A PERFECT Opening

Fast forward to 2:00, unless you want to hear a bunch of screaming…and please excuse the horrible fan singing…I’m well aware now that we’re a little tone deaf here in Des Moines.

There it is. It was perfect. If I could go back in time to one concert, it would be The Central Park Concert on September 24, 2003. They opened with Don’t Drink the Water there, and almost exactly 6 years later, they did the same at Principal Park in Des Moines. The Dave Matthews Band’s 2009 DSM stop was definitely a solid show. While nothing will quite compare to the experience the thousands had on 9/24/03, the atmosphere was still second to none this past Friday.

Robert Randolph and the Family Band also had an impressive performance to lead off the show. The amount of fun that they have playing makes the audience’s experience that much better. They jam and improvise like champs. When the curtain fell for Dave, I was in the masses, a little more than an NFL first down away from the stage. The rest of their setlist included a mix of songs from their latest album (Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King), as well as favorites from Under the Table and Dreaming, Crash and Before These Crowded Streets. Check out the setlist:

Don’t Drink the Water (Between These Crowded Streets)
So Damn Lucky (with extended improv, Some Devil)
Seven (Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King)
Funny the Way It Is (Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King)
Shake Me Like A Monkey (Big Whiskey And The GrooGrux King)
You Might Die Trying (Stand Up)
Stay Or Leave (Some Devil)
Why I Am (Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King)
Lying In the Hands of God (Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King)
Crash (Crash)
Crush (Before These Crowded Streets)
Alligator Pie (Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King)
Improv with Robert Randolph
Rhyme And Reason (Under the Table and Dreaming)
Burning Down The House (Talking Heads cover)
You and Me (Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King)
So Much To Say (Crash)
Riffs from Anyone Seen the Bridge, Too Much
Ants Marching (Under the Table and Dreaming)

ENCORE
Baby Blue (Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King)
The Maker (Daniel Lanois cover)
Panatala Naga Pampa/Rapunzel (Before These Crowded Streets)

Now regardless of whether you are a Dave Matthews fan or not, I don’t think one can deny the fact that DMB knows how to put on an unparalleled live performance. I recently went to Blink 182, Weezer and Taking Back Sunday, and while I had a blast and enjoyed every minute of that, it just isn’t the same as hearing Crash Into Me, Why I Am, and Ants Marching. People at that show are pushing and shoving and kicking you in the head as the crowd surf by you. At Dave, while people are pushy there is an atmosphere of respect for others enjoying the event. People are sharing doobies with people that they don’t know, making friends with those around you to protect your area in the crowd and fans singing along to meaningful lyrics, word for word.

Speaking of meaningful, I can’t help but think back to my friends in Naperville at a DMB show. I decided well before this concert that I wasn’t going to act on my urge to pull out my phone and call someone the minute I heard a Dave song that made a person come to mind…I was going to eat up every second of this show instead. But I want all y’all at home in the Thrill to know I miss the hell out of you and I was wishing I could have been rubbing elbows with you all at this concert. With that, I did enjoy this concert with some great friends from my Drake years, and I feel lucky to be surrounded by great people like Tim, Carter, Sarah and Connor here in Des Moines.

So I guess DMB makes me get all “emotional sissy-like.” I start thinking about things other than music when I’m at their show…and for a live performance to be able to evoke those kind of feelings is truly special. This concert definitely makes me look at the glass as overflowing.

Sweet like candy to my soul,
Sweet you rock and, Sweet you roll…
-bRad

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