Dave Matthews Band at the Gorge – Part 2: The Show

Trafton B.

September 6, 2010 - 3:57 PM

Wow! Who knew you could have so much fun in the-middle-of-nowhere Easter Washington? Words can barely describe the events that took place this weekend.

On Friday night we rolled into the Gorge campgrounds around 5 o'clock, just in time to set up camp and mosey over to the amphitheater as the sun set behind the stage. We walked over the hill just in time to hear Boyd jam on the electric violin over Stefan's funky baseline for "Crush."

This weekend was my first time seeing Dave live. I swiped my DMB card, so to speak. I've always been a fan but after hearing DMB just about every time I walked into Cam's room over the past two years I came to appreciate it more. And watching them play live this weekend made me understand why people travel from across the nation to see them play.

Tim Reynolds on the main guitar. Boyd Tinsley on the violin. Jeff Coffin on the saxophone with Rashawn Ross on the trumpet. Carter Beauford with his dreadlocks and white gloves in the background on the drums. By themselves these guys are ridiculously talented musicians. Then you add Dave on guitar and vocals and you've created a band that will go down in history. I found it ironic that these were my thoughts while listening to them play "Best of What's Around" at the end of the night.

After the show ended, we stumbled back through the tents in the dark. Trying to remember where you parked and navigating back to that spot after each show is a classic game at the Gorge. Thankfully Cam and his cousins once again offered years of Labor-Dave-Weekend expertise and we didn't have too much trouble.

On Saturday morning, the sun woke us up far earlier than we had hoped. Not to mention our tents were no more than thirty feet from a line of Honey Buckets. No, it wasn't the porta potty aroma that woke us up, but rather the constant slamming of those heavy plastic doors that coaxed us into waking. Thankfully, we had something to look forward to.

Sometime between 8 & 9AM every morning, the campgrounds quickly transforms from a peaceful sea of colorful tents into the largest tailgater imaginable. I thought Autzen was party central on Saturday mornings, but that was before I'd experienced this. It was like a tailgater with every school in the Northwest. Washington State. U-Dub. Oregon State. Steven's cousins, who we met at the show, were from Puget Sound. And obviously, there were some random schools like Central Michigan and Kansas State. The best part about this tailgater is that everyone wins! There's no losing team at the end of the day. Just Dave's songs stuck in your head.

Our group didn't even have tickets for Saturday's show. It didn't matter though because the Gorge was more than just a DMB concert. We spent all day Saturday bouncing around from one activity to the other, making new friends and neighbors with the cars, campers and Budget Trucks next to us.

We played ladder golf, Polish horseshoes, and whatever you call that beanbag toss game. I contemplated taking a shower. Don't worry, I didn't. Part of the Gorge is embracing the grime and grunge. When in Rome... I guess.

In the afternoon, we hid away from the sun under our Oregon canopy tent and listened to college football on the radio. In case you didn't hear, the Ducks won handily over the New Mexico Lobos, 72-0. Much better start to the season than last year.

Cam's friend, Greg, spent most of the afternoon standing on Brian's truck with a football. He would wait for some unsuspecting person to walk past. Then he'd yell something like, "Hey, you. Go long!" or "Pretty girl in the white dress, catch the ball." He'd toss the football and hope that whomever he threw to could actually throw it back. Thankfully, it was a leather football or else every window in the truck would be shattered by now. I later climbed in the truck bed to do the same routine with a Frisbee.

As the sun retreated and the temperature dropped from the 90s, Trey and I walked around the campgrounds. We checked out the scenery and ran into a few friends from Oregon. It was our exercise for the day.

Sunday, it was more of the same except we had tickets for the concert at night. This time we headed into the concert in time to hear the opener, Ben Harper, play a few songs before Dave came out.

I'm struggling to remember all the songs they played because apparently half our group fell asleep for a portion of the show. They definitely played "Crash Into Me," which I remember because it was the first Dave song I ever heard. The highlight of the night was hearing the band play "Trippin' Billies" and follow it up by diving right into "Ants Marching." And as we were walking out, they started playing "Stay," which again I found ironic.

Overall, it was an epic weekend. We're driving home through the labyrinth of highways back to Vancouver... still listening to Dave. I suspect that I'll be listening to it for at least the next week.

For now, it's back to the real world. Back to work. Back to listening to the Giants on the radio. Back to wishing every weekend could be like this one. Sadly, Dave won't be at the Gorge next year. The band is taken some much-deserved time off from touring together. I guess that makes this weekend that much sweeter.