When Carter Beauford plays Two Step, he never disappoints. Even playing by himself in his Under the Table and Drumming DVD, he does some amazing sextuplet work. But, nothing I’ve seen or heard before can really compare to this (image is a YouTube link):

Wow. Just wow. Carter up-ended his entire bag of tricks and literally strew them across the stage: HUGE Billy Cobham rolls, blanketing timpani crossovers, blistering single stroke rolls, walls of pounding double bass sound, off-beat splash cymbal accents, cannon-fire snare, high-hat, bass drum interplay, timbale madness and of course, highly syncopated funk back beats. I don’t think Robert Randolph knew what he got himself into.

The comments attached to this video also surprised me. I mean, I fully admit to my own unhealthy obsession (that guy you hear clapping his hands, bopping around and talking to Carter like he’s not 100s of feet away…yeah, I’d be like that guy), however I didn’t know that Carter garnered so much respect amongst what appears to be the general drumming community. I always figured the band’s sometimes preachy, pseudo-soft, “world beat” sound would overshadow Carter’s incredible talent, but then I see people comparing him to some of the greats like Dennis Chambers, Neal Peart and Buddy Rich and realize that even outside the large Dave Matthews Band fanbase, Carter has amassed a following. I’ve even read forum posts where self-proclaimed Dave Mathews Band-haters dicussed buying tickets to a concert just to see the drumming. Carter really does shred the boundaries of pop/rock drumming and transforms it into something uniquely his own. Musically, no one else can quite do what he does…he’s just one of the best.

Granted, I don’t stand by Carter Beauford’s side night and day (but boy, imagine if you could!) so, despite turning into a drumming demi-god during performances, I don’t doubt he feels normal human emotions. However, I have never seen him anything but joyous when sitting behind his kit. As a matter of fact, during a behind the scenes moment on the Dave Matthews Band – Live at The Gorge DVD, the camera catches a stage hand saying, “Always keep a camera on Carter”. Why? Because my boy can’t help but grin from ear to ear when banging out grooves on the drums, that’s why.

So, imagine my surprise when I saw this:

The video doesn’t really explain why Carter looks so angry, however from the comments on YouTube, I gleaned that some bum came onto stage during the performance and somehow got behind Carter. Supposedly, the dude wore a trench coat and looked highly suspicious. For some unknown reason, Daryl, their bodyguard (also seen on Dave Matthews Band – Live at The Gorge DVD) remains no where to be found, and it looks like Carter has to scream into one of his mics to get someone to take care of the problem (after throwing a stick at the dude). Although we don’t see it, supposedly another DMB crew member, named Darren, ended it by grabbing the guy by the neck and throwing him down the stairs off stage where two security members took him away. Also, someone mentioned that DMB had the “Last Stop” on the playlist for this show, but Dave waved away the guy bringing out another guitar and instead went into the shorter song, “Stay” just to get the band off the stage faster. I doubt his crew has let security lax since.

So, Carter is human. However, you’ll notice that even when pissed….my boy keeps the groove going!

With the left hand, no less .

Welcome to BeaufordBlog! In this blog, I aim to herald the brilliance of The Man himself: Carter Beauford. Some of you might already recognize that sinking feeling, “Oh no, not another gushing fanboy blog”. But, you see that’s where you’re wrong.

This is THE Ultimate Gushing Fanboy Blog.

So, to start the gushing off right, I want to discuss why I find Carter Beauford so awesome:

1) He does other stuff besides play the drums

Like getting his pilot’s license, for instance (he mentions this on the Dave Matthews Band – Live at Folsom Field Boulder Colorado
DVD). A bit of an polymath myself, I always enjoy seeing my heros do something else outside of their normal realm of heroism. I’ve also seen pictures of Carter holding a guitar, and despite never witnessing him play guitar live, hanging around Dave and Tim Reynolds all the time makes me believe he snuck a few lessons in there. I know I would .

2) Takes a very active role in the band

Similar to how Sting highlighted Stewart Copeland as the driving force behind the The Police, Dave Matthews has given plenty of song writing and arranging cred to Carter Beauford. When I listen to some of the live versions of Dave Matthews Band songs, I definitely hear the musical moments where Carter had more influence. Those moments sound a bit more “audience friendly” and slightly over the top. Typical Carter .

Also, most of the people I consider drum demi-gods don’t sing, but when it comes to backup vocals, Carter just jumps right into it and he doesn’t sound bad at all. That really describes the whole man: this big happy, funny guy who soaks up everything like a sponge.

3) The drumming really is quite brilliant

For me, Carter Beauford combines all my favorite drummers: Buddy Rich, Dennis Chambers, Steve Gadd, Stewart Copeland, etc. into one unique drumming experience. His left-hand bell work, his high-hat, snare drum, bass drum syncopation, and the flat ride, splash cymbal sounds that rise over the top of everything else all represent things that I rarely hear in pop/rock/world-beat music these days. Some say he plays too busy, but I can count on one hand the number of times I felt he really stepped on Dave’s vocals or barreled over the music. And, he always dials it back for studio recordings. But, in a live situation, I believe he plays exactly the way he needs to in order to get the audience excited and keep them engaged during the show.

In future posts, I will delve into Dave Matthews Band’s vast library of live and studio recordings and try to review each one of Carter Beauford’s performances. I want to come up with a “Best of Carter Beauford” CD that contains his best versions of every song across all the live and studio recordings I can get my hands on. Additionally, I plan to pore over every interview I can find to discover more about the man behind the (massive ) drum set. So, stay tuned.