Band On A Run Dave Matthews Band Brings Phenomenal Sound To The Gorge Friday

Amid thumpy plucks of guitar strings and baritone blasts of sax, Dave Matthews utters this line:

I find sometimes it’s easy to be myself,

Sometimes I find it’s better to be somebody else.

Certainly, at this point in his life, the 30-year-old singer/songwriter/guitarist must be feeling the former rather than the latter.

For there seems no better time to be Dave Matthews - or the rest of his band, for that matter.

This grass-roots-fostered fivesome turned nationally favored phenomenon has fended off pigeonholing with the deftness of fencing champs. And in doing so they have landed atop all kinds of charts - not to mention popularity polls.

In February, the band was awarded a Grammy for its song “So Much To Say” - from which the above bit of introspection was born.

Their latest endeavor, “Crash,” sits at No. 33 on the Billboard chart’s top 200 albums. It has remained on that chart for 61 weeks.

Pollstar, a magazine that tracks concerts, rated the Dave Matthews Band among the top 25 best-selling tours of the first half of this year.

And just eight months ago, the band dropped by the Spokane Arena for one of last summer’s outstanding concerts.

On Friday, Matthews and crew will make a reappearance - this time jumping to The Gorge - for what will be the last show of their summer tour. Los Lobos opens with a sound that is part rock, soul and funk with a Latin flavor. Spokane’s own Mayfield Four play the second stage.

It won’t be the first time the Dave Matthews Band has played the 20,000-seat Gorge. But it will be their first time headlining. Last August they played there for The H.O.R.D.E. Tour. However, Blues Traveler, Lenny Kravitz and several other bands also were showcased.

But if sales at other venues are any indication, their meteoric rise to amphitheater-sized venues will continue smoothly. The band has sold out numerous similar-sized shows around the country.

Of course, Matthews himself is not likely to pay much attention to this kind of industry hooey.

“Our focus in this band has always been the music,” he told the Daily Herald in Chicago. “People tell us we’ve gone ‘gold’ or ‘platinum’ usually as we’re making our way onto the stage. I can’t think about our music that way because it makes me paranoid that I’ll lose sight of the things that matter.”

It’s that kind of down-to-earth charm that has made Matthews and his cohorts darlings with their fans.

That, along with an impishly precocious sound that is as intricate in its acoustic noodlings as it is catchy with vibrant hooks.

Like a child squooshing different Play-Doh colors together, the Dave Matthew Bands seems to take glee in mushing jazz, rock, folk and funk.

Considering Matthews’ background, it seems clear where his sometimes schizophrenic sound comes from. Raised in South Africa, Britain and New York, he absorbed the diversity around him until forming the band with LeRoi Moore on saxophone and flute, Boyd Tinsley on violin, Stefan Lessard on bass and Carter Beauford on drums.

Although primarily an acoustic gang, these guys still manage to snap as though plugged in. And with Beauford pounding drums, congas, cowbells and woodblocks, the band sports a labyrinthine weave of rhythm as though it were a favorite sweater.

Steady touring and their 1993 self-released album, “Remember Two Things,” did two things: It gave them roots in a sturdy fan base, and attracted RCA, which released “Under the Table and Dreaming” for two Grammy nominations.

“Crash,” released in 1996, has continued to run the band headlong into success.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: CONCERT The Dave Matthews Band will perform at The Gorge Friday with Los Lobos. Spokane’s Mayfield Four will play the second stage starting at 6 p.m. Main stage show starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are $33.05, available through Ticketmaster. For locations, call (509) 928-4700; for tickets by phone, call (206) 628-0888.