Monday, August 17, 2009

Dave Matthews Band, July 21, 2009 Jones Beach, NY

Back to Dave Matthews for a second go around this summer. So far his show was the best I've seen in a while. Interestingly enough Paul McCartney is playing 20 minutes away at Citi Field tonight. Not certain that means anything other than a lot of people are going to be very wet.

DMB is playing at the Jones Beach theater out on Long Island. This venue is also outdoors but it doesn't sell beer. As the forecast calls for plenty of rain, the lack of booze will really go over well.

Despite the prohibition era rules I really love the outdoor summer concert. I grew up going to the Garden States Arts Center and hitting shows all summer. The routine was classic. Get to the parking lot 4 hours early, drink a ridiculous amount of booze, eat almost nothing, then head for the lawn seats in a semi blackout state. Usually we'd be a pack of 12 people so it wasn't easy to find space. Still it never mattered that we couldn't see the stage because we could barely remember the show the next morning anyhow.

As for this evening I have donned the DMB concert shirt I purchased at the last show (loser move at the time). Tonight, as I rode the train out to Long Island someone already asked me about tonight's concert. Nevertheless I fear wearing a concert t shirt to the same band's concert is the equivalent to wearing an Enterprise uniform to a Star Trek convention. Either I'm wicked cool or a mega tool. There simply is no in between when you won't act your own age.

What can you say about Long Island that hasn't already been said about New Jersey. As a proud son of the Garden State I stand before you and say we are so much better than Long F#*!@ing Island. Still I have to admit there is a certain segment of New Jersey that shares similar traits with the residents out east. Whatever the case the classic Long Island character is well represented tonight. Sleeveless, beautifully manscapped, and festooned with tattoos, the classic Long Island native absolutely enhances the concert experience. And because the native dialect in New Jersey is so similar I can understand what he is saying amidst all of the profanity flying out of his mouth. Right now he would like the opening act to leave the stage so the headliner can come on. It seems the performers should listen to this fine gentleman lest some misfortune befall their mothers at his hands...

I'm fascinated by the Deadesque quality to the DMB fan base. It isn't the dope smoking, mother earth thing as this is generally a preppy, upscale crowd. Instead I'm amazed by the number of fans who follow the band around the country, track the set lists on line, and keep track of the number of times they attend a DMB show.

For many of these hard core fans the appeal is similar to the Dead in terms of an always changing set list. DMB can swing an entirely different show from night to night which is such a rarity. While other bands might have similar catalogs in terms of number of songs, a precious few are rehearsed enough to dig deep into their collections. It is so much easier for a band to rehearse 20 songs prior to the tour and play 16 to 18 of them on a given night. So kudos to DMB.

Still, such an upscale fan base is most likely better employed than the Deadheads of the 70s and 80s who could drop out of life for 4 to 6 months because they weren't gainfully employed in the first place. An example is the fan I met on the train out to the show. An Oklahoma native, this was his 32nd DMB concert. Think about that for a second. How often does any band hit OK? Once every 4 years? In order to see a "national" band 32 times, an Oklahoma native has got to be willing to travel and this guy certainly was. He arranged his summer vacation from work so he could be in New York so he could see the Yankees and DMB. Maybe I'm overly impressed but on this tour DMB played 9 shows between Hartford, CT and Camden, NJ. That's 9 shows at venues within 4 hours from one another. So a guy from Oklahoma shows a lot more enthusiasm than a guy sitting on his couch in the middle of Manhattan.

As for the show it was pretty good but not great. Even though it should be all about the music, I was really bummed out that no beer is sold at Jones Beach. It's unfortunate to say and it is probably a less than flattering reflection upon me, but the lack of booze truly dampened (that and the rain) the experience for me. Another downer which wouldn't bother a hard core fan as opposed to me was all the music off the new album. After lambasting Jackson Browne for a similar offense I don't want to put DMB in the same box. He is in the prime of his career and his current cd is a commercial success and widely praised by music critics nationwide. Nevertheless, if you are a casual fan I don't recommend going when DMB is promoting a new album. He played 9 tracks off the new cd, one of which I recognized. His next tour after this one will probably appeal more to fans like me as he won't be so beholden to one specific album.

Nevertheless the one specific highlight that will stick me is how he worked Stairway to Heaven into his version of All Along the Watchtower. Both songs are classics and Watchtower has been a big DMB song for 10 plus years. I love when one band takes someone else's song and makes it their own. That is what Buffett has done with CSN's Southern Cross and what Van Halen did with the Kinks' You Really Got Me. What struck me was how few bands ever cover Zep songs at all. Stairway is considered one of the top (if not the actual "top") rock songs of all time yet no one ever attempts to play it and it makes me wonder (pun intended)...

If I had to guess why no one attempts to cover Zep songs I'd say it was because they are intimidated. I'm no music critic or even a Zep connoisseur, however how do you improve on Stairway? It was awesome that Dave went after it and it shows he's got serious stones because everyone else is just too awed to consider it. Because DMB has sack, they've given me a memory I'll have for all long time. It's unlikely I'll ever have the chance to see the real thing so it was way cool that I got to see an outstanding band give it a rip.