Raleigh 2015

[sabonis34]

i may not post here much, but i have been going to shows for the past 18 years, so i feel like i should have insight here.

I just got home from the Raleigh show, and there are two emotions that envelope me at the current time. The first is thank goodness for Branford Marsalis. What he did for the band tonight is beyond words. He rescued them from the depths of mediocrity and delivered them to a place where they rarely go anymore, and that is above expectations. Unfortunately, that was immediately followed by the disappointment in the Lovely Ladies, who sent a good portion of the crowd streaming for the exits. Honestly, look at the set lists here: the acoustic set was completely mediocre: Red Bird (opened a show already this tour), Snow Outside (played here acoustic last year), Jane - always a crowd pleaser - no exception here. So Damn Lucky through Billies - great, but its all familiar stuff that anyone who has been to more than 3 shows and has heard numerous times. Electric set opening with #41, into Seven and Black and Blue Bird (both of which you cant escape in this tour) followed with fan favorites (3 of 5) Warehouse, Shake Me, Love Lay Down, Typical Situation and Jimi. That's fantastic, until you follow that with Save Me, Rooftop and Stay, which has closed Raleigh either in regular set or encore 4 times since 2003. This is a band where people come back every year. Where i used to plan my summer around, But they dont seem to care anymore. Where is the band that i fell in love with, that wasn’t predictable in their set lists?

Gone are the days that we can rely on this band to satisfy any “hardcore” fans. The fans in the audience tonight were making noise for Satellite and Billies and Shake Me. I’m sick of those. I’ve seen enough of those. But maybe they aren’t playing to people like me anymore. The people who would travel to multiple venues every year, and pay for quality seats every year to hopefully hear things that they hadn’t heard before. The people who want to hear I’ll Back You Up, which has never been played in Raleigh despite it being within 2.5 hours of Charlottesville and the band having played here over 20 times in 20 plus years, are left wanting more. I want more. I want this band to be as good as they can be, as good as I wish them to be, as good as they should be. But at this point, I’m close to being done with shows.

While I am grateful to have been at every show Branford has ever guested at, this might be my last. This band seemingly no longer makes an effort to put forth anywhere near their best effort on a given night, and I no longer feel the need, with a wife and a daughter, to spend the copious amount of money and time required for a quality seat and entertainment that goes along with the show. There is no one in particular to fault within the band, especially some given their twitter presence and seemingly willingness to impart change within the band and the set lists. Unfortunately, this just hasn’t happened. The set lists have gotten stale, as well as many fans taste for the band. I don’t know what else there is to do at this point. I really want to continue to love this band, but they are making it extremely difficult to love them with the performances they put on. I understand the greatness of shows like tonight with meaningful guests like Marsalis, but to close with Stay, Granny, What Would You Say is completely underestimating the forgiveness and intelligence of your fan base. I'm glad I left early. I saved beer money and got home at a reasonable hour. We deserve more, and we should demand more. If you would have been happy with this as your one show of the summer, congrats, you will probably get something similar sometime soon. If you would have not wanted to spend almost $200 for a pair of tickets, not to mention food and drinks, I’m just trying to impart some wisdom here: don’t spend the money, it’s not worth it anymore. I know from experience. Just download/listen to a show from any other tour, and you will get the same experience, without spending a bunch of money, for your local show this year.
If this is the first time you get to experience a show, by all means, go - you will hardly ever get musicians who are as good and as quality all around as this band. But if you are expecting great things from this band at this point in their career, time to look elsewhere.
My wife asked this evening why i still wanted to see this band when i had such reservations about the show. And its not a simple answer. Because I have seen this band do amazing things, and yet also do completely lackluster sets. I had no good answer, other than "I hope this set is different." And to hope is a dangerous thing, because hope is both real and false at the same time, depending on your point of view.

[bailiwick1]

The Raleigh show was my first of many shows this year. As in so many years. I loved this show. Having seen Branford Marsalis play with the band before I always appreciate the wonderful surprise he brings to the show. The incredible version of Typical Situation where the horn section just took off to amazing heights is one of those show takeaways that I will always remember. And yes I was surrounded by hardcore fans and we were staring at each other with jaws dropped at this jam. It was the first time seeing the Lovely Ladies and thought it was a pretty darn good choice to use their gospel sound on "Save Me". They were only there for maybe 3 songs and added that difference and then gone. I go to see and Hear Dave and to still marvel at the musicians that make up this band. I really strongly disagree with the cynical fans that say the band is getting stale or boring. Are there some songs that I don't get it why folks like it so much like Satellite? Sure. But then I hear how the crowd reacts to it and say ok well he plays it because he gets that reaction to it. So, I am looking forward to ALL the shows I am going to this summer and go to each one to just listen, watch and enjoy being with other fans that I only know by seeing them at other shows.
I love this band and its members and what they bring to each and every show past and present.