On a rather warm but comfortable evening in the Northern Suburbs of Atlanta, Dave and the boys continued the spring tour in front of the packed house. And while Dave will be Dave, and Boyd, Tim, Fonzie and Rashon do their thing, tonight felt like it belonged to Jeff Coffin and Carter in many ways.
The show started with a bang.. PNP with curtains closed. Rapunzel begins and the curtains drop. Everyone seems to be wearing black or dark tones. There is a scruffiness about everyone tonight. Dave and Stephan have not crossed paths with a razor in days. Jeff and Rashon are very casual… and that’s ok! The sound is tight, the crowd seems into it and the acoustics are solid.
WAYG followed and I will just admit that I sat down and waited for this thing to end. You can have a great sound and add Timmy and Jeff to this, but really its like putting lipstick on a pig. Just not my fav song. Sorry.
Stay or Leave was also quite mellow, but a sweet song and it sounded pure and good. No complaints. Timmy is really strong here… He has been playing this one with dave for years so his inputs to this tune are like second nature.
Funny the way it is seemed like a pee break for many… so few know the words or tune… The song itself was excellent. Getting better and better with each show. Dave wearing his emotion on his sleeve. “Why I am” followed. Less interest from the crowd aside from a few die hards.. Lots of sitting lots of beet lines…. But again, the song itself sounds great.. rashon and dave have the syncopated “Why I am” down like they have been on it for years…Incidentally, Rashon’s singing is slowly becoming a solid input into the new sound they are moving to. Especially in a song like Burning down the House that followed WIA. The crowd woke up, the band woke up, and this sounded great.
#41 was next and it started like most other love versions…. The crowd singing along in tune.. Dave with perfect rhythm and intonation, this is the 41 we have attached ourselves to for many years… And then it REALLY got good… Dave finished the second verse.. Boyd did his thing and the baton moved over to Jeff. Carter called him out and called him over…. He accepted the invite and for the next 4-6 minutes went back and forth with Carter giving it his ALL. This was Jeff Coffin as good as we have ever seen/heard him, running circles around his #41 solo days when Bela and the Flecktones joined the boys. It seemed to run really long but time was no issue. This was a definite highlight…. IF you only listen to one song from this entire show… listen to #41 ☺~
Dave introduced Spaceman and off it went. Again, sounding better and better with each play… But the crowd went pretty much dead. I felt like I was on an island singing along… This is what happens when a sing is played under 10 times live with no CD or radio play…. Bu spaceman is the real deal. As others have said before , this sounds old school. The Lyrics are golden, the tune is catchy and the sounds was excellent. This song is will age beautifully.
Crash followed, my other sit and chill song. Enough said.
Davespeak- Dave tells a story of watching a lady chase after a beach ball all around the orchestra section. Hi mimmicks her movements in a sort of Elaine from Seinfeld manner and we laugh very hard. The ball ultimately makes its was to the front of the orchestra and is tossed to him while he tells the story.. It has all sorts of writing on it… but none can really be made out….. After making fun of the ladies dancing, he says he forget his glasses, so he cant read the ball, and kicks it back into the crowd☺
The second major highlights of the evening was Nancies/Warehouse. Carter was spectacular. Magical. This was where the crowd returned to al their singing glory after what seemed like a lengthy break. Tim, Jeff and Rashon, are all over these two songs like they are their own. But this is carters time and he was brilliant!
Ants followed and Jeff Coffin again was all over it with Ants intro solo’s He is so fvcking talented and he shined deep into the intro . Carter has decided to mess with the audience…. Most know that ants chorus before closing is counted off in 1, then 2 , then 3… well carter is now in total fake out mode… sometimes they goto 3.. then back t 1.. then 2…… but we have no idea what the method to the madness and simply must enjoy as guessing is useless! It seemed like a good time to end before the encore, but time was on our side and out came the 12 string and Grey Street. DMB at their best. great closer.
Starting the encore was sister. How can you not like this song.? Tears were flowing in the crowd, the sound was just right, dave played like a sibling was sitting next to him…and finally , Watch tower. Not a surprise at all, but they have this down. The solos in the middle are loud and raw coming from Timmy and Dave. Energy flowed and was a powerful forceful way to end the show.