One lonely December 2009 post

Post #601.

Been a while, eh? You still come around here? You still on the edge of your seat waiting for an update? Or have you given up? I wouldn't blame you. Why keep coming back when I don't update anything for over a month. This being said, the muse to type something relevant or witty or newsworthy on these very pages has seemingly disappeared. The urge and wanting to do so is gone. Those who follow my oh-so-interesting (sarcasm) adventures already do so on the interwebs via The Facebook or The Twitter. Here on The Blogger?....I just don't "feel it" at the moment.

So maybe in 2010, there will be an update on a brewday or a movie or something interesting I've done. But for the most part, the urge to share these types of things on this medium has subsided greatly. I guess I'll be around, just not so often. Try not to wait up.

So to recap December 2009 in one fell swoop:

The Fantastic Mr. Fox / Chargers game / Great Lakes beer school / Steelers game / Dave Matthews Band concert film in 3-D / nasty snowstorm that canceled my yearly A Christmas Carol theater excursion / wicked bronchitis.

Here's to an improved 2010. Finally, a vigorous and hearty FUCK YOU to 2009 and the events that threaten to ruin me as the entity you previously knew.

Solace in music

A new CD release this week is played with obsessive repetition.  Three songs that help elevate my mood:

Dave Matthews Band - Charlotte

Hey it's obnoxiously late. Almost 3:00am. Let's blog!

Friday: another day of working 8-4, another evening of Dave Matthews Band in concert. Tonight? The trek down to Charlotte. A few of the Dominican Republic crew gathered to carpool down and tailgate...before AND afterward. BBQ chicken, brats, pasta salad, beer. Delicious.

Tonight's vibe was completely different from Wednesday. Raleigh seemed "edgier" and "angrier". Tonight seemed more like a frolicky singalong. More mellow songs (Stay or Leave, Crush, Where Are You Going) seemed to give it a warm cozy feel....until the roof was torn down with a rousing rendition of Talking Heads' Burning Down the House. Wow.

A different night. A different city. A different Dave mood. A different concert altogether. A fun night to hang out with DR cronies and just enjoy a second night of Dave.

Opens with Pantala Naga Pampa-->Rapunzel, ends with the Gordon favorite Grey Street, then finishes 3 encores with Stay. No angry All Along the Watchtower tonight.

The setlist:

Friday Apr 24 2009
Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre

Pantala Naga Pampa-->Rapunzel
Where Are You Going
Stay Or Leave
Recently
Burning Down The House
Crush
Why I Am
Spaceman [segue into...]
Corn Bread
#41
So Much To Say [segue into...]
Anyone Seen The Bridge [segue into...]
Too Much (Fake) [segue into...]
Tripping Billies
Funny The Way It Is
So Damn Lucky
Grey Street
__________________

Blue Water
Crash Into Me
Stay (Wasting Time)

A lot of fun. A couple of days of great DMB music to lighten the mood and heal the soul. Just a great couple of trips for concerts. Outstanding.

Dave Matthews Band - Raleigh

Wednesday night saw the first of two North Carolina concerts by the Dave Matthews Band. So naturally, being a member of their Warehouse fan club, I bought tickets to both shows before the general public. Wednesday in Raleigh and Friday in Charlotte.

After work was over and immediately on the way to Raleigh, first it was a stop at the Carolina Brewery & Grill in Pittsboro for a delicious barbeque chicken pizza and pints of Flagship IPA. Satiated and quenched, it was back in the Jeep to the [insert corporate sponsor name here] Amphiteatre at Walnut Creek.

Logging in at just a hair under 2 and a half hours, this show just rocked my socks off. It was bittersweet in that their longtime saxophone/horn player LeRoi Moore had passed away in an ATV accident, and this was my first show with him gone. And, because his shoes were so large to fill, it took TWO additional horn players to fit the bill and, I wouldn't say "replace" him, but rather to take his spot on the stage. Tim Reynolds was along to play electric guitar (even Dave busted out the electric for the new song Why I Am!), and there was no Butch Taylor sighting as there were no keyboards tonight.


From the raucous Bartender to the closing Two Step to the long encore of All Along the Watchtower melding into the heavy portions of Stairway to Heaven, this show was spectacular.

The set list:

Wednesday Apr 22 2009
Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion at Walnut Creek

Bartender
#27
Why I Am
Anyone Seen The Bridge [segue into...]
Too Much (Fake) [segue into...]
Ants Marching
You Might Die Trying
Spaceman
Corn Bread
Raven
Dancing Nancies [segue into...]
Warehouse
Funny The Way It Is
So Damn Lucky
#41
Grey Street
Two Step

__________________

Blue Water
All Along The Watchtower

Sweet.