From U-Street to UVA

It was 11 AM Saturday morning but I wanted to stay in bed.

Friday night was an intense progression with Nicole from U-Street to Adams Morgan:

• Started at Local 16, encountered a line of douchebags waiting for the roof bar, stay downstairs and people watched
• Moved on to Dan’s Cafe where I introduced Nicole to the shadiest yet best deal in town
• Went next door to Town Tavern, a new bar on 18th street. It wasn’t too bad: not too full, plenty of seating, and dancers on the 2nd floor- what more could you ask for?
• You know it’s a wild night if we end up at Grand Central to do more dancing than drinking.

Didn’t make it to the other end of the street; missed the 3 AM fight that broke out; and didn’t even get a Jumbo Slice; but we had a great night all around. However a good night doesn’t always translate into a good morning, I needed a couple more hours of sleep than usual. After a late start to the day Nicole and I packed our things and made our way out to Charlottesville to see Dave Matthews Band!

The drive wasn’t too bad. I was a bit nervous however when the GPS told me to drive down Lee Highway for 80+ miles. At least it kept me awake and we got to see rural Virginia at it’s best.

After checking in at what was apparently the party motel for the concert, we hopped back in my car so I could take Nicole out to her favorite place: Sonic! It was my first time at a Sonic so I was really excited to have food delivered to my car and us eating it inside the Corolla. I’ll have to stop by the one in Fredericksburg on my way down to the OBX next month.

On the way back from Sonic I decided to stop at some, “Scenic Viewpoints.” It looked scenic enough.

Since I’ve been to John Paul Jones Arena before, I knew the perfect place to chill before the show. We drove to the top of the garage next to campus and we watched the sunset before walking in.

For more on the show here’s my review which I compiled thanks to the Tweets I left during the show:

You know what I hate? A concert that is dominated with new material. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy listening to new stuff but when the show precedes a new album release, I don’t have the chance to get familiar with new songs that might be played on tour. What I was really happy with was the album balance as DMB finishes a two night stand in their hometown of Charlottesville.

From the first notes of Bartender I knew I was going to be in for a full bodied Dave Matthews Band experience. The first show I’ve attended since the late death of LeRoi Moore, I was curious to see how Bela Fleck & The Flecktones saxophonist Jeff Coffin would perform. I was glad to see that Coffin was able to honor LeRoi with a talented performance that included performances on the flute and even pulled off jam solo that included LeRoi’s trademark “If I Only Had a Brain” interpolation.

It wasn’t until a few seconds into Granny that the matrix of video screens came alive providing some camera angles but mostly stock footage and music video clips. It was at a close-up of Stefan that I noticed that he was wearing glasses- I didn’t know he needed them.

After teasing Old Dirt Hill the band went into their first Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King song, Why I Am. I particularly liked how the Old Dirt Hill tease meshed well with Why I Am, a rockabilly song with a strong beat. Following a Dave Matthews scat, Dancing Nancies gave violinist Boyd Tinsley to show off his skills with a series of crisp and vibrant solos. A performance of Don’t Drink the Water gave TR3 front man Tim Reynolds a chance to provide the supporting guitar riffs that brought the song back to its album recorded glory.

After a plug for his new album, Dave then goes into Funny The Way It Is, the first single of the new album. Dave and Co. then introduced John D’Earth and followed with Recently which gave Coffin and Matthews a chance take the song back with a Pretty Pretty Girl jam solo.

The crowd goes wild with Crush and the band then introduces Danny Barnes who contributed on the banjo for a performance of Spaceman. The band then finished off with tour debuts of Jimi Thing, So Much To Say, Anyone Seen The Bridge, and Too Much. A 16 minute Two Step finishes the set.

The band kicked off the encore to chants calling for Last Stop, after a tease of the song Dave acts confused, “Fast Job? Ass Pop?” He then finishes the night with #27 and Stay (Wasting Time.)

For what could have been a night dominated with unfamiliar material turned out to be a 2 and a half hour cavalcade of classic DMB. The crowd was left satisfied as the band ended their stint at the John Paul Jones Arena.

After the show I met up with Raylene, a fellow davehead from the good ol’ days when I worked over at Am I Dreaming.

The show was pretty good but it was the whole weekend experience that really made my 33rd show.

Related posts:

1. Concerts
2. The Crash Album
3. DMB At Madison Square Garden
4. DMB Week 2009
5. DMB In Pittsburgh