it's not where, but who you're with that really matters

Part II: The Concerts. The People. The Memories.

After so many years and so many shows it's not just about the music anymore, it does play a large part obviously because if it weren't for the band I wouldn't go, but after years it's become much more than that.

There are so many groups, artists and bands that travel the world performing in countless cities, but few can match what DMB does. Yes there are bands like The Rolling Stones, Elton John, U2, and others who have an amazing live act, but they can't do it like DMB does. Every show DMB plays, they sell out. While these other acts are making more money by having their tickets cost up to $250 for face value, they aren't selling out entire 40,000 person amphitheaters. DMB will sell out in minutes for a show that's months away keep prices relatively low. Not saying there aren't scalpers out there, cause there are, but in general no ticket should be over $100. They have toured every summer for the past 15 years and are just now taking the summer of 2011 off. Year after year they put in 50+ shows all over the country and even the world and in those 15 years, no setlist has ever been the same. Bands like U2 will play one tour every few years and within that tour you will see the same songs if you go to more than one show. Not saying that you won't get repeats at multiple DMB shows, but there is always some variations between the concerts.

Each show has it's own element, vibe, mood and experience. I have been to 30+ shows and each one has been a completely different experience. There is no other band (and I have seen my fair share of live acts) that can perform the way this band does. From the first song to the last, they are 100%. They may not play a song that you want to hear or that you've heard before but it doesn't matter because odds are it's going to be different. Whether a solo is different, Dave changes the words, misses a line, has the crowd sing a verse, adds an intro or outro, it's all different. I've heard songs like Two Step and Crush so many times I can't even count them all but each time they've been different. For a while I was starting to dislike every time they played Two Step, then last year at Saratoga Springs Performing Arts Center (SPAC) I heard it again, but it was revamped, Carter added a 2nd badass drum solo. It blew me out of the water. That one moment at the show I fell in love w/ the song all over again.

there are a lot of people who have been to countless shows who go into the next concert expecting the perfect setlist, all the songs THEY want to hear. It's up to the band, they will play what they want to play. If you go into a show with your nose in the air expecting to hear something they haven't played in 6 years, you're going to be sorely disappointed when you don't get it. Going into every show just wanting to enjoy the music that you love you're going to have a good time. They go out there and do what they love for their fans (and of course for the money) going into a venue just wanting to have a great time is going to make the experience 1000x better. What matters most though, I think, are the people you're with.

Yes Dave says it himself "it's not where but who you're with that really matters" and as cliche as it sounds, it's true. I started going to concerts when I was in high school with my mom and a few friends. We'd show up to the show a few hours before, walk into the venue, sit down listen to the opener, wait for DMB and then leave right after the show. It wasn't until 2006 when I really experienced what it's like to be at a DMB concert. What I call my home venue is Alpine Valley in East Troy, WI. To me it's the best place in the country to see a show. Everyone is going to have their own opinion naturally but Alpine is my home. 06 was the first year I showed up early to tailgate with friends, we drank (yes underage) and we had a great time. From that moment on I knew I had to have an experience just like that at every show. Summer 2007 I stayed out on the east coast @ UConn during the previous year I had spent a lot of time on the Warehouse Message Boards (the official DMB fan club) talking to a lot of other fans who loved the band just as much as I did. DMB was coming to Hartford, CT and I was going to both shows, so finally I met so many of these people who I'd become friends with through one common interest. That weekend is a weekend I'll never forget.

Hartford 2007 changed my life instantly. I never thought that I could be embraced by a group of people so easily. I walked up to the tailgate and before I could even get a word out people were running up to me to give me a hug. In high school and somewhat in college I was never really accepted by a lot of people. I was left out of a lot of things for reasons I'll never know, but showing up at Hartford in 07 made me feel at home. I felt like I belonged. After meeting these people I felt whole (yes I know it sounds cheesy). Time continued on and I kept getting closer and closer with these people. Some of them I've become closer with online than some friend I've known for years. We have one thing in common to start w/ the band, but then we grow and expand from there. No judgments, no reservations, just be who you are. I've become so involved with this community that it often has consumed parts of my life. I'd rather go home and see a friend from the Warehouse than someone I went to high school with. They understand me, they get me, and they like me. More years pass, more shows, more tailgates, and more people. While we all have people we are closer with, it naturally happens, every person I've met at these gatherings has been good to me and I wouldn't change the experience for anything.

I've become so close with some of these people that we've even created Blackberry Messenger Chat groups so we have another way to keep in touch. Many people don't understand how we can all become so close with one another over something like a band. It's more than the band now, it's the memories that we're creating every time we get together. We don't even need the concerts anymore, we just need each other. This year may have topped the charts on my experiences at these shows. It started in New York @ SPAC this year. We had our normal group of UConn alumni who went upstate together and we spent the first night at our same tailgate just enjoying one anothers company and having a great time. The 2nd night I convinced them to come to the Warehouse gathering, BALLSfest. It's a huge gathering of hundreds of people with food, alcohol and music. While I only knew probably 50 people, it was a great time to meet new people and still have my friends there with me.

That weekend is always hard to top but then this year I ventured to a new venue: Deer Creek. After hearing so many things I figured I'm in Chicago I can drive down Sat am and go to the 2nd night. Arriving at a friends house around 11 we left shortly after for the Poole House. The Pooles are a truly amazing couple who own a house nearby the venue with of course... a pool. The entire day is spent lounging, drinking, eating, laughing, and just relaxing with friends. We're away from all the under aged kids who are out of control and with the people we care about. That night I was supposed to sit alone in a single seat about 25 rows up from the stage. Another friend of mine had a single as well about 5 rows behind mine so she suggested we sit together. Behind her seat were 2 more of our friends... the other 7 people who were supposed to be around her didn't show up so we had 8 seats for 4 people. While the setlist may have not been the best... we had the greatest time. Thus creating: BEST... SEAT... BUDDIES... EVER!!!!! I woke up the next morning with bruises on my leg because I was dancing so much and hit the seats so many times.

My summer of DMB 2010 came to a close (for the time being, but since Wrigley has been announced 2 more shows were added) at Alpine. Because of work I only planned to go to the first night buttttttt the crazies that are known as my friends of course convinced me to stay for the 2nd night. I arrived in Milwaukee after a brutal commute from Chicago, but even the traffic couldn't get to me because I was so excited. Rather than staying in separate hotel rooms all over the city a friend was kind enough to open her parents home where they had plenty of land for us to camp on for free. Not many communities based around a band can say that they can do this. Friday night before the concerts was spent downtown Milwaukee at bars and camping in the backyard. Not getting back until the wee hours of the morning and we were still ready to go the next day for the shows. We left at noon on our Joy Farm school bus loaded with beer, alochol, and a buffet of food. Not many people can say they can board a bus with 40 of their friends and go to a concert like we do. There are too many things to even try to remember that went on during the weekend but without the people it wouldn't be the same. We created so many inside jokes, memories, nicknames, and whatever else we can think of that will stick with us for the rest of our lives. I mean hell, they convinced me to stay another night that's how much they mean to me.

While the band has a lot to do with our plans and our trips to see one another, without the band next year we're already planning to make the same trip to Wisconsin during Summerfest to check out other bands. Some of us are getting together for Labor Day weekend to camp, when I'm home in Milwaukee I always try to grab drinks with friends. I'm even going to ones wedding next weekend in northern WI. Yes we may have not met what would be considered the normal way, but how is it any different than meeting a random person walking on the street. Plus in our modern world, especially where internet plays such a large factor in all of our lives, who's to say what's not normal. I cherish every chance I get to see these people and so what if we go to multiple concerts a year, so what if it seems obsessive. I love my life and I love my friends that are in it. Judge me all you want, but I'm going to keep going to shows as long as the band is touring.

I love what this band has done for my life, they've introduced me to a world that I never though existed. Happiness, great memories, good music, amazing experiences, life-long memories, phenomenal people, and just an all around "good good time".

Stay up and make some memories...

Part I: The Start, The Music, The Band.

As summer's end fast approaches I've begun to think a lot about the one thing that has consumed the better part of the last 10 years of my life: Dave Matthews Band. While most people make fun of me for my choice in music (and lifestyle) it's something I would never trade. Yes it could seem extreme and as some put it "obsessive" but if they could experience what I experience when I listen to the band then they'd understand. If they had something that they cared about as much as I do they would understand what this band means to me. I think it's a good thing to have something in your life that you can care so much about, it helps keep you sane.

I started listening to the band on a very regular basis when I was in high school thanks to my mother and now stepfather who are also big fans. I blame them for the obsession. I listened to Before These Crowded Streets for the first time a few years before and instantly fell in love with the rhythms, the lyrics, the percussion, the bass, the violin, the voice, everything. I know everyone will say how a song moves them and effects them deep inside their soul and others will laugh, but until you've heard that one song, you won't know what I'm talking about. When going through the BCTS album "Crush" began to play. From the opening bass lines, my heart melted. It's the perfect song, all of the elements put together are perfect. Nothing should be changed, it's the perfect love song. It's the pure love you have when you've met the perfect person to match your soul.

There were a lot of things I didn't believe in until I started listening to DMB. The songs that Dave Matthews (and other members who co-write songs as well) can be related to almost any mood you're in. Whether you're angry at the world, just happy to be alive, trying to live life to the fullest, enjoying time with friends, wanting to be different, confused, in love, or you just have no idea what's going on, there is always a song you can listen to. Lyrically they could be one of the most brilliant bands in history, while they may not write songs like the Beatles but what they do is so unique to them, that no matter who you are, you know "it's DMB". So many people who claim they don't like the music (which is more than okay) have never truly given it a chance. I've turned people on the music unintentionally and before they know it, they're addicted just like me.

I'm not a fan who wants all of their friends around them to be just as obsessed but there is one thing that always gets me. People who say the band sucks just because they don't like the music personally but they don't credit the members of the band for their musical talent. Even if you don't like their music, you have to appreciate and understand the level of talent in the band. While they may have not changed music like Led Zeppelin or Nirvana did with their styles of music, they did change the way other musicians and fans approach, listen and write music. They have a very unique style that only they can pull off. Leroi Moore, may he rest peacefully in heaven with other music greats, was as strong presence in the band that you can't help but just close your eyes and float away while listening to his solos on "#41" or "Bartender". Stefan Lessard, the bass guitarist, and youngest member of the band is oftern overlooked but as a 16 year old he obviously caught the attention of Dave Matthews for that's when he dropped out of school and joined the band. The thumping bass notes at the beginning of "crush" or his electric jam on "anyone seen the bridge" or the every famous fist pump during the "woo" on "warehouse" just make you want to dance. Boyd Tinsley, for 20 years has made the violin seem like the coolest instrument, even when he's moving around so much on the stage that you can barely see his face. The plucking at the beginning of "two step" or the phenomenal solo in "Lie in our Graves" gets everyone in the crowd excited.

While I love all the members of the band there are 2 who stand above. Carter Beauford, percussion extraordinaire and Dave Matthews, lyrical genius. Carter, the oldest member in the band now that Roi has passed away, still jams like he did 20 years ago. Not only does he play the standard drum set, but it includes any other percussion instrument that he needs. His 60 piece drum set would make any beginning, intermediate or advanced drummer drool, but the best part is that he makes it look easy. His movements are so fluid and smooth it's just mind blowing that he's 50 and doing what some 20-something year olds could never do. I often think that drummers in other bands watch and listen to him and just bow their heads because they will never be able to do what he does. His jam intros for songs like "you never know" and "say goodbye" make any fans jaw drop, but for me the song that makes my jaw drop all the way to the floor would have to be "Halloween". Such a brilliantly angry song and then to hear the pounding of the drums throughout the song and during his solo by the end you already feel better.

And finally the man who's name IS the band, Dave Matthews. Many people say it's arrogant to name the band after yourself, but as the co-founding member and lead singer it just sounds right. Many fans if you ask them who their favorite member is, it's not Dave himself (most will say Carter, his smile is irresistible). What Matthews has done lyrically, can put him up there with some of the greatest lyricists of all time. He has written everything from love songs ("Crash", "Crush") to living life to the fullest songs ("Pig", "Lie in our Graves", "Tripping Billies") to songs about death ("Shotgun", "You Never Know") to songs about god knows what ("Rhyme and Reason") and no matter what, there is always a song you can listen to. He may not be the best guitarist of all time but his style and the rhythms that he composes other musicians can't do it like he does. He even has songs that he can't play and sing at the same time because the guitar part alone is too difficult. His stage presence has drawn so many people into the music alone and without him center stage it wouldn't be the same band for most people. Some can't stand his voice but to me it's so soothing (even during the angriest of songs) with the hint of raspiness, no one could sing these songs the way he does.


tomorrow... Part II: The Concerts, The People, The Memories