This was the second year in a row that I went with my friends to see Dave Matthews Band play on Long Island. This year, fortunately for me, they were preceded by the Zac Brown Band, who I seriously love being that I am a country music fan and have recently traveled to their mother land in Nashville. One of their first songs was "Toes" which is an excellent summer song that requires a beach chair and a Bud Light Lime to fully enjoy, but I was standing in the middle of a crowd of thousands, so I didn't have either and enjoyed it just fine.
Towards the end of their set, they sang "Chicken Fried" and I teared up a little when they got into the part about saluting "the ones who died and the ones who gave their lives so we don't have to sacrifice all the things we love..." It's a fun song, I just get a little emotional when they talk about the pride that lives within being an American. (Pause) But, then I went back to screaming and dancing along with them. Zac Brown even made an announcement about autism awareness and how important it was to help children. Very commendable. They ended their set with a cover of "Killing in the Name of" by Rage Against the Machine. It was pretty great and we rocked out.
Then, around 8:30 p.m., DMB came out and I only knew a handful of the songs they played. I do love Boyd though. He plays the violin and is pretty sick. It always impresses me when a big dude chooses to play such a female-dominated instrument. And, back off with the Yo-Yo Ma comments because you know what I mean. It is just very unexpected. I also noticed that Carter, their drummer, had the best smile. He was just beating on the drums and smiling away, the whole concert! He is part of a pretty amazing band with more than a million fans, so I don't know what there is to frown about, but it was good to see he was having a good time along with the rest of us.
TK was a little perturbed with their choice of encore songs, but I didn't mind because I knew I wouldn't know the words to them anyway. DMB ended with "All Along the Watchtower" and TK started the walk to the car. I stayed with my friend Nicole because I just love and appreciate live music. This may be because I only played the recorder and clarinet in middle school and they never really caught on. I do sing though...alone...in my car.
The entire DMB set list from Saturday is listed here: http://road.davematthewsband.com/SetlistsDir/setlist.asp and my favorite songs of the night were "Funny the Way it is," "Satellite," "Crash" and "Shake Me Like a Monkey." We had a great time and I am looking to go to another concert this summer, but preferably one that I can sit in a seat at least part of the time.
