It really did a good job of sneaking up on me, but Dave Matthews Band finally came to Denver on the last leg of their 2006 tour. After Matt and I went to Kansas City, I remembered the anticipation that we had about waiting until September to see DMB. Months later, these concerts really snuck up on me. With all of the activity going on these last few weeks, the fact I was going to see my favorite band didn’t hit me until I actually saw them get on stage. It goes to show just how out-of-it I’ve been these last few weeks. Crazy…
So as I mentioned in my title September 12 & 13th’s shows were my 13th & 14th Dave Matthews Band concerts. Neither number is a significant milestone, but seeing a band 14 times still seems like an accomplishment.
Tuesday’s concert touted one of the best set-lists I’ve ever heard. The diversity and obscurity of their selections really lent to the overall flow of the concert. There was a really good energy there, and I was extremely excited about the songs. During the concert Matt and I were emailing back & forth on our phones, and at one point he asked me "What’s left for the encore? He’s playing everything!"
I wrote back a two-word email: Two Step
They didn’t play it, but it was still a great show. There was definitely a high-bar set for Wednesday night.
Show #14 was a blast. Bethany and I had awesome seats. We were two sections away from the stage and technically in the stands, but our second-row seats were only about 1-2 feet higher than the floor seats. We basically had the "floor seat" experience but with the luxury of being taller than everyone. It was an awesome view that produced some great pictures.
The set list for Wednesday had a pretty hard time meeting up to Tuesday’s stature, but the band made up for it in stage presence, solos and by playing a lot of new material. The energy was definitely there. However, it greatly surprises me to write what are likely my first critical words about a DMB concert.
The show simply lasted too late. On Tuesday night Carrie and I were out of there at 11pm. However here we were at 11:15 and they had just finished the regular set, with the encore still to come. We ended up leaving – the only time I’ve left a DMB concert before it was over (I’m not counting the times I broke out of the arena during the last song to beat the traffic home). I was shocked!
Maybe it was due to the 3 hours of work I had waiting for me at home, or my level of fatigue, but Wednesday night’s concert went 2 songs too long. Towards the end of the regular setlist you could see the crowd around us beginning to glance at their watches and looking nervously at their friends. Many of us were thinking the same thing, "Um, we have to work tomorrow." It’s important to note that the show didn’t necessarily last too long, as much as it was too late into the evening. If they actually took the stage at a decent time (as opposed to past 8:30 for a 7pm concert + 1 opening band), the show would have ended around 11 and I would have been happy. However I felt like it was a tough position and I made the decision I needed to make in order to get to bed at a decent time.
I just hope I haven’t hit the point of diminishing returns for Dave Matthews Band concerts (WHAT AM I SAYING?!?) Don’t get me wrong, the concerts still were great and I look forward to #’s 15-20!
Camera Update – The Casio Exilim ultra-thin camera has really paid off. I’m now 3 for 3 in sneaking the camera into the concert, and I’m starting to get pretty good with the shots. It would be nice to have an optical zoom, but for something that fits in my wallet – this is great! Check out all of the pictures on my Flickr account
My Statistical Top 10 DMB Songs
Curiosity combined with a bit of free time led me to compile the set lists from every show I’ve attended, the count the number of times I’ve heard each song . I dumped the results into an Excel spreadsheet, but here are the top 11 songs I’ve most-often heard at DMB concerts
| Song | # of Times |
| Grey Street | 7 |
| Louisiana Bayou | 7 |
| When the World Ends | 7 |
| Ants Marching | 6 |
| Crash Into Me | 6 |
| Hunger for the Great Light | 6 |
| One Sweet World | 6 |
| Too Much | 6 |
| Warehouse | 6 |
| What Would You Say | 6 |
| Where Are You Going | 6 |
(11 because that was the easiest cutoff point – #12 was 5 times)
Some meaningless, yet intriguing statistics…