Monday, August 30, 2010

Dave Matthews show #16

Last night I went to my 16th Dave show (I think, I've sortof lost count by now)... and it was one of the best... EVER. I know I say that every time, but this time it literally was. Last year at Outside Lands it was awesome to see them of course, but the new members (Rawshawn, Jeff, and to some extent, Tim) were amazing in their own right but it felt more like a bunch of really talented musicians rockin' it on stage instead of an absurdly tight ensemble.

This show was MUCH different and AMAZING. First off, the band dynamic was blazingly awesome. The music was really tight and really fantastic. They were really pushing the boundaries, playing songs in what seemed to be very unusual time signatures and jazzing it up somethin' fierce. The solos were amazing as usual but WAY more integrated and connected with each other and the band as a whole. It felt like one big, group effort, and they were playing with some wild crazy abandon. In fact I thought the show was so frickin' good that I was really wondering if they were recording this show for a live album. It was NUTS.

The other part that rocked was that Josh and Jaclyn from Waterloo were visiting and it was awesome to run into them there and hang out and enjoy the show all together. Also, they played pretty much my ideal playlist - hitting Stay or Leave, Pantala Naga Pampa, Digging a Ditch, 41, Crush, Seek Up, Two Step and Sister, pretty much the list of my favourite Dave songs. I told Josh and Jaclyn that my head could possibly explode from the amount of awesome if they played "Baby Blue" so thankfully they didn't cause that would have been a mess. A "hot mess"?!! Anyway holy craaaaaaaap it was great. Like BEYOND GREAT. I love this band, I loved the venue, the weather was perfect, and I got to hang out with some great friends and enjoy the show together. What more could you ask for?!!

I've seen a ton of Dave shows by now, but man was he ever into this one. The rest of the band too was just at the top of their game, in top form. The drum solos were insane, the bass solos were out of control, the sax player was mental and absurdly good, the trumpet player couldn't have been better... man. Tim Reynolds on electric was disgustingly good too. That man can play some MEAN guitar. Jeez. The video caught him playing some crazy slap-guitar at some point, and his slide guitar was perfect as usual. WHAT A SHOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's the setlist. Let your jealousy begin now. I really hope this somehow makes it to a live recording, this show was ridiculous.

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Saturday Aug 28 2010
Shoreline Amphitheatre at Mountain View

Last Stop *
Seek Up *
One Sweet World *
Stay Or Leave *
Crush *
Seven *
Pantala Naga Pampa *
Rapunzel *
Digging a Ditch *
#41 *
Write A Song *
Spaceman *
Corn Bread *
Jimi Thing *+
Shake Me Like a Monkey *
You and Me *
Time Bomb *
All Along The Watchtower *

__________________

Sister ~
Black Jack *
Two Step *


Show Notes:
* Jeff Coffin
+ Raphael Saadiq Horns
~ Dave, Carter,Tim and Rashawn

indicates a segue into next song

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