Last week I downloaded all the bootlegs from the shows we’ve seen this year.  Well they’re not “bootlegs”.  DMB allows taping in the shows.  The full concerts can be found on Ants Marching, the largest unofficial fan site.

Four shows have been attended to date this year: Charlottesville April 18, St. Louis June 17, Virginia Beach August 7, and Bristow (DC) August 8.  I have to say after listening to each numerous times, the Charlottesville show is my favorite.  Only three songs from the new album were played, yet each were memorable performances.  The show featured guest performers and older tunes for the mostly local Virginian crowd.  I also liked it better from the arena vs. amphitheater perspective.  Bigger sound indoors than out.

I’ve been working on a mix of tunes from all four shows and having a hard time getting them in the right order.  Maybe some day I’ll have time to finish but in the meantime here are some highlights/tunes to make it in the mix:

1. Bartender from 4/18.  This was the opening tune for the evening played with the If I Only Had A Brain Interpolation. (Get ready for lots of tunes from this show)
2. Granny from 4/18 makes it too.  Just love this song and believe this may have been the first time hearing it live.
3. Cornbread, the Hoe Down Interpolationfrom 4/18.  CVille featured two guest performers.  One being Danny Barnes who came on for Spaceman then cranked out a solo leading into and during Cornbread.  Nice!
4. Old Dirt Hill (tease) into Why I Am from 4/18.  I love the DMB teases and hearing Old Dirt Hill really got me going into a new tune heard for the first time.
5. Recently (On Broadway, Pretty Pretty Thing Interpolation)also on 4/18.  Longtime collaborator and jazz trumpeter John D’earth played several tunes with the band.  This was the first and as noted by Dave one of the first songs recorded before there ever was a DMB with John D’earth.
6. Pantala Naga Pampa/Rapunzel from STL.  Tracey’s been dying to hear this for a while live.  It makes the list as the opening tune to the 6/17 show and Tracey’s reaction.
7. Typical Situation from STL.  On a tour where the band is playing 6-7 tunes from the new album every night, any older tune is a rarity.  We like this one for that reason.
8. Solsbury Hill, the Peter Gabriel cover was played in Virginia Beach.  This was a memorable show just because of our adventures beforehand.  This cover took us by surprise.
9. Jimi Thing, also a tune from Virginia Beach… uh, we like the ending (see earlier post).
10. Gravedigger led the encore at Virginia Beach.
11. When you look at the Bristow play list, two songs stand right out to anyone in attendance: #41 was over 20 minutes.  Incredible interactions between all the band members.
12. All Along the Watchtower (Stairway to Heaven Interpolation)was the second.  We heard this in St. Louis but at Bristow it blew the sold-out crowd off its heels.  Nice!

I’m not sure when I’ll complete the mix.  It’s on a long list of things to do in my spare time.  I certainly enjoy putting these together.  Of course we have one more Dave show to see: Farm Aid on October 4 features Dave and Tim Reynolds.  So another couple of additions to the list may be in order before we can complete.

Salud!

Auburn.  War Damn Eagle!  Tied with Florida in offense of some kind of nutty statistic flying around web-ville.  I’m even talking about asking permission to sit in on some Tiger practices to understand just what the heck the coaching staff is doing to have these kids playing.  It’s a business interest and all. 

I know there’s not something in the water.  The Auburn BBQ was never that good.  Big Bob’s is a three hour drive north.  Guthrie’schicken fingers are incredible but it’s been a couple of decades since Tracy Rocker 86′ed chicken.  Some guy with the letter “k” ending his last name as the head coach?  C’mon.  Something’s cooking on the Plains.

I drank a craft beer before the season and dreamed up this incredible post about how I wasn’t going to reminisce about 1993.  Remember my “don’t believe the hype” post from a couple of years back?  Yea, that was going to be my message. 

Then I remembered that I was off my rocker in 1993 when on the college radio show “Cheap Seats” I predicted AU to go undefeated.  I turned out being right.  But it was purely luck and a strict regime of extracurricular activity that kept my mind sharp.

I thought… I thought to myself weeks ago “what if?” 

Well here we are, headed to Knoxville for a big game and we’re unbeaten with a head coach with the letter “k” ending his last name.  Tennessee’s defense is menacing.  Their head coach a moron.  Their fans, rude and… morons.  Their stadium, cool as Moses parting the Red Sea.  Their town, full of young southern women who somehow love guys that drive tractors (and drink Busch beer).  They wear tons of this God awful orange color that I don’t really believe is orange because fruit at the market doesn’t have antlers.  And… AND… I better hush up or else 100,000 SEO fanatics will somehow come across this post and spam me for the next four weeks.  Those UT fans are good at this web stuff (cable got ran into the back woods of the Tennessee hills – thanks Paul Allen).

But here we are.

And if Auburn can pull out a win this weekend and next, the possibility is high that they could have a magical season.  Ole Miss is clearly over-rated (Proof again that AP voters and the media are on crack).  LSU is vulnerable.  Kentucky comes to the Plains and may be a sleeper but highly unlikely.  Georgia will be a close game.  Alabama is talented.  So it’s indeed there for the taking.  But all rests with this week’s match up.  We hope you tune in Saturday.

I’ll be back in the Lou and can’t wait.  As I was explaining earlier to a person after work, I’ll be camped in front of my 60″ HDTV in the family room with the back patio open to the wind and a comforting bottle of refreshment on the bar.  The girls will have other social agendas but Tracey will be my side wearing something Orange and Blue I’m sure.  A Sunday morning with breakfast followed by a great Farm Aid concert will round out what we’re predicting to be a magical weekend.

War Eagle everyone and welcome to the real season!

Stay tuned…

Secondly, Panovec wrote a good recap of the weekend too.  So be sure to check that out.

Thirdly… DMB rocks.

All the girls flew in last Thursday 8/6 for a week in the Commonwealth.  It was the kids first time back in two years.  All were eager to see things changed, changing, and the unchanged.  For the most part they saw a world in constant change here in Virginia.  Buddies are growing.  Restaurants are new.  Favorite stores are gone.  Fond memories remain.

The kids headed to Waynesboro to check in with their buddies.  Tracey and I had DMB on the brain with tickets to both shows in Virginia Beach and Nissan Pavilion.   Many thanks and hats off to our friends in Waynesboro that hosted the kids.  It was a much needed break for them with their old friends.  They will remember the weekend for a long time.

On to the DMB…

We headed down to the Beach Friday morning after what is now being called the “Hair Clip Incident” (a blog post written and vaulted for 10 years – mark your calendar).  The original plan was to meet up at Chic’s in Virginia Beach for food and libations mid-afternoon.  Somehow, and even getting caught in the tunnel traffic on I-64 for 40+ minutes, we managed to beat the Charlotte party to the restaurant.  Tracey and I were wondering what the weekend had in store for us when our young tan and blond server brought me a glass of water and Tracey the Corona when we ordered those x2.  She then asked us if we wanted an appetizer about 3 minutes after we ordered a pound of steamed shrimp.  Guess you had to be there.

The Charlotte team made a request via cell phone, “meet us at Rudee’s!”  Traffic and timing were a problem.  So off we went down to a part of the Beach we were unfamiliar with.  Thank goodness for GPS navigation.  Google maps on the cell phone is a nice redundant system too.  (Boy, that sounds geek doesn’t it?)

Complaints of traffic soon turned to cries of joy as we went down on some fresh flounder sitting in a smooth glider yacht-side.  Although it was humid, the water breezes made it the perfect place to hang out.  Rudee’s has a fantastic waterside dining and bar area in addition to their restaurant (be sure to check out the “deck cam” on their web site).

Hark, the cell phone rings again.  It’s the Charlotte crew: “hey we’re stuck in traffic and going to the park next to the venue for tailgating.”  We had their tickets and ordered another ice cold Corona.  Then it hit me.  “Do you guys have cool t-shirts?”, I asked the server.  I had to get a shirt “just to let ‘em know.”  Other than it being Texas orange, it is nice.

Then it hit us again, “hey how far away are we from the venue?”, I asked our server.  She didn’t know but did seek support from a team mate (gotta love team work).  The question was passed and we heard probably the best quote we’ve heard in years.  After clarifying who the band was playing at the venue server #2 exclaimed: “S*&% you better leave now.  That’s Dave M&%$#@ F!@#’in Matthews!”

Remember that scene from Forest Gump when Gump realizes he doesn’t need to take the bus to Jenny’s apartment?  “It was nice meeting you,” he said as he sprung from the bus bench.  That was Tracey and I getting out of Rudee’s to head to the venue.

The four of us sat together in Virginia Beach.  The tickets at Nissan were separated.  Both shows were awesome.  There is no doubt after seeing DMB for the 4th time this year, the new songs are really starting to come alive live.  The band feels more comfortable with them than they did in April and June.  The crowd is hanging on every note and knows every word.  You can also now tell the difference between a newer DMB fan and the older ones.  Not in age, but the lyrics belted out from the crowd and the excitement when a rare tune gets played.

So both shows were great.  Personally I was somewhat disappointed that the Nissan set list was about 75% of the previous evening’s at Virginia Beach.  Never the less they both were memorable.  Here are a couple of the highlights:

• The Peter Gabriel Solsbury Hill cover on 8/7 was a complete surprise and total treat.
• Server #2 at Rudee’s would’ve totally appreciated Jimi Thing in Virginia Beach given her quote.  It certainly had the sold out crowd “shakin’ their…” uh, ice.
• We heard Gravedigger live for the first time on Friday.
• As Panovec already pointed out Lying in the Hands of God (from 8/7) is a great live tune as it’s played with nice mellow jazzy tones and extended sax solo.
• I’ll Back You Up and Raven were first time plays on the summer tour and also our first time ever hearing them live on Saturday.
• #41 is a DMB favorite.  We heard it for the first time and a 22+minute version at that on Saturday.  Amazing interaction between Carter and Jeff!
• Dancing Nancies is always a great tune!
• All Along the Watchtower… Need we say more with the Led Zep tie-in.  Incredible way to end the show on Saturday.

A highlight video of the Virginia Beach show is up on YouTube.  My blackberry pics are below.  The video embedded in the post (above) is the actual Along the Watchtower performance from Saturday.

The rest of the week after DMB was nice.  Tracey and I headed to the ‘Boro on Sunday, grabbed the kids and had a relaxing dinner with friends.  After sleeping over and in on Monday, we joined John at the Beverley for a burger.  John and Nancy have a great store in Staunton.  The new line Ty Pennington stuff is really cool – make sure you buy it from Arthur’s!.  We came back into Richmond for an Italian dinner Monday.  Tuesday we spent driving along the James River and visiting the 1600’s plantations.

It was certainly sad to see the girls go.  We have some light interest in the house and are burning candles.  The house will go back on the market next month.  Hopefully we can sell it soon and get everyone permanently back in Virginia.  A trip to the Lou is on the horizon.

Enjoy the DMB everyone!

So the agenda is this:  The girls arrive Thursday.  Tracey takes the kids to Waynesboro to visit friends.  She comes back to the River City for dinner.  We check-in at Virginia Beach for the first DMB show of the weekend Friday.  On Saturday we cruise up to Northern VA for the second DMB show.  Sunday it’s back down to Waynesboro to grab the kids and maybe El Puerto’s, who knows?  Monday and Tuesday are TBD.  Were hoping the kids would have a request or two for the week, but no specific acts of kindness are requested so far.  Should be a fun weekend to get some much needed R&R with the girls. 

The DMB show in STL in June was great.  Heard some great tunes but it left us craving some other hits.  Here is the wish list for the weekend (in no particular order):

1. Spoon
2. Out of My Hands
3. Pig
4. #41
5. The Last Stop
6. Hunger for the Great Light
7. Halloween
8. Bartender
9. Warehouse
10. Joyride (of course)

Check out the Facebook and Twitter pages for pics through the weekend, etc.

Salud!