No other band in rock's history went to such great lengths to shut down bootleggers as
the Dave Matthews Band. They shut down stores that sold live boots of
Matthews' concerts and they shut down labels that pressed the bootlegs, essentially crippling the underground industry. That didn't stop the boots completely, however, and
Matthews finally retaliated in the fall of 1997 with the double-disc
Live at Red Rocks 8.15.95, the first in a series of official live albums from the band. To the outsider, this series might seem a little odd, since the group doesn't have an explicitly fanatical following like those of
the Grateful Dead or
Phish, but like those two bands,
the Dave Matthews Band has a similar fondness for improvisation, which makes their live recordings desirable for dedicated fans.
Live at Red Rocks 8.15.95 shouldn't disappoint fans already familiar with the band's loose-limbed, jazzy live show, but it should come as a revelation to listeners unacquainted with that aspect of
Matthews. In fact, the record often sounds livelier and more energetic than its studio counterparts, and that alone makes it a necessary purchase for dedicated fans. [
Live at Red Rocks 8.15.95 was released on LP in 2017.] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine