Tribute band pays due respect to the original
The performance of the Dave Matthews Tribute Band at Casterbridge Barnyard on Friday night was a jewel for fans of the band, who have to make do with such outfits as the closest they are likely to get to the real deal.
WHITE RIVER – The original band, headlined by and named for South African-born Dave Matthews, made its name over the past 25 years for its complicated folksy-jazz fusion sound and the frontman’s distinctive voice with hits such as “American Baby”, “Crash into Me” and “Ants Marching”.
It is also one of the top-earning touring bands internationally, but South African shows are hardly an annual event. Hence the welcome performance of the tribute band.
The South African version (not to be confused with the US version based in Chattanooga, Tennessee) consists of Pieter Barnard on vocals, Gideon Meintjes on drums, Leon van der Berg on guitars, Garth de Meillon on bass, Raziela Kosterman on violin and Karin Groenewald on the saxophone.
Barnard was best on the song that made him, like many others, first fall in love with DMB, “Satellites”. His voice is not comparable to that of Matthews, but he knows it. Rather than try too hard, he limits his acoustics to stay within his range, as notable on “Don’t Drink the Water”. A carbon copy is not the point of a tribute band, anyway.
Instead, the clearly talented musicians get to make their mark on the music – which the original band is famous for playing differently each time too, in true jazz style.
The duo’s collaboration was most clear in “The Stone” where the music and lyrics oscillated between the darkness of the sax and lightness of the energetic, sometimes breathless, violin.
The only false notes were the insipid pop songs played in the intermissions.
