Hear Dave Matthews Band Play Rare ‘Gaucho’ In ‘Live Trax Vol. 63 Alpine Valley’ 2012 Preview

On July 21 Dave Matthews Band will issue Live Trax Vol. 63: Alpine Valley Music Theater featuring their July 7, 2012 show at the East Troy, Wisconsin venue as well as highlights from the previous night. DMB previewed the next Live Trax installment by sharing audio of “Gaucho” from July 7, 2012 — a song that was frequently played in 2012 and 2013 but has since disappeared from the repertoire.

Dave Matthews Band debuted “Gaucho” live on May 18, 2012 at The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion near Houston during the first night of their summer tour. The group went on to release a studio version the following September on the Steve Lillywhite-produced Away From The World.

A writeup regarding “Gaucho” on fansite DMB Almanac noted the following:

The song has unique traits that haven’t been used on any song that they’ve recorded before, but also contains classic DMB musical and lyrical themes. Dave’s political song lyrics have been across the board in regards to their clarity. Lyrically, this one can interpreted as a generic call to arms to make the world better, but the two most powerful words in the song are “believe” and “change” and their affiliation with President Obama’s 2008 campaign can’t be ignored. It seems clear, if you buy into this interpretation, that the call isn’t going to the administration but the voters who were told to believe then stopped making changes. Dave has shown that not all of these songs need to be as blatant as Everybody Wake Up. As recently as Big Whiskey he laid the entire foundation of a song with political snark (Dive In). But this could also be a song like Cry Freedom that uses broad terms about a specific political situation. If you believe it’s more generic, then it falls in line with the lyrics of the other confirmed song Mercy. These ideals are repeated through the choruses and the verses launch into a timeline of human history starting with fire, through structures for shelter, exploration, movies and finally landing on the moon.

Musically, the song is about six minutes of music layered and neatly packed into just over four minutes. The most obviously unique-to-DMB aspect of the song is the children’s choir which is confirmed via Steve Lillywhite’s twitter to be Dave’s kids’ school’s choir. Unless there is some sort of special circumstance, the part sung by the choir will likely be sung by Dave with backup. Though similar to Everyday, this could become a song which when the band’s parts relax, the crowd takes over the vocals of the choir. This mid-song respite is also unique in DMB’s catalog and the studio version is complete with a heartbeat effect created by Lillywhite tapping himself in the chest with a microphone. This could also be a reason why this particular song was chosen for release at the beginning of the tour. If the album comes out after the tour, which given the current dates seems likely, a full tour’s opportunity for that to happen is negated. Due to the widespread nature of the release, anyone who wants a copy can get one and the chorus will be well-known at shows.

The music also has classic DMB characteristics. First and foremost are alternating time signatures between the verse and the choruses/bridge/outro. The mechanical, relentless triplets perpetuate through just about the entire song. They drive the 6/8 verses, but fall into the background as the time signature shifts to 4/4 for the choruses in changes that are as jarring to the listener as the lyrics aspire to be. Other classic DMB characteristics are the use of a partial first chorus before the second verse. Also there is background noise that is reminiscent of the Crash studio version of Lie In Our Graves.

“Gaucho” has been missing in action since September 1, 2013. Listen to the version from Live Trax Vol. 63: Alpine Valley Music Theater below:

July 7, 2012 marked Dave Matthews Band’s 25th concert at Alpine Valley. The Charlottesville, Virginia-birthed group made their debut at the venue on May 30, 1998. Last July the current lineup returned to the shed for their 34th and 35th concerts. Live Trax Vol. 63: Alpine Valley Music Theater is currently available for pre-order exclusively via the band’s official online store.

Dave Matthews Band plays Summerfest in Milwaukee tonight. It’s then off to the Noblesville, Indiana venue formerly known as Deer Creek for shows on Friday and Saturday.