My Hershey Review (that says more than just "it sucked")

[spoot388]

I just got back a little bit ago and to Whitey, if you read this, thanks for the directions on the backroads, 422-934 were practically empty.


First off, construction sucks ass. I sat for over an hour on 81 because they were painting fucking road lines. Then I finally get to Wendy's to eat and park and there is like another 45 minute wait. I figured my chances at getting a poster were gone because I didn't get to the stadium itself until 7:15. Luckily they still had a few.


On to the show.

The band came on at about 8:35 because the sun was still up (and sets just to the left behind the stage). The show really didn't start until it got dark though.

The screens that lower to hide the band weren't working because the lines got fried by rain. There were also some other lighting issues during the show, but the main spotlights and the back screen were fine.


Old Dirt Hill- god damn. it could definitely have been worse, but still not good. my BIGGEST problem with it is that they still use those produced clapping sounds during the song. wtf? i was just glad they got it out of the way so it didn't suck up the meat of the show.

Everyday- I like the song, but not early in the set. the crowd did not get into it at all. i could barely hear the honey honeys during the outro. standard version though.

You Might Die Trying- decent song. a little disappointing though considering what its following. the jam was mixed up a little, not really sure if thats a good thing though.

Eh Hee- this is when the show started turning. not the greatest song, but it was a step in the right direction. tim sounds good on this, although i do miss butch's high twinkling keys

somewhere around here dave talked about taking a tour of the chocolate factory with his kids and stefan's family and talked about how they made hershey kisses. pretty good davespeak

Grey Street- standard version, but when is GS ever a bad thing?

Bartender- kinda surprised me. i was really happy to see this (my 1st bartender) and the band did not disappoint. tim had a little solo and roi sounded great. roi and rashawn did an extended "If I Only Had A Brain" interpolation where it was the rest of the "verse" instead of just the first line.

Cornbread- standard, rocked. still slowing down the jam when tim solos though. not sure why. but it was a nice pick me up after the long more mellow bartender jaml.

Out Of My Hands- i knew it was coming. im happy it wasn't ADSR, but this isn't much better. dave said before the song that the curtain is to hide the little monkey thats in there and that the monkey has a blue penis and red balls. beginning of the song sucked ass. picked up towards the end, but i'd still rather never hear it.

dancing nancies- before nancies, dave brought out a can of hershey's chocolate syrup, not the squeeze bottle. he said that the can is going away, to be extinct like the dinosaur and we shouldn't let that happen and that the next time we go to the store we should get the can because it will be messy, and thats the way its supposed to be

that led to dave's intro to nancies, which, from what i could tell (about 80% of it) the intro was about how you're supposed to make a mess and get your fingers sticky.

nancies itself was great. boyd soloed as usual, nothing new. i was so happy to hear it because i missed it last year and its just not summer if you don't hear DMB play Dancind Nancies.

Typical Situation- holy shit! i didn't know about what was played during soundcheck, if this even was, so this was 100% out of left field for me. never really thought i'd even hear it, and i'm happy i did. a FULL Typical, the crowd was singing along (more than they did for Everyday, which i thought was odd) and the band rocked the jam, which went into the 7/8. Roi had a bunch of nice solos tonight.

Where Are You Going- ughhhhh. standard. thank god its only 4 minutes long.

Crash- nice. standard

Jimi Thing- I'm getting tired of Jimi. with that said, they rocked it tonight, especially roi and rr.

So Damn Lucky- really disappointed when this started. 3 times in 4 shows, not a fan of it to begin with, and now its towards the end of the show and longer than normal. the extended outro after the "round and round" part that normally ends it is really unnecessary. nothing at all happens during those 2-3 minutes. and songs like this should not be allowed to be played this late in the show.

Rhyme & Reason- made up for SDL. great song, Tim rocked on it again.

So Much To Say- standard version as nothing ever really changes. a lot of fun though

Anyone Seen The Bridge- continuing the stop time intro. always fun.

Too Much- nice way to close the set. dave fucked up and started singing again when roi usually has his little solo (the part that was slowed down last year). roi stopped playing after dave kept singing and they just skipped over that part. dave walked away from the mic and you could see he was frustrated that he fucked up like that. he then broke a string and had to switch guitars mid song. he did a little butt wiggle when he was taking his first guitar off. he danced around for a littl bit while they jammed for a minute.

the set ended just after 11. so i was figuring a 1 cover 1 dmb song (Bayou/Billies) encore to wrap things up before 11:30

Money- good song. sounded quiet though. it was like the volume levels were turned down a little bit, at least during the beginning of the song.

Two Step- i was hoping for this and what better way than to close the encore. dave had a nice intro about how you can never be sure about being safe where you are. tim was insane on it. he and carter rocked the shit out of the jam. no carter solo, but i wasn't surprised because Two Step didn't even start until 11:20. normal end jam and everyone thought "damn, what a way to end it"

and then Carter starts hitting the snare. Two Step>Ants? are you kidding me? the entire stadium collectively dropped its jaw after Two Step was NOT ended the show, but Ants was. Ants started with the Snare Intro and had the extended jam at the end during Boyd's solo. absolutely insane way to end the show.



while the show started out rough, and had a few rough spots in the middle, they more than made up for it with songs like Bartender, Typical (!), Nancies, Jimi, and the end from SMTS-Ants. i don't know where this ranks personally, but it was far from being a bad show. ya, i would have like to not have heard 5 of the songs they played too, but if thats what i have to sit through for Bartender, Typical, Rhyme, Nancies, and that end, I'll take it.

[WappySprayberry]

sounds like an OK show, albeit a very disjointed setlist

[DMBzilla]

Originally Posted by WappySprayberry

sounds like an OK show, albeit a very disjointed setlist

It was very well played, and as I said in my review, maintained a continued chill vibe throughout. Definitely better sounding than it looks on paper, and I think people will agree once they hear the tapes.

[adzack3441]

Dude...no disrespect but this was easily one of the worst 5 out of my 40 or so shows.

The crowd was absolutely comatose....literally the worst concert crowd I've ever been in.

Venue blows. The sound is better outside of the stadium immediately even with the stage front in the street than it is anywhere inside of the place. No beers for sale after 8:30???? What?!? Unheard of......I must be lost in a communist state.

Song order sucked big blue monkey balls. Teh energyayayazzzzzzzzzzzzz was not in the building and they fucked up every oppurtunity to bring it.

In Grey St. Dave had some guitar tech problem and didn't play until the beginning of the second verse. Same thing with Too Much. Didn't play a "big 3" song until about the halfway point of the show.

Encore was great but..................they didn't play Sledgehammer ..hahah

Seriously.............I'll never go to Hershey again.......I said it in '00,'01, and finally in '02 until I forgot this year. But this time I mean it.

[tugolf08]

Seriously? Where were you sitting? The crowd around me was going absolutely wild during the entire set. Expect for one person who sat down during half the show behind me.

[adzack3441]

Originally Posted by tugolf08

Seriously? Where were you sitting? The crowd around me was going absolutely wild during the entire set. Expect for one person who sat down during half the show behind me.

I had seats in D......and the crowd was fucking comatose......ridiculously so.

[aeroshady]

Originally Posted by adzack3441

Dude...no disrespect but this was easily one of the worst 5 out of my 40 or so shows.

The crowd was absolutely comatose....literally the worst concert crowd I've ever been in.

Venue blows. The sound is better outside of the stadium immediately even with the stage front in the street than it is anywhere inside of the place. No beers for sale after 8:30???? What?!? Unheard of......I must be lost in a communist state.

Song order sucked big blue monkey balls. Teh energyayayazzzzzzzzzzzzz was not in the building and they fucked up every oppurtunity to bring it.

In Grey St. Dave had some guitar tech problem and didn't play until the beginning of the second verse. Same thing with Too Much. Didn't play a "big 3" song until about the halfway point of the show.

Encore was great but..................they didn't play Sledgehammer ..hahah

Seriously.............I'll never go to Hershey again.......I said it in '00,'01, and finally in '02 until I forgot this year. But this time I mean it.

Said that in '05...but tonight was much better than '05. I like to avoid Hershey when I can...but it was the only show I could make it to this year. And I would rather see DMB at a bad venue than not see DMB at all.

[whiteysax]

Originally Posted by adzack3441

Dude...no disrespect but this was easily one of the worst 5 out of my 40 or so shows.

The crowd was absolutely comatose....literally the worst concert crowd I've ever been in.

Venue blows. The sound is better outside of the stadium immediately even with the stage front in the street than it is anywhere inside of the place. No beers for sale after 8:30???? What?!? Unheard of......I must be lost in a communist state.

Song order sucked big blue monkey balls. Teh energyayayazzzzzzzzzzzzz was not in the building and they fucked up every oppurtunity to bring it.

In Grey St. Dave had some guitar tech problem and didn't play until the beginning of the second verse. Same thing with Too Much. Didn't play a "big 3" song until about the halfway point of the show.

Encore was great but..................they didn't play Sledgehammer ..hahah

Seriously.............I'll never go to Hershey again.......I said it in '00,'01, and finally in '02 until I forgot this year. But this time I mean it.

then stop going already. You know what the venue is like... you know what the sound is like year to year... the crowd always sucks... i don't agree with your evaluation of the setlist... the song placement may have been a little weak... but in comparison to the rest of hte shows this year... it's been anything but predictable. Aside from the slow start and the back-to-back piss songs after Typical, I think the show was just above average... definitely better than the Mansfield run. The only negative I can say about the show itself is compared to past Hershey shows, this ranks bottom 2 for me... next to 2005.

[spoot388]

Originally Posted by tugolf08

Seriously? Where were you sitting? The crowd around me was going absolutely wild during the entire set. Expect for one person who sat down during half the show behind me.

I was in D 51. The crowd was dead. I heard a little bit come from the stands on the right, but not much. I barely saw anyone singing or dancing infront of me though.




The show itself, what the band did, was much better than what it looks like on paper though. I was more happy with this show than I was with Scranton, even with the crappy start. And I couldn't tell any major differences with the sound either. Its an open air stadium, so a lot of sound is going to disapate by going up, but I still heard everything almost perfectly.

[crashintonickdm]

if you were at this show and said the crowd was dead during the transition from two step to ants, you're lying your ass off.

[typsitch]

Perhaps where you sit has a lot to do with how you enjoy a show.

I was sitting 9th row center and everyone was standing and into it pretty intensely. I also suppose that you get to more clearly see how much fun the band is having in their facial expressions and communication with each other which also heightens your mood and experience.

[rick8285]

Originally Posted by WappySprayberry

sounds like an OK show, albeit a very disjointed setlist

If the songs were played in a different order, it could have made this show way better. Although, I think it was above-average at least.

Something like this though...
Bartender
Grey Street
Old Dirt Hill
Crash Into Me
Typical Situation
Eh Hee
Rhyme And Reason
Everyday
You Might Die Trying
So Much To Say >
Anyone Seen The Bridge >
Too Much
Corn Bread
Jimi Thing
Out Of My Hands
Dancing Nancies
Where Are You Going
So Damn Lucky
Two Step

Encore:
Money
Ants Marching

[berman1125]

Originally Posted by crashintonickdm

if you were at this show and said the crowd was dead during the transition from two step to ants, you're lying your ass off.

well...yea. i mean its the encore and everyone thought they were done after two step. but how about the set, bet the crowd was lame

[crashintome202]

first part is murder and then you had some great songs, then crap, then good, then crap. looked like a real up and down show.

[Evans]

I was at Hershey for 8/4/99, horrible venue, horrible crowd, haven't been back since. I'm telling you, every backwoods central pa drunken teenage redneck idiot shows up for Hershey.

[rball1127]

scranton was full of hicks too

[DMBWcUPA]

Originally Posted by crashintonickdm

if you were at this show and said the crowd was dead during the transition from two step to ants, you're lying your ass off.

true story.

i agree that the crowd wasn't all that crazy for most of the show, but towards the end from smts to ants, the crowd was pretty much out of control.

jimi thing jam was different last night i thought...it seemed like after Tim's solo, the band was just kind of fucking around with it, which i like to see, instead of just a set of solos.

im not going to write a full review but i'll highlight a few songs.

ODH opener - honestly the worst possible way to start a show, but the song isn't that bad, i really thought it sounded like Dave was teasing #40 at the beginning, and thought somehow there was some slight possibililty they would open with it...of course not

Everyday - Grey Street....all standard, excpet for Eh Hee. Sorry, Eh Hee is just not good full band IMO. Tim makes it sound way too much like a heavy metal song. just not feeling it at all. Grey Street, Dave had alot of guitar problems which sucked, but still a good version.

Dancing Nancies - never get tired of hearing this, I was screaming for Warehosue but they went right into Typical Situation..kind of a weird choice for that spot I thought, such a dramatic shift in energy. Typical was fucking badass though.

The rest of the show from Jimi Thing all the way to the end was amazing, they nailed just about everything from that point on. Nothing else needs to be said about the encore, it was pure sex. I was happy they played Money because I was with my dad, his first show, and he is a huge Floyd fan.

Like I said in another review thread last night, the only complaint i have with this show is the lack of flow. aside from that, great show, always a good time. unlike everyone else, I really don't mind Hershey as a venue all that much. don't understand all the hate.

keep this in mind people: it wasn't meant to be a fucking concert venue. it was meant to be a football stadium, so of course the logistics are not going to always work out perfectly. who cares

the way i see it, the band clearly has a good time playing there. Dave sure loves his chocolate. Forgot to mention all the great Davespeak/Dave dancing throughout this show. Like Spoot said, the butt wiggle or whatever you want to call it, was hilarious. never seen Dave do so much goofy shit at a show

[DMBWcUPA]

totally forgot to mention Bartender...I was happy to see the non-Butch version of this, knew it was coming as soon as Boyd started playing the opening. Dave wailing was pretty sweet, his voice is the best it's been in a few years right now, hands down

[adzack3441]

The crowd was lame....period. If you have to wait for a Money, Two Step, Ants encore for the crowd to get going then the crowd is lame. It probably didn't help that they stopped selling beer at 8:30 when most people don't get into the venue until just before that. Whatever...I had a good time...but the song order was absolutely atrocious. Maybe that was why the crowd was lame......or maybe the crowd was just lame.

[crashintonickdm]

Originally Posted by adzack3441

The crowd was lame....period. If you have to wait for a Money, Two Step, Ants encore for the crowd to get going then the crowd is lame. It probably didn't help that they stopped selling beer at 8:30 when most people don't get into the venue until just before that. Whatever...I had a good time...but the song order was absolutely atrocious. Maybe that was why the crowd was lame......or maybe the crowd was just lame.

it was a much better crowd than 2006 for me. not as good as 2003, and probably even with 2004.

the folks around me were good.

[chr35919]

awesome encore.

[MDrums54]

i thought the show was awesome

sure the set selection was not its best, but every performance of each individual song was amazing. the band is really feeling it right now.

[DmBand801]

Originally Posted by adzack3441

I had seats in D......and the crowd was fucking comatose......ridiculously so.

I was in D too - my area was dead too

[eido11]

Yes. Absolutely would've enjoyed that better... and I think the crowd would have enjoyed the beginning a bit more.

[spoot388]

ya, D as a whole was dead. the only singing to be heard most of the night was what was coming down from the stands on the right.

oddly enough, i heard more singing during Typical, which I figured most people there wouldn't even know, than during Everday. but even like Jimi, not many were singing along. i really think the encore was the only time the entire stadium was FULLY into it.