Even non-fans found something to like. “It’s about sex, right?”
It was exactly 10 years ago when Dave Matthews Band’s full-length “Crash” was hitting on the charts, on radio and in the arena. My sister’s observation, above, fell into line with what I was thinking about the unexpected hit single, “Crash Into Me.” The song’s lyrics were not obvious, but they also weren’t all that obtuse.
“Crash Into Me” was actually subtly poetic, folksy AAA-friendly but different enough to distinguish it from the crowd of Wallflowers, Smashing Pumpkins and Alanis Morissette that was dominating the rest of adult-alternative audio culture.
But what was (and is) truly exceptional is that “Crash Into Me” took Dave Matthews and his band into unexplored territory, and it is otherwise unexplored today for the multiplatinum band.
While Dave Matthews Band, which plays the Pepsi Center on Tuesday and Wednesday, is one of the most successful touring outfits in the music industry, selling out any venue of its choosing for multiple nights, the group’s appeal is very black or white. Its fans are rabid, salivating at any new bootleg or official live release and hoarding tickets Grateful Dead-style to multiple shows in a row, geography be damned.
But its detractors are equally rabid, salivating at the opportunity to make fun of the band and the unwavering allegiance of its flannel-loving fans.
“Crash Into Me” was the olive branch that brought everyone together. Many non-Dave Matthews fans, this critic included, saw the appeal in the song and its acoustic sensibilities. It wasn’t as world-centric or pop-pandering as the material from their major label debut, “Under the Table and Dreaming.” Compare “Crash Into Me” to “Ants Marching” or “Satellite” and it sounds as if the band grew up a little.
That was not the case, of course. Even the loudest hecklers have to respect Matthews’ depth of influences and musical capabilities, both of which are significant. For every “Crash Into Me” there’s another “What Would You Say,” and his music has continued to thrive on the eclectic, the meandering, the worldly. It’s a financially fruitful formula, but it’s a formula nonetheless – a major complaint of the band’s critics.
But in all of the band’s six full-length CDs, they’ve never recaptured that crossover magic of “Crash Into Me.” It sounded like something Paul Simon could have written in the mid-’80s between “Hearts and Bones” and “Graceland.” As opposed to Matthews’ other work, it was a straightforward acoustic pop song. The song’s shorter radio edit, especially, was a song with a purpose – it didn’t lollygag or doodle in getting there.
“Sweet like candy/To my soul/Sweet you rock and/Sweet you roll,” is on the saccharine side, but it’s also kind of sweet. “Hike up your skirt a little more/And show your world to me,” is hot and brazenly suggestive, especially when the song is bookended by Barry Manilow and Hootie and the Blowfish on some terrible radio station, as heard recently on Denver’s pallid FM dial.
Matthews’ voice can be a turn-off with its Kermit the Frog edge, but it’s strangely romantic-sounding here, just begging to act as the background music in a film trailer as the male protagonist, realizing he actually needs the girl he just jacked over, chases her down to confess his love – ideally in an airport terminal.
“You wear nothing/But you wear it so well.” It’s a heavy dose of cheese, yes, but I can think of a lot worse.
Dave Matthews Band plays the Pepsi Center on Tuesday and Wednesday. Robert Randolph and the Family Band open both shows. Tuesday’s show is sold out, but tickets to Wednesday’s gig, $59.50, are available via ticketmaster.com or 303-830-8497.
Pop music critic Ricardo Baca can be reached at 303-820-1394 or rbaca@denverpost.com.
