LeRoi Moore dead at 46
August 19, 2008 8:08 PM   Subscribe

Dave Matthews Band saxaphonist LeRoi Moore dead at 46 Died unexpectedly from complications of an ATV accident back in June. DMB is apparently going ahead with their concert tonight at the Staples Center in LA. Can't imagine them withour LeRoi, though. Here is one of my favorite DMB tracks featuring LeRoi.
posted by Bluecoat93 (59 comments total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
Holy shit. One of my favorites. What a sad, sad day.
posted by SeizeTheDay at 8:09 PM on August 19, 2008


Horrible news.
posted by Alexandra Kitty at 8:09 PM on August 19, 2008


Oops, that would be tomorrow's concert in LA, not tonight.
posted by Bluecoat93 at 8:10 PM on August 19, 2008


Wow that really really sucks. DMB puts on an awesome show, it's not gonna be the same w/o him. RIP.
posted by BrnP84 at 8:12 PM on August 19, 2008


Damn, what a shame, he was really good.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:39 PM on August 19, 2008


Oh wow. Though I don't listen much anymore, DMB was far and away my favorite band growing up. (I still have the AIM username uttaddmb, named for the album Under the Table and Dreaming.) From what I understand, tour keyboardist Butch Taylor has departed since I lost track of the band, and reedman Jeff Coffin from Béla Fleck and the Flecktones has been filling in while Roi was injured. I can't imagine what they'd do as a foursome.

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posted by danb at 8:40 PM on August 19, 2008


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posted by lilywing13 at 8:48 PM on August 19, 2008


. . . .

(staccato dots)
posted by secret about box at 8:50 PM on August 19, 2008 [1 favorite]


aww Bluecoat93, never heard the Dave Matthews' Band, listened to that YouTube vid you linked and now I'm totally in love with them. What great music! I feel literally high after listening to that. Delicious, moving complexity, free and soaring but also a nice tightness to the sound. Tears came to my eyes with the beauty of the music.

Can you recommend a best album of theirs?

And now I love them to find out their great sax player, LeRoi Moore, just died. So sad. And he was so young, at the top of his career. Harsh. ATV's have some bad risk statistics.

Condolences to the members of the band, his family and friends. May he rest in peace.
posted by nickyskye at 8:52 PM on August 19, 2008


PS, your post title says "LeRoi Moore dead at 36". He was actually 46.
posted by nickyskye at 8:55 PM on August 19, 2008


nickyskye: That song, "#41," is from an album called Crash, but I'd recommend Before These Crowded Streets or the live album Listener Supported (which also has "#41").
posted by danb at 8:57 PM on August 19, 2008 [1 favorite]


PS, your post title says "LeRoi Moore dead at 36". He was actually 46.

I swear, there's too much blood in my caffeine-stream. I really did think I proofread better than I apparently did.

Anyway, I strongly recommend any of DMB's live CD's. I'm of the opinion they're a much better live band than a studio one. My personal rec would probably be the first Live at Red Rocks dual CD set.
posted by Bluecoat93 at 8:58 PM on August 19, 2008 [2 favorites]


Nickyskye:

You gotta get "Under the Table and Dreaming", "Crash", and "Before These Crowded Streets.", after that I think they kinda start going downhill but I haven't heard anything past "Busted Stuff". Seriously those 3 albums rock something fierce.
posted by BrnP84 at 8:59 PM on August 19, 2008 [2 favorites]


It's the only way he could play with Jerry Garcia.

R.I.P.
posted by mattbucher at 9:06 PM on August 19, 2008 [7 favorites]


You gotta get "Under the Table and Dreaming", "Crash", and "Before These Crowded Streets."

The awesome thing about YouTube is that you can hear every single one of the songs in their entirety before buying the albums. But yeah, phenomenal music, phenomenal sax player. Between Dave's folksy guitar playing, Roy's old school jazz/rock sax playing, and Boyd's unbelievable violin, you have such an eclectic, beautiful sound. Listen to "Live at Redrocks" for a very jazzy live album. Listen to "Dave and Tim" for a fantastic acoustic sound. Listen to "Listener Supported" for the classic concert sound.

Man, I'm gonna miss him so much. He was like the 'Trane of our generation (sort of).
posted by SeizeTheDay at 9:07 PM on August 19, 2008 [1 favorite]


Nickyskye, I love the Dave Matthews band, but from just hearing their stuff on the radio I always thought they were kind of boring. It wasn't until a friend played me some of their live material that I realized how much I'd been missing out on. I like almost all of their stuff now, although I still find their big radio hits kind of boring, with the exception of "Don't Drink the Water," which is very dark and instense.
posted by infinitywaltz at 9:09 PM on August 19, 2008 [1 favorite]


Intense, even. "Instense" isn't a word yet.
posted by infinitywaltz at 9:10 PM on August 19, 2008


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posted by saslett at 9:13 PM on August 19, 2008


According to the Staples Center web site, DMB had a two-night run scheduled for the 18th and 19th, so the concert they were planning to go on with was evidently Tuesday night's concert, the day of Moore's death.

I remember when the band had a weekly gig here in Richmond. They were fantastic in those early days. I played the hell out of Remember Two Things my freshman year in college. These days they are not among my favorites, but they're definitely still a solid band and I'm glad to see them still touring.

Not to speak ill of the dead, but the band definitely traded way up when they got Jeff Coffin to fill in. That's akin to asking Bruce Hornsby to fill in for Brent Mydland.
posted by emelenjr at 9:13 PM on August 19, 2008


Not to speak ill of the dead, but the band definitely traded way up when they got Jeff Coffin to fill in. That's akin to asking Bruce Hornsby to fill in for Brent Mydland.

Yeah, no kidding. There's a reason that the gigs with the Flecktones are sought after by tape traders.
posted by danb at 9:20 PM on August 19, 2008




Here's a great performance of "Warehouse", one of my all-time favs, from the Gorge that shows how great they are live, with Moore basically owning the song when his solos start:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8rdsBUuxd4

I got to see them a couple of times when I was younger, on the opening show of the Crowded Streets tour and once again when the tour was wrapping up. Hearing "The Last Stop" for the first time live was a WOW moment. Really stellar band to see live.
posted by secret about box at 9:39 PM on August 19, 2008 [1 favorite]


When I was a mediocre sax player in high school I used to wish I could play like this guy.

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posted by amarie at 9:50 PM on August 19, 2008


wow. leroi moore. dead.

i'm sorta old to be a fan of DMB (at not quite 40). but man, i am a huge fan. i certainly agree with the statements made by BrnP84 ("Under the Table and Dreaming", "Crash", and "Before These Crowded Streets" are by far the three best studio albums, and i'm a pretty big fan of any/every of the various live recordings which focus on the music of those early albums).

i also agree with infinitywaltz that the most moving and sometimes overwhelming music is the stuff that's not played on the radio. #41 (linked in the FPP) is definitely one of those. one of the things i love about them is the way songs blend together on the album - and what they, as musicians, do with those connections live.

that's the thing that just pounds me about moore's untimely death. he may or may not have been the best at what he did. but he had an uncanny connection with the other musicians in that band, and that's something that can't be replicated.

nickyskye, i particularly recommend "dancing nancies" and "lover lay down -> "jimi thing" (UTTAD); the progression of "#41" -> "say goodbye" -> "drive in drive out" -> "lie in our graves" (crash); and "minarets" -> "cry freedom -> dancing nancies (dm + tim reynolds live at luther college).

BTCS is, to me, best envisioned as a ritual. from the brief opening track through -- which is essentially a calling-on song -- to the last moments of "spoon," the progression of musicality and emotionality feels incredibly purposeful...a momentous, intention-filled celebration of what we, as humans, are capable of.

i know that sounds goofy and grandiose. but, despite the fact that i grew up on foghat and 'saturday night fever,' i find DMB to be musically stunning.

bright blessings to moore's chosen and blood families. what a profound loss.

i'm gonna go listen to pig.



.
posted by CitizenD at 10:02 PM on August 19, 2008 [1 favorite]


The word is actually "saxophonist" -- the tag ought to be fixed as well.

While I was never the biggest DMB fan, most everything of theirs that I can remember having enjoyed features his work prominently. I think some reappraisal is in order!

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posted by lumensimus at 10:19 PM on August 19, 2008


ATV's kill over 850 people a year, out of about 146,000 emergency room visits per year.

That's .005 fatalities per accident. According to here automobiles have a .006 rate of fatalities per accident, or slightly higher.

Those numbers don't mean as much unless we know the total number of riders in a given year. I live in Utah where they are quite popular and there are constantly accidents, often involving children, and people getting paralyzed. I tend to think that dirt bikes are much safer.

Sorry about the threadjack. This is not to imply in anyway that Mr. Moore deserved in any way what happened to him. Apparently he broke ribs and punctured a lung in the original accident.
posted by mecran01 at 10:23 PM on August 19, 2008


Dear danb, Bluecoat93, BrnP84 and SeizeTheDay thanks so much for the excellent advice and CitizenD, ooh, what a beautiful review of DMB's work. I haven't been so moved by new (to me) music in such a way for a long time. Am going through the YouTube vids, savoring their live performances. Love The Stone from Listener Supported. All the more poignant to know about LerRoi Moore's death.
posted by nickyskye at 10:24 PM on August 19, 2008


I haven't really listened to DMB in years, but so much of their music brings back very rich, specific memories for me. I'm surprised how sad I found this news.

I listened to #41 over and over again the summer after I graduated from high school. I'd park out in the country, open up my car, and play it loud into the hot Tennessee night. I knew I was about to move away in a few weeks and it would never really be my home again. I felt so transitional and outside of myself. This song, and the sax part of it in particular, made feeling outside of myself seem soaring and momentous somehow, full to bursting, and not nearly so scary.
posted by mostlymartha at 11:33 PM on August 19, 2008 [1 favorite]


My high school self is devastated by this news. Current me is a little sad, too. So it goes.
posted by PhatLobley at 11:46 PM on August 19, 2008 [1 favorite]


Damn. Nothing takes me back my undergrad days at the University of Virginia in the early 90s quicker than Under the Table. Some of my favorite nights ever started with a DMB show at Trax in Cville...
posted by gottabefunky at 11:54 PM on August 19, 2008


.

The bad-ass who wears his sunglasses at night will be missed.
posted by afx114 at 12:14 AM on August 20, 2008


I had tickets to both Staples Center shows and sold them all on Craigslist because I didn't think I wanted to go. I'm going to the 3-day SF Outside Lands fest this weekend and I thought that 5 days of concert in 1 week would be too much.

That's a shame, because I'm sure Dave and the boys are playing their hearts out over this.

And ditto to mostlymartha's "listening to #41 after graduating high school" sentiment. I have a similar story, just substitute Michigan for Tennessee.

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posted by adamk at 12:18 AM on August 20, 2008


Ahh, college memories. I haven't listened to DMB for years (in fact they make me cringe now) but this is certainly sad news. I had no idea he had recently been injured.

The number of sorority girls sobbing about now must be off the charts.
posted by justgary at 12:32 AM on August 20, 2008


j
posted by ZachsMind at 1:09 AM on August 20, 2008 [2 favorites]


I can't hear #41 without following with (sadly appropriately titled) Say Goodbye. After you've listened to Crash for the three or four hundredth time, it just gets ingrained as the proper conclusion.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 3:07 AM on August 20, 2008 [1 favorite]


While I'm not the fan I used to be I'm jealous of you, nickseye. You get to start out on a large catalogue with fresh ears.

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posted by hal9k at 3:36 AM on August 20, 2008


Oh, much sadness.
posted by redsparkler at 4:01 AM on August 20, 2008


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posted by Medieval Maven at 5:30 AM on August 20, 2008


It sounds more like an infection or some other complication in the recovery process was what got him, rather than any ATV-specific injury. Still, sad.
posted by yhbc at 5:40 AM on August 20, 2008


Can't say I listen to DMB like I did in high school, but I think I'll put Red Rocks on tonight.
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posted by Benjy at 5:45 AM on August 20, 2008


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posted by kookaburra at 5:52 AM on August 20, 2008


Aw, man.

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posted by cavalier at 6:14 AM on August 20, 2008


.

Incredible musician. Will be missed terribly. He had so much music left in him. As a sax player in high school and college, and since Trane and Bird died before I was born, I looked up to him immensely.

I echo the sentiment that #41 is his most beautiful solo, though I picked this performance (from Listener Supported) as my favorite rendition-- features Roi on flute and tenor.
posted by supercres at 6:41 AM on August 20, 2008 [1 favorite]


Very sad news.

For those of you looking for some DMB to enjoy, some feel that the best work they have done since Before These Crowded Streets, is a group of songs titled The Lilywhite Sessions. Back story here and you can listen to them here. Particularly haunting are Big Eyed Fish and Grace is Gone (both later released officially on the album Busted Stuff but many find these to be the definitive versions).

Roi will surely be missed.
posted by bluesky43 at 6:54 AM on August 20, 2008 [1 favorite]


Aw, hell. Thanks, Mr. Moore, for a great show.
posted by roombythelake at 7:18 AM on August 20, 2008


i'm sorta old to be a fan of DMB (at not quite 40)

If it helps, my 62 year old father and his similarly aged buddy took a four hour road trip down here from Oklahoma last year to see a DMB show. One of my dad's favorite things in the world to do is kick back in his recliner late at night with a beer in his hand watching one of the several live DMB DVDs in his collection at a very high volume on his fancy speaker system.

I haven't talked to him yet this morning, so I don't know if he's heard about LeRoi's death or not, but I know it'll sadden him just as much as it does a lot of younger fans.
posted by Ufez Jones at 7:29 AM on August 20, 2008


Wow, very sad. I remember my roommate used to get high and play DMB every single day, for months. I remember someone putting on UtTaD after hours at the grocery store that I worked at, and the coolest guy there saying it sucked. It made me realize that it's ok to not agree with the cool people all the time, and that automatically hating stuff that's popular is stupid. I remember when they played Raleigh, and Moore wore a Duke jersey which pissed all of us from Chapel Hill off ;) I've gone through phases of listening to them and not, but they were definitely the soundtrack of a lot of my formative years, and Moore was largely responsible for that. He will be missed.

If anyone is looking to get into them, the live stuff is absolutely the way to go. I like Live at Red Rocks which is early stuff, Listener Supported, and Live in Chicago.
posted by Who_Am_I at 7:41 AM on August 20, 2008 [2 favorites]


Two of the best memories of my parenting have been taking my son and daughter to see DMB live twice, where in my experience you see a tremendous age and cultural range. That I think speaks to the uniqueness of their sound. DMB will be one of the bands that continue to resonate with a fairly large number of people well into the future. Sure, listen to enough of anything and you want to move on, but still, their music resists the trite pigeon-holing so easy with many other bands. Their live shows were models of energy, and to my untrained ear, a level of musical competence that is pretty rare. They never fail to play a looooong time and act professionally too AFAIK.

They are one of the few bands that I can truthfully say that I am a 'fan' of.

While I normally stay away from revering people at their death that I do not know, I am sure he will be missed and its surely a sad story.

Oh yeah and...

.
posted by sfts2 at 7:49 AM on August 20, 2008


Oh, and more recent live stuff is a lot different, in a pretty awesome way-- their concert from Lisbon on Live Trax 10 has an incredible energy.
posted by supercres at 7:51 AM on August 20, 2008 [1 favorite]


LeRoi est moorte, vive LeRoi !
posted by Reverend John at 8:10 AM on August 20, 2008


.

Damn! Damn! Damn! This news really hit me hard.
posted by mike3k at 8:55 AM on August 20, 2008


mecran01 writes "That's .005 fatalities per accident. According to here automobiles have a .006 rate of fatalities per accident, or slightly higher.

"Those numbers don't mean as much unless we know the total number of riders in a given year. "


Plus I'd bet non injury ATV accidents are underreported relative to automobile accidents which are more likely to involve police, insurance companies or another motorist.
posted by Mitheral at 9:07 AM on August 20, 2008


Oh wow. Dave used to be the biggest thing back in my high school days (along with Sublime) but I haven't listened to them much since they started doing videos on MTV.

Dave used to his New Years Concert down here at the Hampton Coliseum in the mid 90's and I remember I had tickets to go one year when I was 15. I had arranged to ride with an 'acquaintance' from school who forgot to pick me up. I wound up listening to the goddamn thing on the radio before turning if off and bemoaning myself to sleep before the midnight hour.

I never regained respect for my former 'friend'. I did, however see Dave live 3 times after that in Virgina Beach and at the Nissan Pavilion.

The Recently EP was their first CD and is mostly live tracks. It ends with 'All Along the Watchtower,' which was a big show closer for most of the band's early years, and is DMB at their most powerful. UtTaD is good but Crash is one of the best goddamn albums ever made. I had every single track on those albums memorized by my senior year and I can't even tell you how much ass I got back in the day after singing 'you've got your ball/ you've got your chain' on my guitar.

My tastes changed after graduation, Dave had 'sold out' or whatever and I don't think I even listened to 'These Crowded Streets'. 'Don't Drink the Water' was a horrible song and the direction that they went from there didn't please me much, but everyone of those guys is/was a great musician and their music was the soundtrack for my high school days.

I'm going home tonight and putting on Red Rocks while I sit back and relive some memories.
posted by daHIFI at 9:09 AM on August 20, 2008


I'm surprised how many DMB fans there are on this site.
posted by ChickenringNYC at 9:10 AM on August 20, 2008


Live from Central Park is a great triple album!
posted by diablo37 at 1:11 PM on August 20, 2008 [1 favorite]


UtTaD is good but Crash is one of the best goddamn albums ever made.

My tastes changed after graduation, Dave had 'sold out' or whatever


Ironic, since by the time Crash came out I had a hard time finding any old DMB fans that still followed them. I don't give a damn about selling out, music is either good or not, but Crash (which I enjoyed) was the moment everyone and their mother became a fan.

I can't even tell you how much ass I got back in the day after singing 'you've got your ball/ you've got your chain' on my guitar.

That's why LeRoi Moore made music, daHIFI, to get you ass (you stay classy now).
posted by justgary at 1:21 PM on August 20, 2008 [1 favorite]


Having lived in the Hampton Roads area from 91-98, I was thoroughly sick and tired of Dave Matthews Band way before the band was even big.

That said, LeRoi could play, man. What a shame.
posted by desuetude at 7:35 PM on August 20, 2008


Not to speak ill of the dead, but the band definitely traded way up when they got Jeff Coffin to fill in. That's akin to asking Bruce Hornsby to fill in for Brent Mydland.

I got no quarrel with the Coffin upgrade. Saw DMB in July in WPB. Great shows. I do have a problem with the implication that Hornsby was a significant step up from Brent. Don't get me wrong, i was no fan of Brent wailing away on the organ or his songs, but he was a very good blues musician who in hindsight did a great job fitting into the Dead after Keith was booted. Bruce did a good job filling in, but he was too poppy for me. I did see him play at Buckeye Lake as the opening act for the Dead and then come onstage and play the accordion much to Jerry's delight. Great show.

Back to DMB. I am in my mid 40's and still go out of my way to see the band play. I do not own a single studio album of theirs, but do have some live boots. The shows are entertaining and musically stimulating. Thsi recent tour they have been doing some unusual covers such as SledgeHammer and Sly's Thank you for Letting me be Mice Elf Again.

Anyway,

.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 12:19 PM on August 21, 2008


Very sad news. The Dave Matthews Band provided the soundtrack to my adolescence, so although I haven't listened to them in years, this feels oddly like losing an old friend. I think a lot of my generation probably feels similarly.

Mikey-San, I was at that show at the Gorge. I was a sophomore in college, and it was the last DMB show I attended, after seeing them over a dozen times throughout high school. I remember feeling really bored at that last show, though. Not sure if it was me or the music that changed, probably a bit of both.

The hit-and-miss Before These Crowded Streets had some of the best material of their career, but it was also to be the turning point, at least for me. By Listener Supported they'd pretty much lost me.

Nevertheless, the world was better having LeRoi Moore a part of it.
posted by sportbucket at 2:03 PM on August 22, 2008


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