Dave Matthews Band Concert

Was absolutely spectacular. It was great to finally see them performing live after having been a fan for so many years. They did a lot of songs from his newer albums, which was great. I was really glad to see that they still maintained their "jam band" feel and had a lot of superb instrumentals with lots of solos from the violinist, sax player, trumpet player, keyboardist, and drummer.

Concert tee prices have gone up (of course) with the cheapest shirt priced at $30. I had to have one though, the only other DMB concert shirt I have is when I had friends going to a DMB concert in Dallas (I couldn't go) and I gave them money to pick me up a concert tee.

It was an outdoor venue, but we had reserved seats just outside the covered area, which I think was probably nicer -- I'm not sure how the sound would bounce off the tin roof that covers the main pavilion. We were pretty far from the stage, however, they had HUGE screens on either side of the stage and the cameraman did a wonderful job of getting closeups of the band, Dave Matthews, and everything else going on. There was also a set of three or four LCD's behind the band, which I'd love to know what kind of technology they were -- they would phase from seemingly opaque and crisp color images to semi-transparent, where you could see ropes of lights, and illumated globes behind. Great stage lighting and design!

Overall we had a perfect time. The opening band was Stephen Marley, who was Bob Marley's son. Great reggae band! Sitting there under the stars, a full moon out, and reggae music just added to the excited yet festive atmosphere. Stephen Marley's band played about a 45 minute set, then there was about a 25 minute break while they moved their gear off the stage in prep for DMB. Dave Matthews Band came out to screaming, roaring crowds, and they performed for at LEAST two and a half hours. Definitely worth the money -- DMB sounds better live than on their albums, I was hoping for that and got it. :)