With the release of the double-disc
Listener Supported in 1999,
the Dave Matthews Band now had four live albums to their credit (including their self-released debut
Remember Two Things and
Matthews' solo set
Live at Luther College). Bootleggers had discovered that certain bands had voracious audiences who would listen to anything by the group. Once
Dave Matthews discovered he had one of those bands and that he had scores of unofficial discs on the market, he decided to release official live albums on a regular basis. Unlike audience tapes and bootlegged shows -- which, in an ideal world, capture a band loose and unaware -- the concert on
Listener Supported was recorded for a
PBS television show,
In the Spotlight, and at times they seem a bit off. When the band nails the groove live, however, they can be more engaging than they are on record. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine