Dave Matthews on playing in Abu Dhabi for the first time

Celebrating almost 25 years in music, the Dave Matthews Band kick off their latest European tour with a one-off performance in Abu Dhabi tonight.

It's a surreal day when you answer the phone and one of the best-selling artists of all time asks for you by name. Though, that pretty much sums up the unassuming Dave Matthews and perhaps explains his laid-back, talented band's colossal appeal.
Celebrating almost 25 years in music, the Dave Matthews Band kick off their latest European tour with a one-off performance in Abu Dhabi tonight. So, we got over the initial star-struck stupor as it sunk in that Dave Matthews wanted to have a chat and spoke to the man himself to find out a bit more.
Do the traditional touring venues ever get a bit tired? Is that why you sought out the UAE?
I should push a little harder for new places. We don't tour outside the Americas enough. I definitely find a bit more inspiration in unfamiliar places. It's a great joy to play to an audience that isn't as accustomed to our music and introduce them to it.
Is it a lot of pressure having the band named after you?
At this point I'm just about used to it. It's strange because it was born out of lack of planning. I didn't want my name to be the focus, but when we started out we didn't have a name. We were playing a gig and my sax player said just put 'Dave Matthews' up on the poster until we thought of one. The venue needed a full name so someone just put 'Band' after my name and it stuck. It is one of the more boring names for a band, so I don't know if it has served us well. The irony is, out of all the bands who should be named after a single member, ours is least deserving as we've pretty much all stayed together over the years and created this music together.
How do you like the abbreviation DMB?
I don't mind except it sounds a bit like DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles).
You tend to improvise a lot of sets. Do you have the Abu Dhabi show mapped out already?
I don't know yet what songs we're going to play. On the day we'll go stare at the venue and a couple of hours before we get on stage we'll look at all our songs and decide to make something up. It keeps it fun that way. We never consciously do the same show twice. I never look back and think 'I should do that set again.' It should be unique.
Tickets for the October 8 show at the du Arena, Abu Dhabi available at http://thinkflash.ae.
david@khaleejtimes.com