Music has always had a home in Charlottesville, but in years past, the only place to see larger, nationally touring acts was the Charlottesville Performing Arts Center. Two months ago, that changed.
Located at the east end of our beloved Downtown Mall, the Charlottesville Pavilion is a glorious mountain range of white canvas. The new venue includes 2,800 covered seats, a spacious lawn area and state-of-the-art sound equipment. With concerts from May to October, the Pavilion is gearing up for big crowds over the next few weeks with a fall schedule that includes The Pixies, Widespread Panic, The Allman Brothers Band and Keller Williams.
This Sunday, Spin Doctors are scheduled to make their Pavilion debut. And while most Pavilion tickets run 30 to 40 bones, this 7:30 p.m. show (gates open at 6:00) is $3 in advance and at the door.
The good Doctors earned acclaim with their 1991 album, Pocket Full of Kryptonite. Hit singles "Two Princes" and "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong" introduced their energetic, infectious sound, and they've been touring ever since, with the exception of a three-year period from late 1999 to 2002 when they pursued individual projects.
But now, life is good. The past month has seen the band touring the Northeast and Canada in support of their new album, "Nice Talking to Me."
Tableau spoke with Spin Doctors drummer Aaron Comess about touring, jamming and napping.
Do you consider yourselves a touring band? Do you hone your skills by playing gigs?
Yes. I think we really developed our sound on the stage. We've never been a huge rehearsal band. We tend to get together and work on new material and get out on the road and play in front of people. A lot of development of the band's sound happens onstage. That's been the case for this record, too.
Over the last three years we've been getting together every couple of months for writing and demoing sessions and then we tour and try the new material out live.By the time we got in the studio, we had a good idea of what songs really worked. I definitely think that the development of the sound of the band primarily happens from playing live gigs over the years.
So do you consider yourself rooted in the jam band tradition?
I've never been a fan of labeling things too much. In the early 1990's when we came out, we were lumped into that. Back then they were calling it neo-something.
Over the years it's become jam bands. I think we're really just a rock n' roll band. Our music is centered on songwriting but we also stretch out songs and not do everything exactly the same way twice. If you want to call that a jam band, that's cool, but we are centered more on songwriting than a lot of the jam bands.
I really like that whole crowd because I think it is not based around hit singles. It's more of a music-loving crowd, which to me is great. I really appreciate that audience and we encourage people to tape our gigs and come to as many shows as possible.
Why does the band encourage fans to record the shows?
I've always felt it's good to get your music out. It's not always about making money but helps your fan base to grow. Ultimately, if people get your tapes and play them around, then more people end up coming to your shows.
In this day and age, if people want to get your music, they're going to get it. You hope that when you put out a record, people are going to pay money for it because musicians deserve to get paid. But the bottom line is you can get anything you want for free if you want to. So we let people come out and tape the shows. They're different from night to night and it's cool to have that documented.
Do you prefer to play big cities or small towns, like in Virginia?
Small towns are great because not as many people come through small towns. The audience can be a little more appreciative. [Like] Buffalo: We had an awesome show in Buffalo last night.
You play in New York City and it's cool but every night there's so much good music that music fans get a little jaded sometimes. Coming into a town like Charlottesville, you end up having your best gigs.
Are you known for your live shows or for your singles?
It's great to be recognized in all the areas. We have those hits and I'm very appreciative of the success we've had. Those songs made it possible for us to get back together and have an audience because it's not like we were touring for the last ten years. We split up for some time in the middle there. The majority of people know the band from the hit songs.
Do you ever get tired of playing the same songs?
Sure, it's possible to get tired of playing something that you've played thousands of times before. But at the same time, it's great to have those songs at the centerpiece of our set. To throw in new material and more obscure material and then play a song like "Two Princes" or "Little Miss" -- songs that people know -- it's a really great thing to have. I wish we had a couple more.
When you're trying to do a live show, the more material you have that people know, the stronger it is. I never get tired of it because I appreciate it so much.
How do you pass the time with so much traveling?
Sleep.
Some bands do drugs -- we sleep. There's so much getting up early and traveling that I've found anytime [I can] take an hour nap, [I'll] do it.
What's the worst part about the road?
Getting up at 4 in the morning to catch a 6 a.m. flight. Stuff like that.
If you want to be a musician, you have to be willing to spend some time on the road. There are very few musicians out there who don't do time on the road and it's just part of the job. As long as the music's good and there's an audience, all the negative stuff is totally worth it.
How did the Spin Doctors start?
We started out in New York City in the early 1990's. There was a bar there named the Nightingale that we used to play all the time -- it's just a dive bar on 13th Street and 2nd Avenue.
We used to do long gigs and play all night long. We were one of the only bands in New York City that played five nights a week. The other bands would rehearse every day and play one gig a month. We would rehearse once a month and play a gig every night. It was the opposite. And through that we developed our sound and a big following.
What made the band get back together after several years apart?
We got back together on a whim. I got a phone call from a guy at the Wetlands Club in New York City. We used to play there a lot and it was closing down so they asked us to get back together for a one-off show. Everyone agreed to do it and when we rehearsed it was really great.
We didn't have any plans to do anymore after that, but once in a while we got offers to do some gigs and one thing led to another. We realized that it's a great band and there's chemistry between the four of us that's really hard to find.
As a musician, I have played with a lot of musicians, but there's chemistry to the Spin Doctors. It's just a very difficult thing to find. When we came back together, we had a much stronger appreciation than when we were younger the first time around.
Is it true that a band is a marriage?
It is true -- it's not easy being in a band. There's a lot of great things about it but there are a lot of negative things, too. You're around the same people all the time. Little things can irritate you but the trick is to not let that stuff bother you.
At this point, I don't really care what happens when I'm offstage as long as we sound great onstage. When that's not happening, it's a real drag.
Your new album is your first release in a while...
Yeah, this is the first album we've made together in quite a while and it's a great album. It's coming out September 13 and it's called "Nice Talking to Me" and we're very happy with it.
How has your sound matured?
Everybody has improved on their instruments and is a serious musician. [We] all kept up doing different projects over the years and so when we get back together, we're even stronger than back then.
The four of us have a sound that happens when we play together. I think if you were a fan of the early albums like "Pocket Full of Kryptonite", you're going to love "Nice Talking to Me" because it applies the classic Spin Doctors sound, but it sounds a little bit more like today. Basically, it's what we've always done naturally and the focus of the band has always been writing songs, letting things happen organically and not trying too hard. I think that's what made the original style of the band strong and we're keeping that intact.
Will the band play some of the material from the new album this Sunday?
We'll be doing a lot of new stuff, and a lot of old stuff people know -- it's been going over well. If you like what you heard in the past, you'll love the new stuff. It's got a fresh, new sound. It is in the classic Spin Doctors style, but some of it is a little different. It's been a lot of fun to play live.
Is song-writing a shared responsibility?
Yeah, it's a very collaborative band and different songs are written by different groups of us.
At certain points, everyone steps up and becomes a leader for a minute and at other times it's just all four of us working together. At the same time, you have to learn when to step up and when to step back and be supportive. It's a whole weird dynamic that you have to be sensitive to. That's why I think bands have made some of the best music. Look at the Stones, Led Zeppelin, the Who, or the Beatles -- there are strong personalities inside of these groups. Everyone had something to offer musically and, when that's happening, music can be really strong.
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