Leave All The Lights On: Under The Table And Dreaming at 25

Putting that in context, it’s clear Sept. 27, 1994, is a significant date for American music. It signaled the arrival of a band comprised of a lineup unlike anything that had ever been signed to a major label: a crowd-pleasing, goofy-yet-physical freak of a black violin player; a mysterious sax maestro; a shy teenager on bass who looked like he lived in the band van; a lanky South African frontman who didn’t play electric guitar and preferred to wear pajama pants on national television; and the oldest guy in the band, oh by the way, would prove to be one of the most dynamic and talented drummers in the history of popular music.

So that seems like something worth reflecting on.  

Relix Magazine - Matt Norlander

 

When the band recorded these tracks in Bearsville, NY, did they really have any idea the course they would set upon? That this first album alone would sell millions of copies? Sell over 100 million of concert tickets? 40 millions albums in total ... We love the silliness, the seriousness, the community.

September 27, 1994 changed the music universe for many. With the release of the Dave Matthews Band, Under the Table and Dreaming, a new branch of live concert going was about to be born. While these are the songs that we all head on the radio and scratched out heads because none of us had heard anyone like Dave, or seen anyone play like him.

The Best of What's Around is a misleading first song on the album, especially when What Would You Say what the album's first radio release, but still it didn't capture the full essence of the band in it's truest form...and while now you're looking for a song on this album that does ... you have to look to the live show. 

While Under the Table and Dreaming, Crash, and Before These Crowded Streets have given us songs that remind us of our youth (and that everything hurts now when we move and that we can't drink as much as we used to be able to so carelessly), it's the live show that has been the bastion of what DMB is. We love the original, seven minute, young Dave album version of Warehouse ... we really love the 17 minute jamming version.

Under the Table and Dreaming ushered in a the platform for a fanbase of those who will travel and unite for DMB. The band's legacy is touring and faithful fans view these albums as some thing new that was offered up in the early 1990's ... and we're still getting presents from these albums. Each show we are gifted an old favorite in a new package. What is old is new again every single time.

And then I'll 

Sing and dance, I'll play for you tonight

The thrill of it all

Dark clouds may hang on me sometimes

But I'll work it out

 

 Under the Table and Dreaming

The Best of What's Around

What Would You Say

Satellite

Rhyme & Reason

Typical Situation

Dancing Nancies

Ants Marching

Lover Lay Down

Jimi Thing

Warehouse

Pay For What You Get

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