WHAT WOULD YOU SAY?

Photos courtesy of Thomas Cordy - Palm Beach Post

“Yes,” of course, if your friend offered you a free Dave Matthews Band concert ticket. I can’t put my finger on it, but for some reason, I’ve never been a big fan. I loved his breakout his, “What Would You Say,” and some hit in between, but he’s never grabbed me. I dunno, I think he got too popular, too fast. Such is not the case for my friend, JDN. He’s seen the DMB 10 times and said he’d clue me in on all the songs.

Hmm. It’s been quite a number of years since I’ve been in that environment. The outdoor concert where you sit on beach chairs high on a hill in a laid back atmosphere. I don’t think I’ve seen so much beer and pot consumed since I saw The Allman Brothers Band in an outdoor concert back in 1988. This occasion was at the Sound Advice Amphitheater in West Palm Beach. The set-up was pretty basic. There was a huge stage with four large video screens. Marc Broussard opened, and his jazzy, bluesy set was pretty much ignored. I’d seen Marc open for Gavin DeGraw last August. My only disappointment was that he failed to play is hit, “Where You Are.” Dave came on stage around 8:20 p.m. He showed up in a pair of jeans, a white button-down shirt, and a smile on his face.

Before I knew it, I was in the middle of 20,000 screaming, dancing, song-singing DMB fans. Dave opened with “One Sweet World” and “Crash.” He sang many new songs off his new CD “Stand Up.” He sang staples such as “Don’t Drink the Water, Warehouse, Where Are You Going, and Two Step” (thanks JDN for the assist). I felt a bit like a tourist in a foreign country. They knew all the songs and all the words. I think I recognized one or two songs at most. I hadn’t realized what a loyal following the DMB had, and they were all loving it. Happy couples danced, kissed, and hugged to the music. Shirtless guys in backwards hats, girls in low-rider jeans showing off their g-strings and thongs, and middle-aged pot-smoking David Crosby look-alikes dominated the crowd. The people watching was priceless.

As for the music, I guess the non-fan like me would say the songs sounded pretty similar. I’m still not a big fan, but I certainly respect their music and the great show they put on. Amazingly, Dave played for over two-and-a-half hours. I think I could best describe it as a jam session. Some of the songs jammed on for 30 minutes. Other than, “thank you very, very much,” Dave didn’t have much else to say to the crowd. But all in all, the concert was a sensational value for a $40 ticket. Four hours of live music, a beautiful night, and plenty of entertaining people to observe. Who could ask for more? Well, I guess a date would have been nice.