St. Ignatius's The Eye: Volume LXXIX Number II

On Tuesday, June 29th, the Dave Matthews Band jammed for over two hours to a crowd of over 21 thousand on a beautiful evening at Blossom Music Center. Unfortunately, opener Keller Williams did absolutely nothing to get the crowd in the mood, but everyone soon forgot when Dave opened with a superb rendition of "Grey Street" followed by "Rhyme and Reason." These two songs really energized the crowd. Dave then treated us to the first of four brand new songs, "Sugar Will." After this song, which was very drawn out, I was skeptical about the other new songs Dave had to offer. Dave continued to keep the mood melancholic with "One Sweet World" and "The Space Between," but he got the blood pumping once again with their new song "Joy Ride," followed by crowd pleasers such as "Dancing Nancies" and "Warehouse." The band then unveiled their third latest song, entitled "Hello Again", which really got the crowd going, followed by "When the World Ends", "Granny", "What Would You Say", and their final new song "Crazy Easy."
As the sun settled behind the trees under a shroud of purple, red, and orange hues, my ear settled on the all too familiar opening of "Crash." Blossom erupted with cheers and before I could blink, thousands of lighters were radiating from the lawn as the entire crowd swayed back and forth. Dave followed this up with "The Stone" and lastly the band's first ever hit, "Ants Marching." Chants of "DMB!" could be heard from every corner of Blossom and the crowd once again broke out in a roar when the band came out for the encore. Chants could be heard for "Stay" (the best closer ever), but Dave would not appease the fans as he began with "So Much To Say" and as they played the bridge I feared he would end with, "Too Much", which would have completely ruined the superb evening. Thankfully, he ended with "Rapunzel" as he usually does in Cleveland, and exited the stage with one last praising cheer from the crowd.
This was one of Dave better concerts. It could have been better, but it could have been far worse as well. Aside from the sub-par encore, the show was an awesome time for everyone there. I give the concert an eight out of ten and for all you DMB freaks out there, look for the new album before the end of the year.