Rick Springfield - St. Charles, IL

08/13/2009
Rick Springfield
Arcada Theater
St. Charles, IL

Opening band: None

Dave Matthews Band - Noblesville, IN

08/01/2009
Dave Matthews Band
Verizon Wireless Music Center
Noblesville, IN

Opening Band: Hill Country Review

Whew!! What an incredible weekend!! In fact, we both said that this was the most fun that we have had on a DMB weekend in quite a long time. The crowd was so much better than the one at Alpine a few weeks ago, which is good. I was worried that I was getting too old for this stuff :)

This was the first time that we have ever camped at a DMB show, and had an absolute blast. We stayed at Close By Campground, which worked out great. It was about a mile from the venue, so we were able to hang out at the campsite until it was time to go to the show. All we had to do was hop on a school bus and they shuttled us over. We had great "neighbors" both nights, and it was pretty mellow in our section of the campground. There was free spaghetti after the Saturday show, which was cool.

This show seemed a lot shorter than the previous night, but was still incredible. I was hoping for Two Step, and my wish came true! I am surprised that I still have my voice, because I was singing and yelling the whole time. It started raining shortly after the show started. We were in the pavillion, so it didn't matter much. Luckily, we were able to catch the bus back to the campground. We had a bit of trouble finding out where it stopped the previous night, so wound up walking back on Friday.

Setlist:
You Might Die Trying *
Seven *
You and Me *
Dancing Nancies *
Lying In the Hands of God *
Shotgun *
Say Goodbye *
Funny The Way It Is *
Dive In *
Crush *
The Stone *
Shake Me Like a Monkey *
Alligator Pie
Burning Down The House *
Pantala Naga Pampa *
Rapunzel *

Encore:
Don’t Drink the Water *
Two Step *

Show Notes:
* Jeff Coffin

Dave Matthews Band - Noblesville, IN

07/31/2009
Dave Matthews Band
Verizon Wireless Music Center
Noblesville, IN

Opening Band: Hill Country Review

We were originally planning on driving down to Noblesville after work on Friday, and just going to the Saturday show. I am so glad that we decided to get tickets for Friday and go down earlier. This was an awesome show!! Watchtower was even better than the version at Alpine. This time, Dave actually sang some of the lyrics to Stairway to Heaven in the middle of it. Goosebump time!!

Setlist:
Bartender *
Proudest Monkey *
Satellite *
Seven *
Shake Me Like a Monkey *
Funny The Way It Is *
#41 *
You Never Know *
Why I Am *
Crash (Into Me) *
Spaceman *
So Damn Lucky *
Lie In Our Graves *
(Shotgun )
Squirm *
Alligator Pie *
Jimi Thing
Time Bomb *
__________________

Rye Whiskey +
The Maker *
All Along The Watchtower *

Show Notes:
* Jeff Coffin

Dave Matthews Band - East Troy, WI

07/18/2009
Dave Matthews Band
Alpine Valley Music Theatre
East Troy, WI

Opening Band: Umphrey's McGee

Not the best of setlists, but the show rocked anyway! We love going to Alpine Valley, but it is quite an ordeal. First of all, the venue is out in the middle of NOWHERE! It seemed like most all of the county roads were under construction, and detours were necessary. We had to detour to get to the motel, and then again to get to the show. (Note to self...we NEED a GPS!)

Tailgating was fun, but I wonder if I am getting too darn old for this. Maybe I am just not drunk enough. We set up camp, and cooked our dinner. We had an area corralled off with our chairs, but there were drunk kids continuously wandering barging through with no regard for what was going on. We saw several of them burn themselves on a grill that the people across from us had set between cars to let cool down. Not to mention the drunk dad who was grilling and telling his teenage (drunk) daughters to pee alongside the SUV at 3 in the afternoon.

Once we got into the show, the freak show continued. Baggy-plaid-short-backwards-hat-wearing frat boys were all over the place. They high fived everyone in sight as if they thought everyone else wanted to celebrate their drunkenness. The show was very good, and lasted well over 2 1/2 hours. I would have liked to see Two Step and / or Watchtower, but it was not meant to be. Luckily, we were in the pavillion. Well...we wouldn't be there if we weren't...since we had a very bad experience in the lawn at Jimmy Buffett a few years back. The place is steep, and it is quite a workout to get out of there. Bryon and I were holding hands so we wouldn't lose each other. As we got near the top of the hill, some drunk kid ran into our outstretched hands...and then proceeded to get pissed at us because we wouldn't let go. "Go hold hands somewhere else!" No, dude...go be messed up somewhere else...thank you! Then there was the girl kneeling on the ground right outside the gate. Sure enough, as soon as we were walking by she started spewing red puke out her mouth. Nice.

The fun didn't end there. When we got back to the car, we found that some idiots had dumped all of their garbage on the ground between our car and the one next to us. Never mind that we (everyone in the area) had made a point to pick up all of our crap before that and put it in the dumpsters. Now we had rotten hot dogs, Jack Daniels bottles, beer bottles, and other assorted crap under our tires. Nice again. It always takes a long time to get out of Alpine, but this time it was exceptionally long. We saw at least three crashes in the parking lot because drunk people thought they saw their big break and smashed into another drunken idiot. That just made it even longer. It was after 2 AM before we even were able to move from our spot. More detours on the way back...and it was almost 3 AM before we got back to our crappy motel. I didn't sleep at all that night because it was so uncomfortable. I fell asleep on Sunday night at 6:30 PM and didn't wake up again until 12 hours later! All reports that I read were that the Sunday show was better than Saturday. Doesn't matter...there's no way that I could have done two nights in a row at Alpine!!

Setlist:
Funny The Way It Is *
You Might Die Trying *
Spaceman *
Corn Bread *
Seven *
Dancing Nancies *
Shake Me Like a Monkey *
Smooth Rider *
Lying In the Hands of God *
Crush *
The Stone *
Alligator Pie *
So Damn Lucky *
Why I Am *
Louisiana Bayou *
Grey Street *
__________________

You Never Know (tease)
Pantala Naga Pampa *
Rapunzel *
Ants Marching *

Show Notes:
* Jeff Coffin

Night Ranger - Joliet, IL

06/27/2009
Night Ranger
Taste of Joliet
Joliet, IL

We should have gone to the show in Downers Grove last night instead of this one!!

I checked the weather forecast before we left home, and storms were forecasted to move into the area after 10 PM. That was well after the time that Night Ranger was supposed to finish their set, and I was neutral about seeing Joan Jett. We staked out a claim on the lawn area, and sampled many of the food items. As they were setting up the stage for Night Ranger, they announced that severe weather was forecasted to move through in about 35 minutes. If it did, they would stop the show and everyone was supposed to move under the concrete bleachers to the east, which would provide a shield from the storm. Right before the band was supposed to come on at 7:30 PM, they said that it looked like the storm would move through quickly and the show would continue while it moved through.

The sky looked like this...

Night Ranger came out and played about 5 songs. The sky got darker and darker, and it got windy. We felt a few drops of rain, and saw quite a bit of lightning. We noticed that they had deflated the giant balloons at the entrance, and had lowered the roof of the stage in anticipation of the storm. The band was in the middle of a song when they abruptly stopped and said that they were instructed to stop and get off of the stage because of weather. We headed under the bleachers, as instructed earlier. There was a lot of rain and lightning. After about 45 minutes, I called my brother and had him look at the radar. He said that it looked bad for quite a while yet. We decided to cut our losses and go home. By this time, it was about 9 PM, and saw that all of the equipment was being removed from the stage. Night Ranger was not coming back out, and we doubted that Joan Jett would play, either. This morning, I read that she never did play.

Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood - Chicago, IL

06/17/2009
Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood
United Center
Chicago, IL

Opening Band: None

I didn't know a lot of the songs, but it was a great show!

Set List:
01. Had To Cry Today
02. Low Down
03. After Midnight
04. Presence of The Lord
05. Sleeping in the Ground
06. Glad
07. Well Alright
08. Tough Luck Blues
09. Pearly Queen
10. Crossroads
11. There's A River
12. Forever Man
13. Georgia On My Mind - Steve Winwood solo
14. Driftin' - acoustic
15. How Long Blues
- possible that Nobody Knows You was performed here -
16. Layla - acoustic version
17. Can't Find My Way Home
18. Split Decision
19. Voodoo Chile

Encore:
20. Sweet Home Chicago / Watch Yourself*
21. Going Down*

* with Buddy Guy (guitar, vocals)

Additional reviews here.

Dave Matthews Band - Las Vegas, NV

05/09/2009
Dave Matthews Band
MGM Grand Garden Arena
Las Vegas, NV

Opening Band: Jason Mraz

Another great show, but I think that I liked the first night better. It didn't help that I was sunburned, exhausted, and my feet hurt :) The MGM Grand is a fabulous place to see a DMB show!

Setlist:
Bartender *
Stay Or Leave *
Granny
Why I Am *
Grey Street *
Recently *
Crash Into Me *
Spaceman *
Dancing Nancies *
Funny The Way It Is *
Warehouse *
Dreaming Tree *
Crush *
(Stir It Up) *
Crush *
Everyday *
Pantala Naga Pampa *
Rapunzel *

__________________

The Maker *
Anyone Seen The Bridge *
Too Much (Fake) *
Ants Marching *

Show Notes:
* Jeff Coffin

(song name) indicates a partial song

Dave Matthews Band - Las Vegas, NV

05/08/2009
Dave Matthews Band
MGM Grand Garden Arena
Las Vegas, NV

Opening Band: Jason Mraz

Whew! This was an incredible show!! The new songs were very good, and were stuck in our heads long after the show was over. The old favorites did not disappoint, and were given a new twist with Tim Reynolds on electric guitar. The crowd did most of the singing on "Jimi Thing", which was very cool. And, any show that includes "Two Step" and "Watchtower" is a great show!

***********************

The DMB road crew summed it up best:
"It happened in Vegas. Word's will never fully describe it. Find the tape. This one won't stay in Vegas."

The DMB Crew
Saturday, May 9
2:06 AM PDT

***********************

This You Tube clip is of "All Along The Watchtower", which is one of the most incredible versions that I have ever seen. The band managed to mix a bit of "Stairway to Heaven" into the middle of the song...unbelieveable!!!

Setlist:
Tripping Billies *
Spaceman *
Corn Bread *
Seven *
So Damn Lucky *
Out Of My Hands
You Might Die Trying *
Funny The Way It Is *
#41 *
Why I Am *
Where Are You Going
Jimi Thing *
Rhyme And Reason *
Burning Down The House *
Two Step
__________________

Rye Whiskey +
All Along The Watchtower *

Show Notes:
* Jeff Coffin
+ Dave Solo

Tim Reynolds & TR3 - Evanston, IL

02/26/2009
Tim Reynolds & TR3
SPACE
Evanston, IL

Opening band: None

It's no secret that we're huge DMB fans. Bryon and I have both been fan club members for over 8 years, and have many kick-ass shows under our belts to show for it. So, what could we do when one of Dave's buddies announced that he was playing a show in the Chicago area in a tiny place that holds only 200 people? On a "school night" on top of that? What any sane person would do! Book those tickets NOW and figure out a plan later :)

Since we both work in the 'burbs, we decided that we would drive up to Evanston after work and stay the night. There was no sense in driving 80 miles home only to get up after a couple of hours of sleep to drive back. Our plan worked out great!

We went for the reserved seats, and wound up right next to the stage on Tim's side. WOW!

We have been lucky enough to see Tim play with DMB several times. We have loved listening to him play on Live at Luther College and Live at Radio City Music Hall. We tried getting tix for a Dave & Tim show a few years ago, and that was the ONLY time we had a fan club request turned down. Hmmmm...we thought this might be a good show :)We weren't really familiar with his own stuff, and didn't know what to expect. He is a guitar genius! Most of his songs are instrumental, and reminded me a lot of Joe Satriani and Steve Vai. It was amazing to see him work that guitar from such a fabulous vantage point. I will admit that it was a bit "trippy" at times, and we didn't get the Winnie the Pooh with the gas mask and cow with the devil head near the end of the show. Other than that, it was a very enjoyable night of music, and we're looking forward to seeing him again on tour with DMB this summer!

Jim Peterik & World Stage - Glen Ellyn, IL

01/17/2009
Jim Peterik & World Stage
College of DuPage
Glen Ellyn, IL

We look forward to the World Stage show each year because it is such a great collection of talent. This year was no exception! We were treated to performances by Jimi Jamison (Survivor), Kelly Keagy (Night Ranger), Don Barnes (38 Special), Rik Emmett (Triumph), David Pack (Ambrosia), Nick Colionne, Lisa McClowry, Ides of March, Lobster Newberg, and of course, Jim Peterik (Ides of March, Survivor). They were backed up by an incredible band, with as many as 20 people on the stage at one time!

Jim Peterik and Jimi Jamison

Jim Peterik and Rik Emmett

Jim Peterik and Nick Colionne

Jim Peterik and Kelly Keagy

Jim Peterik

Guitars, guitars, guitars...Jim Peterik, Mike Aquino, and Joel Hoekstra

Don Barnes

David Pack