Customer Reviews

The Dave Matthews Band: Step into the Light

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Are you a music fan like me? Do you want to read about a band that started off by playing small gigs at frat houses and becoming one of the most talented and popular bands around? If you do, then you must read Dave Matthews Band Step into the Light by Morgan Delancey. I have been a huge DMB fan for many years now, and this book really filled me in on their early years before they became big. Another thing that was really good was, when reading it, it seemed like Morgan Delancey had grown up with the band and been with them every day of their lives. This book was filled with so much information about how they became big to how they get ready for shows and what they do after. It was great. Morgan Delancey went through every song written or played by DMB and told why they wrote the song and what it meant to the band. Come to find out, a lot of the songs were written about love or things that had happened in Dave's life and there are even a few songs about the use of drugs. If you are a big fan of DMB, I highly recommend this book to you. I know so much more about the band now after reading the book. There were also some neat picture of Miller's, the bar in Virginia, where the band first met each other. This is also were Dave worked as a bartender. There are also pictures of the band live on stage and a really cool one of Boyd jamming. So if you want to learn about the bands early years growing up together and playing at small frat house and gigs in Virginia, this is the book to read.

What a great book. Morgan Delancey's interviews with the people who were there from the start-- including the missing 6th member of DMB, Peter Griesar--really rock. There are at least 30 original interviews here conducted by Delancey--like Griesar's: from people who were there from the start, including Stefan's dad! You can really tell that Delancey traveled to C'ville to write this book. The newer book (from Simon & Schuster) is a ripoff of this one. And I mean, totally. From the language and everything! It's almost word for word this book. Don't be fooled. It costs more. But STEP INTO THE LIGHT is the real deal. And has awesome photos. Plus taper acknowledgements in the end...

First off, I am a HUGE DMB fan so I may have a biased view, but I thought this book was fantastic. If you are a true Dave fan then you will love this book. It has tons of little things about the band that I never knew and was fascinated by. Little experiences and the truth behind the struggles to become a successful band in America, starting from scratch in Charlottesville, gaining a strong fan base and becoming a popular band throughout the country. Morgan Delancey made it sound like she had lived with the band through all this. I especially liked the way she told about all of the band members pasts leading up to the formation of DMB...and how DMB became the phenominal band that they are today! Overall I thought it was a GREAT book.

Anyone who had been listening to the Dave matthews Band (or has an appreciation of literature) knows that this book is just plain lousy. The information was trite and repetivtive, not to mention the fact that most of us who know the band knew this anyway. I was looking for interesting interviews or quotes by the band and I found none. NOT EVEN AN INTERVIEW CONDUCTED BY THE AUTHOR! FYI, if you're going to write a book about someone who isn't dead, interview them. It'll be better that way. This book is just plain bad.

I am huge DMB fan and I have to say that this is the most consise and well researched pieces that I have ever read. After hearing what trials and tribulations that the band had faced, it has spawned an even deeper appreciation for this band and for their music. It makes me want to either have been in Centerville during the times when DMB played their as a unsigned band or a taper running cross country to their shows. This book was absolutely amazing.

Many people feel that music is more powerful than words alone. For those who are fans of the Dave Matthews Band, I am sure they would agree with the preceding statement. Step Into The Light, by Morgan Delancey, is an incredible biography of the Dave Matthews Band providing an amazing account of the band's hardships, along with its many accomplishments.

Step Into The Light is the story of the formation of the band and the continuing effects that the group has had on all its fans and the world. The band started out playing at local bars and frat houses, but is now one of the highest money grossing bands of the decade.

The author, Morgan Delancey, seldom uses any literary devices, but has a certain style of writing that makes you feel as if you have known the band members all of your life. He writes of the band members in such a personal way that it seems as if he has known each member since they were kids. Delancey uses many quotes from the band to describe situations that the band has faced. He even goes as far as describing the meaning and purpose of each song that the band has written.

I thought that Step Into The Light was an amazing book. I loved every part of it and found it very interesting. If you are a Dave Matthews fan, then this is the book for you. The book has no specific theme, but its message for its readers is that anyone can make it to "the top" as long as they work hard and are dedicated to what they do.

Step into the light is a biography of the Dave matthews band that no fan should go without reading. Learning of the good and bad times that the band went through helped me all that much more to enjoy their music. I beleive that the book gave me a better understanding of the stages of Dave Matthews music. Anyone that has listened can tell that he has songs of love, and songs of death. This book helps to determine where those feelings are coming from. I think that this is a very well written book that gets personal with the band but not too personal. It leads you a little into the family life and life of the spcific members but still has a way of keeping the focus more on the development of the band as a group. One specific thing that i really liked about the book is how they tell you the meaning that specific songs have. This helps to more interperate songs that they dont talk about in the book because you know a little more how they think. Overall i think that the book and their music go hand in hand. The book enhances the music and the music enhances the book.

I love this book!!! What more is there to say? Step Into the Light has so much information about the band especially in the early years. I have learned so much from reading this book. It makes Dave and the rest of the gang feel like "REAL" people and not just the "gods" their fans think of them as. In my opinion anyway. This is a great book and should be read by all real Dave Matthews Band fans.

There was a massive amount of "clips" in this book that I may have already seen through the years, but it was kinda cool to see them again in a format that I could follow by the timeline. The pictures included are AWESOME. Buy the book to simply see the picture of Dave in the back of the van. That picture is PRICELESS. I could spend hours looking at that! Totally worth the price!

I picked up this book hoping to learn a little about the DMB, but having little faith in what I assumed would be a quickie "rock biography." I was amazed and delighted to find that Morgan Delancey (obviously a huge DMB fan) is a wonderful writer who clearly takes great pride in her exhaustive research...when was the last time you saw a 10-page bibliography at the end of a rock bio?! This book makes a serious attempt to analyze the roots and origins of DMB's music; I found out so much new info about Dave and everyone else, and I didn't feel like I needed a shower afterwards (as I have after reading some of those tabloid-like bios out there about other artists). I've read it twice. And I know I'll read it again over the next few weeks, months and years.