Dave Matthews Band – SF Concert

08/14/2005


-Image shared from the 8/12/05 concert via Flickr.
Josh and I went to the Dave Matthews Band concert last night at the beautiful SBC Park. First of all, if you haven’t been to this ballpark yet, you totally have to add it to your list of things to do before you die. This ballpark is one of my favorite places to be, and I don’t really like baseball all that much. It’s right on the SF Bay, so you can see across the ocean (depending on where you’re sitting) and see all the sailboats and kayaks and all that. And, the park is just really well made and is beautiful. Plus, all that fresh sea air and the fog and the giant Coke bottle slide… I love it there. Seriously, you gotta go there.
Anyhoo, the concert was sweet. DMB totally rocks out and had some great guests come in to play with them. I must say, that I developed a new disgust for DMB fans. *shudders* What annoying people. But, besides my general hatred towards the fans, the music was great, the view was great, and I had a great time!
For those of you unfamiliar with DMB *Steph smacks you*, you get Dave Matthews as your lead singer and playing rhythm guitar. His voice is incredible…and he changes it depending on the song and the mood. My favorites are the sweet, sexy Dave voice (of course), and the fast-talking-I’m-ticked-off-slightly-freaky-sounding Dave voice. His lyrics are beautiful and rich and poignant.
Boyd Tinsley plays the violin, and I mean, this dude totally wails. That, and he’s cool looking. When he plays he gets all dancy and wicked and his hair flails all over the place. He likes to get up in Dave’s face while playing and it’s pretty crazy. I wonder if his hair has ever gotten stuck in his violin bow…
Carter Beauford is a freaking awesome percussionist. He has like thirty different things set up to bang his drum sticks on, and plays them all with subtlety and genius proficiency. He also has all these weird instruments that he plays, including one that sounds like a straw moving up and down in a McDonald’s cup.
LeRoi Moore plays the saxophone (baritone, tenor, alto, soprano…depending on the song) and is also quite good. He doesn’t get to jump around the stage and wail like Boyd does though because he has to stand in front of his fuzzy blue microphone. Or, maybe he doesn’t like to dance around… He is pretty chilled out, but his playing is phenomenal.
And, Stefan Lessard plays the bass. He basically plays the bass like one might play a woman, if women were playable (you’ll get this connection only if you’re a David Sedaris reader). He stands in one place and makes lots of funny faces (including what Josh and I call “the goldfish”) while his fingers zip up and down the bass and play riffs that I didn’t think were possible. Seriously, this dude practiced scales for like a ka-jillion years before playing with the band. He’s good.
So, I guess I’m saying that the whole band is good and the concert was great and I had a wonderful time!
Here’s the setlist:
#41
American Baby
Crash
Dream Girl
What Would You Say
#34
Granny
Tripping Billies
The Stone
Lover Lay Down
Dancing Nancies
Warehouse *
Old Dirt Hill +
Stand Up *+
Two Step *+
__________________
Steady As We Go
What You Are

Show Notes:
* Rashawn Ross
+ Eric Krasno
__________________
BTW – These are my comments to the DMB fans. First, if you want to talk about your favorite U.S. towns, do it at home or at a restaurant, not really loud standing behind me at the concert I’ve waited all year to see. Seriously! *Steph smacks the people who were standing behind her.* Second, San Francisco is cold, I have no pity for you you shivering cleavage-showing girls! PUT ON A SWEATER!!! *Steph hands sweater to cleavage girls.* Third, some of you drink beer responsibly…fine. Some of you act like a bunch of loud idiots. *Steph gives coffee and aspirin to loud beer drinking idiots.* Fourth, I realize that some of you just like to hear yourselves speak…please develop a better vocabulary. *Steph feeds soap to potty mouths.*
Oh, and I’d like to point out that I witnessed NONE OF THE ABOVE at the Beck Concert. Beck fans are way cooler and are way more into the music. A lot of the DMB “fans” go to the concert to party and act like idiots. Beck fans to go listen to the music.
Case in point:
LOUD GUY BEHIND STEPH: Oh! I LOVE this song! This is one of my favorite songs! The first time I heard it I was like WOOOOOOOOOOOOO! And I was with some buddies and…*continues jabbering loudly*
STEPH THINKS TO SELF: You IDIOT! You don’t love this song! If you loved this song you would shut up and actually, I don’t know, listen to it! Grrrrrrrrrrr…