Concert Report: Dave Matthews Band

[sharelle]

Last night was far and away the best Dave Matthews Band concert I've attended. I actually tried to call in a voice post of one of my favorite segments, but the playback quality was poor. (Sitting in the midst of a screaming audience made the music-to-crowd-noise ratio unfortunately disproportionate.) That's not necessarily a bad thing, however. The energetic crowd certainly made for a very good performance.



First off, my brother's friend – the one who works at the pavilion and asked for my help booking that mariachi band – didn't just get us tickets; he got us on the list for the VIP deck. That was six shades of awesome!

They had quite a nice buffet, which tickled me because I was starving! (One of the friends I went with said we would get food beforehand, so I didn't bother eating dinner. What he meant was: "We'll stop at a gas station on the way because I need to fuel up, and we can each buy something from there." Needless to say, pretzels, candy bars, and day-old donuts were not really what I had in mind for dinner, so I didn't get anything. But I digress . . .) The food on the deck was actually very good. (They even had these little bite-sized, deep fried cheesecakes that just positively made my night. I must have eaten at least six of them. *dies from yum*)

So we get to our seats after the opening act – which we watched from the comfort of the (*hair toss*) VIP deck. The four of us didn't have tickets all together for the actual concert, so we broke up into pairs. Regardless, we had absolutely excellent seats. We were only about 24 rows from the front. Furthermore, I don't think I've ever attended a concert where I didn't have an 8-foot mountain standing in front of me. Speaking as someone who is fairly short, I was thrilled to have others of comparable height all around me. I could see the stage clear as a bell. Yay!

All of these lovely perks, however, are not meant to overshadow the wonderfulness of the concert itself!

I love live performances. I absolutely love them. In fact, a good portion of my CD collection is dedicated to live collections. I just think there's something about a performance when it's done live – that extra energy or that slight variation in a song's sound – that makes the whole thing that much better. In fact, some of my favorite concerts have been artists that I initially had no interest in seeing, but the live show was so wonderful I couldn't help but enjoy myself thoroughly. Also, live performances have a way of turning songs that normally aren't my favorites into a joy.

Last night was no exception. Songs that I tend to skip on the CD were just as enjoyable as the rest of the show. I don't usually love "The Last Stop" or "Digging a Ditch" and for some reason "When the World Ends" is one of my least favorite DMB songs. But all were performed last night with a great deal of energy, and I ended up liking them just as much as some of my favorites. In fact, the overall concert was so good, I didn't even have time to miss some of the songs I was hoping to hear, but didn't. "Two Step," "#41," "The Space Between," "Hello Again" (which sounded so awesome live the last time, I was dying to hear it again), "Satellite," and "All Along the Watchtower" (both of which I've never heard live other than on my CDs, and have always wanted to) were all songs I was dying form them to play when I was going in, but didn't even miss once the show took off.

The band itself was absolutely fantastic. They drew a lot of energy from the crowd and it showed. Boyd Tinsley (violin) was exceptional. I'm always impressed with him, but last night he was especially exciting. He played two solos that had to come close to about 10 minutes each. Carter Beauford (drums) was so much fun – he didn't stop smiling for the entire performance. And I don't think I ever noticed before, but Stefan Lessard (bass) is actually rather hot. *G*

I've also typed up a set list, mainly for my own reference since the Dave Matthews Band is known to vary their sets almost on a nightly basis. (It's rare that any two performances in the same tour will use the same list.) I think I got them all, but this is from memory, and doesn't include the one or two new songs that I had never heard before.

~ Set ~
Pantala Naga Pampa / Rapunzel
Granny
American Baby
Where Are You Going
Grey Street
Lover Lay Down
Lie in Our Graves
Hunger for the Great Light
When the World Ends
Grace is Gone
The Last Stop
Digging a Ditch
Everyday / #36
Ants Marching

~ Encore ~
Can't Stop
Louisiana Bayou

My only complaint: I wish the encore had included more than two songs. But they did play for over two and a half hours, so I suppose that's small in the grand scheme of things.


And one more thing:
ovo_lexa, dear, if you do get the opportunity to attend a DMB concert in the future, I hope you'll take full advantage. It's very much worth the price of admission! :)


And tonight, another big outing! Midnight show of Pirates of the Caribbean! Some of my friends across the pond may have seen it already by now. (I know you have, Charlie. *G*) As for me, I can't wait! (Only 5 short hours to go.)

Arr.

Comments

[juliejordan.livejournal.com]

Oh yay! I'm so glad you had a good time! :-)

I saw POTC2 this Thursday night just gone. It was WONDERFUL. I'll be going to watch it at least one more time while it's in the cinema's. As I predicted, the UK critics were completely wrong. *pokes out tongue* And Johnny was, of course, just divine. Was a little weird watching the three of them after the premiere, though, but very cool.

[sharelle.livejournal.com]

I had a wonderful time, hon. Thank you. (I'm also still high from the excellent time I had at PotC2 last night!)

[juliejordan.livejournal.com]

Aside from being surrounded by chavs who kept playing with their cell phones my experience was pretty good. There weren't any bratty kids running up and down the isles to spoil things, for once. They'll all be going at the weekend, no doubt.

[sharelle.livejournal.com]

We had a hard time finding seats together, which was the only thing that bothered me about the evening. (Screaming kids "saved" entire rows of seats, while dozens of people had nowhere to sit.) Grr. Argh.

[amybnnyc.livejournal.com]

Hee! Sounds like a wonderful time--I'm so glad you had fun! I went to grad school in Charlottesville, where DMB called home for years, and I always used to run into Boyd Tinsley in the supermarket after I'd been to the gym. He's a very nice guy. :)

[sharelle.livejournal.com]

Did you really? How great! I've not had many brushes with celebrity, but it's always cool to hear when they are nice and down to earth. (And he's an excellent performer.)

[ovo-lexa.livejournal.com]

So much awesomeness! :D

I'd like to form a more coherent statement right about here, but I think all I can manage right now is: EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeee~! *_*

[sharelle.livejournal.com]

I hope you get to go sometime, hon. It's so worth it! :)

[sweet-ali.livejournal.com]

::is hugely jealous::

Sounds incredible.

[sharelle.livejournal.com]

It really was *such* a good time!