Re: I ask this honestly - What was the last, great show?
Alpine 2012.
I first saw DMB live Alpine 2010. From there I was hooked, and I mean obsessed. I was "that guy"; the one who continuously tried to play everyone different versions of favorite songs at every opportunity, though most wanted not that. I cringe at this reality now, but it was undoubtedly a critical time in my life. I was a kid trying to make sense of adulthood. Both subjective terms, yet defined personally.
2 years, 3 Chicago caravan shows, and countless hours of listening later, I was on my way back to Alpine Valley. My personal music mecca. 5 of us riding in a packed minivan from West Michigan, ready to meet up with a group we met in 2010. We decided camping nearby the venue and chartering a school bus was the best option for such a large group. Hindsight now allows me to say, we were "those people". Tie dyed shirts, cases of beer, loud music and many other substances... To note, I still love all of those things, just at a lesser degree. The weather was hot, but not Wisconsin hot, like desert hot. Temperatures were well above 100, with no breeze whatsoever. At the show most bus groups set-up-shop between them, in the little shade available. I would of hated to end a bus row those days. The mere thought of throwing a frisbee created swamp ass, sunburn and dehydration. Yet, we carried on, and carried on well. The heat cut down our beer consumption, but not our spirits.
Maybe it was the beer or, stuff, or my heightened sense of DMB's catalog... but, it. was. amazing. The band playing 3 hours sets, 2 nights in a row, the best they could in front of a sold out crowd drenched in their own sweat. Dave's awareness of the elements provided 2 setlists that I believe to be unmatched. The fans perseverance paid off, and we were rewarded. If you were there and don't consider these shows to be a peak, I am both jealous and skeptical.
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