Saint Louis 7/15/15
My DMB fandom has never waned inside my own head, but I haven't been as extroverted as I used to be either in person or on the internet about just how much I follow and care about the band. I've been a member of antsmarching.org since 2004 and have been to 13 shows. But I haven't seen them live since 2008 at Busch Stadium somehow. Been busy graduating, working, getting married and having a kid. My uncle and I have been talking about going to see the band for 3-4 years now and finally, last night we got to go. My uncle played in a band for 25 years and loves live music and has always commented favorably about what the band does in a live setting. We were both excited to go.
And, now, the next day, I'm having trouble processing last nights show. It was a night where DMB played two sets, but last nights show was almost as if an entirely new band came out to play the last three songs before the encore. So this review is in three sections.
1.) Acoustic Set:
Beach Ball - solo
Rye Whiskey - solo
The Stone
One Sweet World
What Would You Say
Typical Situation
So Damn Lucky
Satellite
Tripping Billies
At this point the band just dropped the mic. What an incredible set of songs both in selection and execution. Again I haven't seen a show in a while, but I've been to enough shows to know that the band was 'on'. More specifically Dave was giving absolutely everything. I would honestly put the execution of these songs up there with any of my favorite live cuts hand chosen from the last 20 years of the band playing. I know seeing the band live skews our perception but both myself and my uncle were incredibly impressed by how tight, how on point, how energetic and how happy the band were.
2.) Electric Set pt. 1
Don't Drink the Water
Granny
Stay
Black and Bluebird
Say Goodbye
You Might Die Trying
Be Yourself
Sledgehammer
Lying in the Hands of God - Nicholas Payton
At this point the show was PERFECT. The flow was incredible, the energy was high, the song execution (as I have already said) was spot on, the solos were good and the crowd was feeling VERY good. A very good DMB crowd. The first 18 songs of this concert were perfect. I know that's probably superfluous and not true in some ways but...man everything just felt so damn good at this point in the night.
3.) Electric Set pt. 2
Spaceman> N. Payton
Cornbread - N. Payton
Jimi Thing - N. Payton
Watchtower
Let me get two things out of the way first: I like Spaceman and Cornbread and the transition between the two songs is well done and fun. I also thought Nick Payton was incredibly good and clearly the band liked playing with him. OK now that that is out of the way - I can't overstate how jarring it was to hear Dave start Spaceman when he did. And having Payton guest on four straight songs was something I was not prepared for. The last three songs of the set almost seemed like the band went out of their way to feature him. And it made me ask myself a question I never thought I'd ask in regard to a concert I was attending: how many trumpet solos do you need in one show? Dave said many times during these songs: "Thank you for indulging us." As I said up top it was as if another band came out and played the last three songs. All three songs were exemplary and performed with energy and vigor...but, to me, the incredible vibe from the first 18 songs was gone and it made Watchtower feel weird and out of place almost. For a song that they've played over 700 times I didn't think that was possible. I don't think it was just me either - the crowd was "in" to the last 4 songs...but it wasn't anything like the first 18 where the band had the crowd in the palm of their hand.
All of that being said: what a fucking band this is. My uncle kept turning to me and saying: "That was kick ass." Maybe their cultural and musical relevance isn't where it was from 1996-2000 but last night it almost felt like 1998 or 2000 again; it seemed like the band felt like they were capable of anything and they left zero doubt about their ability as musicians and entertainers.
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"And in the dark we will take off our clothes and they'll be placing fingers through the notches in your spine"
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