By Brett Ratner

The young, energetic crowd at Nashville's Starwood Amphitheater braved chilly weather on Oct. 18 to see their hero. Dave Matthews, clad in a stocking hat, plaid jacket and baggy pants of a different plaid, grooved, gyrated and thrashed his black Gibson Chet Atkins SST--partially to keep warm, mostly to help heat up an already smokin' show.

It's refreshing to hear a band that can duplicate their record on a stage. What's even more refreshing is to hear a band that reveals many new facets of their collective personalities on stage. The Dave Matthews band, touring in support of their second RCA release Crash, certainly delivers in both respects. Composed primarily of experienced professional jazz musicians, Matthews, saxophonist/flutist Leroi Moore, violinist Boyd Tinsley, bassist Stefan Lessard and drum god Carter Beauford featured virtuoso musicianship, extended jams and an eclectic range of styles.

This reviewer has found that it is sometimes pointless to even show up for the first half of a concert by a relatively new band. Such was not the case with Matthews. While they didn't play a single hit for the first hour of their two hour-plus gig, the show never lost steam. The excitement was mostly due to the interplay between Tinsley, Moore and especially Beauford's seemingly inexhaustible bag of tricks. With Lessard tastefully laying back and holding down the groove, the trio used their instruments as characters in a musical dialogue which would crescendo with each character screaming at each other. Then, as if the three voices reached agreement, the musical argument would drop out and a friendly conversation would pick up at a whisper, only to slowly build into a shouting match again. All the while, Matthews sprinkled jangling acoustic guitar in the mix while demonstrating his impressive dance moves. In between tunes, Matthews maintained the pace with difficult to understand yet charming stage antics and anecdotes.

When the hits ("Ants Marching," "So Much To Say" and "Too Much") did arrive, the band shot them out in rapid-fire mode, bringing the crowd to a near frenzy--especially when Matthews picked, plucked, popped and strummed each signature opening riff.

Just when you thought things were going to get predictable, the band threw a curve ball. Using the encore as an opportunity to pay tribute to a Nashville songwriter, Tinsley took the mic and belted out a stirring rendition of John Prine's "Angel From Montgomery." Technically a better singer than the highly stylized Matthews, Tinsley's rich tenor had the crowd swaying and singing along. All the while, the band proved completely at home playing in a standard song format versus their jazz and funk-inflected pop.

Strangely enough, the house lights soon went on and the canned music started to blare without the band playing "What Would You Say," the tune that put Dave Matthews on the map in the first place. While one couldn't help but feel a little gypped, one still realized that he had witnessed one of pop's greatest live acts, too.