Went to see Dave Matthews Band in Saratoga last night. The concert was crowded. Sold out. We ended up sitting next to the pee fence to avoid the majority of people. It's right by the woods which is right by a river of sorts and we only saw one mosquito (although I suspect I was bitten at least once or twice). At least four guys asked us if we were OK with them peeing through the fence. I didn't mind that they were doing it but I sure was jealous (I really had to go, too, but didn't until we left the concert... and when I saw the bathrooms I had wished I had just held it until I exploded, those bathrooms were gross). Still, the seating arrangement we chose for ourselves was far better than getting trampled and getting high on second-hand pot smoke.
Other than the crowd, gross bathrooms, bad musical location, and such, though, it was pretty good... I enjoyed the fact that the entire crowd knew at least half the songs and sang along in one large choir. We also had a good view of a big screen, so we saw the band in essence. We were in a particularly good spot to observe the singing phenomenon, though, and it was pretty cool to watch. Can't get that on an album. The energy was mixed up, too, with excitement and partying. LOTS of young people there. It's amazing to see a band like DMB with so many younger people. They're much like Chicago (probably more so, maybe) in that regard.
Goes to show you that the great bands continue to attract admirers. I bet there won't be any young people at a Britney Spears concert twenty years from now!
Of course, I still fell asleep about 10pm and woke up about 11ish. We hit the bathrooms and listened to more of the concert as we left... I was too tired at that point to deal with any more crowd and was getting panicky. We both had water under our feet in the bathrooms. I told Dale that mine was actually flowing under my shoes and I didn't want to touch anything at all. Sooo gross... but the relief was almost worth it... I didn't even wash my hands for fear of something worse being at the sinks. I even showered when we got home, even though I'd slept for another hour on the ride back.
Anywho, at the bathroom point, the band had just barely had a short break. I can't believe they performed for three solid hours and the break they did get was short. Crazy!! We could actually hear the /band/ a bit better from the outside, at least until a certain point, and we got out of the parking lot really quickly which was an added plus.
Chicago is playing at SPAC in August. I've never seen them and am very tempted to see what a Chicago concert is like these days, but half the band has been replaced a few times over and it's hard to imagine actually paying to see a band that has only gone downhill from my perspective. But, it'll be really close by, not that far out of our way, really, for a concert. It seems wrong to not go somehow. LOL We'll see.
