Starlake N2 Review and what happened afterwards

[41 Step]

Third show of the year for me (MSG, IZOD) and ninth overall, not including the Today Show. Also, the first time I ever traveled more than 2.5 hours to any concert whatsoever. I went up there with Norm (maker75) and Dave (ArmyDaveFan), leaving the former's house outside of Allentown at around 10 in the morning, listening to the tape of SPAC N2 on the way up, and finally arriving a bit after 4. We quickly found and joined the Ants tailgate, where I met several Ants. I'm not going to attempt to name them all as there were way too many, but for those I did meet (I was the guy with the black fedora if any of you are reading this), it was a pleasure.

I was on the lawn this time and watched with a couple of guys from my high school who had also happened to be making the trip. White curtain this time as opposed to the black one at the first two shows. One of the guys from my high school called Don't Drink the Water to open, and I called Bartender. When the lights went off, I heard Dave noodling in Drop D, and it sounded like he was playing the 6-string, which would have meant my friend was right. However, after a bit, it became evident that he was actually playing the 12-string, which meant that for the first time ever...

Bartender - ...I correctly called the opener at a show I was at. But as much as I love the song, this performance was somewhat underwhelming. In particular, Jeff's pennywhistle solo, which he absolutely nailed at IZOD, never seemed to go anywhere. Nevertheless, always a solid choice for an opener.

Squirm - I knew this was coming as soon as I saw the Veillette out. One of the best songs on BWGK and it translates extremely well live. Wish they'd add a jam to it, but maybe that'll happen with time.

Pig - It's, well, Pig! Oh, and Jeff's riffing during the choruses was fantastic, even better than at MSG. He has a really good feel for this song.

Dive In - Not a fan of this song, but it was okay. Not much else I can say about it.

Burning Down the House - Glad they're keeping this in rotation, it never fails to deliver. It's also a lot of fun to sing along to, but I was pretty much the only one in my area who was doing so.

The Stone - A first for me and one I'd been awaiting for quite awhile. As usual, it kicked ass. Also featured an exteneded solo by Jeff Coffin that, while not absolutely insane like 7.1.08, was still pretty damned impressive. One of his best songs for sure. The only downside was that I couldn't get anyone around me to sing "Can't Help Falling In Love" during the outro. I can hear the pavilion crowd singing it on the tape, but I couldn't hear that at all from the lawn.

ASTB > TM (fake) > Ants - As soon as Dave said "BABY!" the entire lawn, which had been extremely tame up to that point, spontaneously transformed into a gigantic dance party pulsating with energy. When I saw Jeff pick up the soprano, I decided to impress one of the girls standing near me and said, "They're gonna fake the intro to Too Much and then go into Ants Marching." She didn't believe me. When it actually happened she just stared at me, completely shocked. I wish I'd remembered they were faking the intro twice and said that as well, but maybe next time. As for Ants, it was fantastic as always, and Jeff did a much better job on his solo during the intro jam than he usually does. During the outro I pointed up to the sky in honor of Roi (to me, this will always be his song more than any other).

#40 - Wow. Was not expecting this AT ALL. Was pretty much Dave solo with an occasional fill from Carter. Also, it didn't go directly into DT as has been reported.

The Dreaming Tree - Glad to finally see this one again for the first time since Camden last year. It featured a great flute solo from Jeff that was unfortunately ruined by his use of the harmonizer, which made the solo sound harsh and dissonant, which I feel is not appropriate for the song at all. Harmonizer notwithstanding, a brilliant performance.

Why I Am - Nothing to say except it's Why I Am! Why...I...Am! Why........I........Am! Still here dancing with the GrooGrux King.

Funny The Way It Is - Knew this would show up eventually, and I don't like it a whole lot, so I took some time to walk around the lawn a bit.

Typical Situation - It's great that this is staying in regular rotation after being only played once last year. Jeff took the solo through the entire 4/4 section of the jam, and dueled with Rashawn during the 7/8 section. I did wish Tim had taken some of the leads as he did at SPAC, but more than anything I was more happy to see it again. I did like SPAC's Typical better though.

Shake Me Like A Monkey - I was probably looking forward to seeing this one live more than any of the other BWGK songs, so when they launched into it I was absolutely elated. They still have a few kinks to work out in it, but it did succeed in bringing teh energiez. Halfway through the song a girl noticed me singing all of the words and started playing off me. During the line "You and me, we belong together," I pointed at her, then myself. She laughed.

Crush - No bass intro from Stefan this time. During the beginning, I moved to a different section on the lawn, but some jackass pushed me out of the way. I flipped him off, then attempted to move elsewhere. He threw a water bottle at me, so I flipped him off again and ran the hell away. Standard performance aside from the outro, which Carter changed up a bit. The jam featured a Boyd solo followed by a Jeff/Tim duel which in my eyes was easily won by the latter. Jeff did way too much screeching.

The Song That Jane Likes - The first time I saw this song (8.8.07), I didn't know it, so I was happy to get it again.

You and Me - Good stuff. Not the best song in the world, but enjoyable, and a great precursor to...

TWO STEP - I quote from my MSG review: "This, folks, is the era of EPIC Two Steps. If you attend at least one Dave Matthews Band concert this year and do not witness a single Two Step, consider yourself robbed. For the things that Carter Beauford does on this song are so fucking nasty that they should be a criminal offense in every single state. That is all I am going to say about this song, as I don't think it can be sufficiently described using the English language." And this Two Step was easily the best Two Step I have ever heard. A JIMP-worthy guitar solo from Tim Reynolds that had some slide playing (which I hadn't heard him do on this song before) led into Carter's antics. And the outro...I can't even describe it. Listen for yourself, they didn't want to stop playing. It didn't even bother me that Jeff wasn't playing the glissando during that intro, although that was because I was singing that riff WITH the glissando while he was playing it. Of course, now that I'm listening to the tapes it annoys the hell out of me.

During the encore break I predicted Time Bomb followed by either Stay or Halloween. I was really hoping to get my first Halloween, and knew it was highly possible because it had already been played twice this year, but for some reason I had a feeling they were going to close with Stay because the curfew was coming up (which in hindsight was illogical considering that Halloween is generally shorter than Stay).

Rye Whiskey - I never appreciated how great Dave's rendition of the song is until I heard him play it in person. Listening for the first time, I thought it wasn't that great because it lacked the humorous delivery inherent in Tex Ritter's original version, but hearing it live completely changed it for me.

So with only about 6 minutes or so remaining before Starlake's 11:15 curfew, I'm expecting Stay, and I prepare myself for a head start to get the hell out of there. As it turned out, there was no need to do so...

Time Bomb - Works so much better live than on the studio version. It featured a Tim Reynolds solo that had a distinct classic rock feel to it. I thought to myself that it would be perfect for this song to segue into a Carter drum solo which would lead into Halloween. Of course, I didn't think it would actually happen...

...but it did.

HALLOWEEN - And I started flipping out. If somebody had told me when I started following the band that I would see my first Halloween before my tenth show, I would not have believed him at all. And yet, here I am, at my ninth show, seeing my first Halloween. After I got over the initial shock, I started singing along while making all of these creepy ghost-like hand motions. I didn't care what everyone thought, I was going to make the most of it no matter what. And the performance was absolutely spot-on, even better than the one from Oklahoma City that I keep raving about. It was probably the most spooky Halloween I have ever heard, courtesy of Tim, Boyd, and Rashawn. Along with Two Step, one of the two best performances of the show. I'll be listening to this one for years to come.

I would have liked to stay overnight, but Norm wanted to get back in time to see his son for Father's Day, so after waiting a couple hours in the parking lot for the traffic to ease while sharing thoughts on the show, the three of us commenced our 5+ hour drive from the western end of Pennsylvania to the eastern end. But there was still one more interesting experience to be had...

At about 4:30 AM, we made a pit stop at a rest stop in a town called Waterfall, and saw two of the tour buses there. Somebody there said they were stopping on their way to Newark Airport in New Jersey to fly to Europe. We decided to wait around for a bit to see if anyone came out. After nobody did, we decided to head on our way...

...exactly as the bus drivers did the same thing. So for the next hour and a half or so, we were following the buses down the Pennsylvania Turnpike. One of them was black, the other silver. I had no idea whose they were, but Norm said he was positive the black one was Dave's. The mere sight of them gave him a contact high and helped to keep him awake. When I decided to make this trip, I knew that getting my first Halloween was a possibility, but I would have never guessed that we would be sharing the road with the exact same band we were going back from seeing.

We finally arrived in Allentown a little before 7:30. I didn't get to sleep until I got back to Philly at 9 (a friend was letting me crash at his apartment), and didn't arrive back at my home in the suburbs until 3 PM. But I'll be damned if it wasn't worth it, and I can't wait to roadtrip again. Next stop: Bristow.

[DMBPATSFAN]

I moved to a different section on the lawn, but some jackass pushed me out of the way. I flipped him off, then attempted to move elsewhere. He threw a water bottle at me, so I flipped him off again and ran the hell away.

This made me LMFAO...as always Mike you have the best reviews on AM. Glad someone stays sober to remind the kiddies what happened at the show. Well worth the read. Glad you survived Pennsyltucky and made it back to civilization.

[smartyarty420]

41 step. nice review. you sound like a phish fan writing a review breaking each song down more than most people would.

[DMBPATSFAN]

Originally Posted by smartyarty420

41 step. nice review. you sound like a phish fan writing a review breaking each song down more than most people would.

That's the difference between musician/fans and alcohol/pot/fans...or fans.

He notices this stuff naturally because he understands music. I've been to shows with him, he knows which song is coming before any notes are played based on what color guitar, arrangement the band/Dave has.

Mike (41step) is the man

[k8m24]

boyd and dave both have solid black busses, with boyd's being slightly taller than daves. not sure about the silver....i think that one may be a crew bus.

[smartyarty420]

Originally Posted by DMBPATSFAN

That's the difference between musician/fans and alcohol/pot/fans...or fans.

He notices this stuff naturally because he understands music. I've been to shows with him, he knows which song is coming before any notes are played based on what color guitar, arrangement the band/Dave has.

Mike (41step) is the man

that's the kind of guy i'd like to hang out with and talk about dmb with and see a show with. i've never seen a show with a diehard like myself or maybe even more diehard than i am. guess it's why i come on these boards.

[41 Step]

One tidbit I forgot to add: there was a short power blink during Pig that lasted less than one second.

[rball1127]

nice review enjoyed reading that


ive been to alot of the same shows as u

[smokew11]

great great review

-the power outtage was almost funny, you can hear it in the tape (hopefully it wasnt a glitch that was read by the sbd)
-i was under the impression starlake didnt have a curfew..it was my 2nd show there and both ended around 1130

[NittanyLion07]

Great Review! I made the trip from the Philly area as well, and it was one of the best weekends i've ever had. I can't believe it only took me 3 shows to witness a pure CLASSIC!!!

[Bellissimo]

During the Carter drum solo, I yell "FUCK YEAH HALLOWEEENN!!!!!!!" and the solo kept going for a little while, and I quickly went "wait, maybe Timebomb got an extended outro"

I tend to yell things uncontrollably, at least this time I was right :\

[YodaBear]

nice meeting you this weekend, Mike. thanks for sharing your review!

[cpxc.]

been to post gazette so many times, and never knew there was a 11:15 curfew because everyone plays past that.

[41 Step]

Originally Posted by cpxc.

been to post gazette so many times, and never knew there was a 11:15 curfew because everyone plays past that.

Maybe I'm wrong about that...it's just what I had been told.

[enigma1434]

Great review, Mike.

[krkoeller]

Great review for a epic show.
_____________
Meadows 98 (x2), MSG 02 (first night), Fenway 06 (night 2), Charlottesville 09 (night 2), Meadows 09 (night 2), Start Lake 09 (night 2), Jones Beach 09 (x2)

[BrotherChaos420]

Originally Posted by 41 Step

One tidbit I forgot to add: there was a short power blink during Pig that lasted less than one second.

i noticed that too, i just thought it was a perfectly timed pause..lol.

[gregore]

Jeff Coffin flew out of Pittsburgh airport. My buddy met him Sunday morning. Not sure if he was going straight to Europe or not. but he was at the Marriott at 8:30 Sunday Morning.