The Dave Matthews Band Rocks!

One of the things I did over the three day weekend was to head out to the Gorge Amphitheater in George, Washington, to see the Dave Matthews Band.

It was my first time seeing a concert there, in part thanks to my mom, who was just a little bit overly frantic about concerts at the Gorge when I was a teen. I recall my cousin getting tickets for us to go see Lollapalooza when we were in high school. I was quite excited about the prospect, especially since my favorite band, Smashing Pumpkins, would be playing and it was right after the release of Siamese Dream (my favorite album). It just so happened that the concert took place on the first day of school, and no matter how many times I begged, there was no winning her over.

So, fast forward to labor day weekend. The traffic really wasn't bad at all, despite the reports on the local news channels that there would be a lot of construction on I-90 and to leave a lot of time for being stuck in traffic. We only went for the Saturday show, but that was certainly expensive enough (who can afford $55 each for three nights?). Jem and Jason Mraz were the opening acts, and they were both great. It was nice that the wind died down by the time DMB came out to play. The sound was wonderful, and the view was beautiful; if you've never been to the Gorge, it's a plateau on top of a river canyon looking over the Columbia River, which makes a lovely view.

For me, the highlight was when DMB played "Crash", which is really the song that got me into DMB in the first place. The set list was: The Stone, Best of What's Around, So Much To Say, Seek Up, Joy Ride, I Did It, Help Myself, Song That Jane Likes, Sugar Will, Stay, Crash, Lie In Our Graves, Fool To Think, Typical Situation, and Too Much. Then they came out for an encore and played Don't Drink the Water, and Everyday. I'd definitely recommend that anyone see them live, since they are such a great band and sound wonderful in person.