Dave Matthews Band Caravan at the Gorge Amphitheater on Sunday, September 4th
It was exciting coming to the Dave Matthews Band Caravan at the Gorge because I love music festivals. I love how festivals bring in multiple stages, activities, and lots of other vendors. There is always something to find and do whether its music related or not. The Dave Matthews Band Caravan layout was very similar to Sasquatch Music Festival’s layout, so it was pretty easy for us to come in and figure out what was going on. There were three stages (Plaza, Meadow, Main) and nine bands performing. The nine bands were Infantree, Antibalas, Josh Ritter & the Royal City Band, The Moondoggies, Dave & Tim, Dispatch, The Low Anthem, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, and Dave Matthews Band. For the most part it was pretty easy to get to see most of the artists performing today from the plaza stage to the main stage.
Once we got inside the venue and were situated Antibalas was the first group we saw perform today. Antibalas is an afrobeat band that had everyone’s hips shaking! I counted 11 artists in the group on stage which also included a horn section, drums, bongos, singers and more. It spiced up the morning and their music definitely got the day rolling. After watching Antibalas we headed down the hill to see Moscow, Idaho’s Josh Ritter & the Royal City Band! It was so awesome to see Josh Ritter on the main stage at the Gorge and it had to have been cool from him since he was only a few hours from home. Josh Ritter & the Royal City Band were working it on the main stage and Josh was even wearing all black – he had to be hot! They had ear to ear grins on their faces and at one point Josh got down on his knees and was orchestrating the crowd to sing along. A few of the Josh Ritter & the Royal City Band songs we heard included “Good Man,” “Wolves,” “Right Moves,” “Girl in the War,” and a few more. After watching a few from Josh Ritter we did head up the hill to catch the tail end of the Moondoggies set. Matt is a huge fan and was stoked to be able to catch at least a few of their songs.
All of the sudden there was a huge, huge, huge crowd at the Meadow stage and it clearly made sense because Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds were set to hit the stage at 3:45pm. It was crazy over there and yet very cool because I was standing off to the side of the stage and I heard multiple people say… this is the closest they have ever been to Dave!!! The excitement was ringing from the crowd of diehard fans. It was also so cool to stand up by the stage because from the first song on 90% of the crowd knew every single word to each song and they quietly sang along. It was incredible. Dave Matthews was wearing his expensive pajamas on stage and together the two strummed and picked away, along with telling a few stories like Dave’s random one about the sound tortoises make while having sex. Yep, he went there. At one point Dave Matthews even sat back and quietly watched (along with the rest of us) Tim Reynolds just pick away at his guitar. Watching Dave and Tim perform together was a great addition to the Sunday Lineup.
We headed down the hill to check out Dispatch for a few songs and there was a party going on down there! I haven’t had the chance to see Dispatch before and it was fun to watch the crowd get into their set. They had an indie roots kind of jam band-ish set that was perfect for the weather and the crowd. We headed back up the hill to grab a bite to eat and watched a few songs from the Low Anthem. There was an overall relaxed sunny day feel to the festival which was nice. It was perfect for all ages and there were plenty of families at the show; I saw numerous little tikes running around in the grass and dancing to the songs.
I was so excited to see Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros perform, partially because each time I have seen them in concert I miss watching them perform “Home;” I have heard it in the background on my way to another stage or what not but I haven’t actually got to stand and dance, sing to the entire song… until today! It was pretty cool to see Chad from Dispatch run by me to watch “Home” too. I also did all of the above (sing & dance) to a few other songs like “40 Days,” “Janglin,” “Carries On,” “Black Water,” and “Desert Song.” Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros treated us to a new song called “If You Want,” which was a fun one to sing along too once we learned the chorus. It was cool to see Alex jump into the crowd and interact with the audience a lot during their set too. However after hearing “Home” it was time to run down the hill for the main event of the night, the final event of the weekend, Dave Matthews Band.
I have been to the whole Labor Day Dave event once before and was awed at the amount of fans that knew the songs, had the tattoos, and were so excited to watch Dave Matthews Band perform. It was the same energy tonight, the kind of energy that makes you excited even if you don’t know all of the songs. Of course Dave Matthews Band sounded perfect! Dave mentioned how tonight they were going to keep it smooth and slowly end the weekend. He also said the audience looked delicious, like dip you in chocolate sauce and eat you delicious. It is impressive to see him with his guitar and Tim but it’s a whole other level to see him with the full band. The sound is rich and you can’t help but not love the crowd singing along. During “Crash Into Me” we looked over and noticed Alex from Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros standing ten feet away from us enjoying the DMB set too. It was a cool experience and a perfect night. Sunday was a relaxing day of music with some dancing and plenty of sun shine. Matt said it right… Labor Day Weekend, the stage at the Gorge belongs to Dave Matthews Band… it wouldn’t be right for another band to headline there when every year he captivates the audience and has us all on our feet, singing and dancing along. We are lucky to be one of the four stops on the Dave Matthews Band Caravan this year and we can all only hope that Dave will return to the Gorge on Labor Day 2012.
Dave & Tim Set List
Grace Is Gone
Save Me
So Damn Lucky
Little Red Bird
Old Dirt Hill
Tim solo
Oh
Eh Hee
Dancing Nancies
Dave Matthews Band Set List
Everyday
Seek Up
Why I Am
Alligator Pie
Crash Into Me
Say Goodbye
Digging a Ditch
Warehouse
Raven
Gravedigger
Lie In Our Graves
Loving Wings
Good Times Bad Times
Black Jack
Granny
All Along The Watchtower
__________________
Baby Blue
Lie In Our Graves
Halloween
Thank You
PHOTOS COURTESY OF MATT AUCLAIR.
