Just for an evening

OK, I’ll admit to being one of those people who didn’t believe that Twitter/Facebook would ever replace blogging, but yeah, it’s totally doing that for me. Rather than sitting down to write up a whole post, I can post all those scintillating nuggets of poo information all day long. From my laptop, my phone, at work, at home, wherever.

So if you read any of my tweets or Facebook posts on Monday night, you figured out I went to see Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds play. It was a charity show at McCaw Hall in Seattle, which is the home of the Pacific Northwest Ballet. Between the fact that the entire ticket price went to charity, the rarity of these acoustic shows, and the fact that it was at a venue designed for music, I *had* to go. And TJ was helpful in convincing me it was worth spending the money, which is surprising, since he’s usually not down with the willy-nilly spending of cash.

So I bought a ticket for myself, since I couldn’t find anyone else to go with me. Turns out they released tickets just before the show, so I got a fantastic 1st tier box seat with a great view. I guess buying single tickets pays off.

I felt weird going by myself, especially before the show when everyone was milling around in the lobby, but McCaw Hall is very pretty and had lots of interesting Nutcracker costumes and statues around. I got myself a very expensive diet Coke and a cookie and settled into my seat when the doors opened. By the way, don’t get the cookies at McCaw Hall – they are nasty.

The opening band, The Head and the Heart, were good, but not my taste. Pretty alt-country songs, and great energy on stage, but they just didn’t wow me. The rest of the crowd was pretty into them, though, and they’re local, so I imagine it must have been HUGE for them since Dave Matthews specifically asked them to open for him. Word on the street is that he doesn’t usually have opening bands.

Dave and Tim came on around 8:30, and played until after 11pm. They played a lot of songs I didn’t recognize, since I haven’t been keeping up much with their newer stuff, but played enough of the old stuff to keep me happy. The sound was really good, the inter-song banter was odd but amusing, and Tim Reynolds did not say a word the entire time.

The crowd was a crazy mix of college age folks, yuppies in their 30s, and oddly, a bunch of older folks (50s and 60s). Then again, DMB has been around for 15+ years, so I guess that’s not surprising. I’m a lot older than I think, I guess.

Anyway, it was an evening well spent. I’m so glad I went, even if I had to be the loser who goes to a show by herself. DMB was the soundtrack to my life in some of the best times I’ve had. I took my last Caltech final while listening to ‘Under the Table and Dreaming’. I listened to their ‘Live at Red Rocks’ album for hours on end while working out in 1999 and it eventually made me skinny Unfortunately, while that didn’t last, I still love their music.

So I’ll leave you with ‘Satellite’: