Submitted by Tim Allmon
Even though this was my 7th DMB show, it was a night of firsts for me. I got to hear some of my favorites and they were as good as I could've imagined. The night got off to a slow start, even though Too Much was a prety good opener. As soon as I saw Roi grab the "big bubba" sax, I immediately thought Too Much. Sure enough, and it got the crowd going right away. Then, I saw Dave's tech bring out the electric and I feared the worst. Yep, I Did It followed. At least they got it out of the way early. Then R&R. I've never really been a fan of this one, and that's when I started thinking we weren't going to get one of DMB's better shows. Thankfully, it got MUCH better. You Never Know seems to be a pretty good tune, although I'll need to hear it more to get a good feel for it. Space Between was pretty standard. Grey Street is quickly becoming one of my favorites. A lot of energy that got me going again after the slow start. WWYS, an oldie but a goodie. Where Are You Going was a little hard to hear, but seems like it will be a regular in the rotation. Might even be good acoustic. OSW was great as always. Man, I love that song. After OSW, Fonz kept playing some notes while the others changed up, and finally started in with the first few chords of CRUSH!!! One of the few songs I wanted to hear and it was ABSOLUTE TOTAL GREATNESS!!!!! The show could've ended there and I would've been more than satisfied. My first time to hear it and it was better than I could've expected. Then another so-so song in DIDO, but PIG followed. Another first, and one I really wanted to hear. They didn't screw it up as I heard they did in Woodlands. In fact, they nailed it!!! When I didn't think it could've gotten any better, it did. Two Step kicked ass. Butch added a really nice solo toward the end (I love what he adds to the shows). After that, I thought for sure they were done. Nope. Out comes STDH. Pretty standard, but I though they'd segue into Grace, which is one of my favorites. Wrong again. Instead, ANTS!!! My all-time favorite! And the best version I've ever heard. Wow, what a treat! Who needs an encore after that finish? Well, Dave threw us all a curveball and pulled out an acoustic version of Everyday. Couldn't believe it! The first time he's played it on this tour (I think) and he nailed it. Great song. Then Billies brought down the house and I know I'll have a sore throat for days after tonight. A tremendous show even if it did start rather slow.
