucca concert last year, Dave Matthews Band has finally reached, even in our country, the level of notoriety that in the US places it at the top spots considering the number of concerts' tickets sold. For those who missed Lucca's magical concert, immortalized in the wonderful box set Europe 2009-3 cds and a dvd that represent today what Live at Fillmore East by Allman Brothers Band was in the 70s: the photograph of a band in a state of grace-the three February concerts constituted a must see event and, in fact, an almost sold out Palasharp greeted the band on 22nd February in Milan, ready to reproduce again the 'good vibrations' established last year between the band and its Italian audience. The passion exhibited by fans-with a number of signs and banners waving over the audience that we have seen just in Bruce Springsteen gigs-was rewarded by two and a half hours of concert, during which the band proved to have absorbed the loss of a central component like LeRoi Moore, excellently substituted by sax player Jeff Coffin and impressive trumpet player Rashawn Ross. The beginning of the show was marked by two ballads, Proudest Monkey and Satellite, with their liquid, warm and charming musicality, while the collective sound of Dave Matthews Band exploded in all its power from You Might Die Trying, one of the many moments in which the band jammed freely on a vigorous groove that mixed soul, funky, jazz, rock and pop. Recent tunes as Funny the way it is, Seven, Squirm, Shake me like a monkey, the sweet You & me or the melancholic Lying in the hands of God, rivaled with older classics as the wonderful and suggestive Crash into Me, the hit song Dancing Nancies, the powerful Don't Drink the Water and the long and improvised Jimi Thing, a phantasmagoric sequence of jams and virtuoso moments. Despite Palasharp's bad reputation, the acoustics was perfect and all the details of Dave Matthews Band's multifaceted sound were clearly discernable in the stalls, from Tim Reynolds' electric guitar licks to the acrobatic phrasings of Boyd Tinsley's violin, from the pulsing groove of the excellent bass player, Stefan Lessard, to the elegant soul-jazz variations of the horn section. The drummer, Carter Beauford, deserves a special praise. A real show in the show, hidden behind a cathedral of drums Carter dictated the rhythms with the precision and power of a machine. With his unassuming behavior, Dave Matthews combines the folksinger's grace with the rocker's energy. He can move the audience with his strong and expressive voice in a ballad like Baby Blue, make them dance in the crescendo of Everyday, or sing along in the concluding Ants Marching. All Along the Watchtower-the famous Bob Dylan song that the band has reshaped to suit its own taste-was not played. It was substituted with the Talking Heads song Burning Down the House, sang together by Dave and trumpet player Ross, a composition that underlines the funky side of Dave Matthews Band, that proved itself once again one of the most gripping and involving live act out there.
