Saying Goodbye to Alpine Until 2012
Monday, July 5, 2010 at 7:33AM 
My 12th straight show of what I believe to be the Mecca of the Dave Matthews Band: Alpine Valley. Another two night stand with plenty of surprises and the best DMB fans on earth.
SHOW #102 Alpine Valley 7.4.10
A much cooler tailgate with some pretty incredible food from Chef Reid got the Independence Day festivities started right. This was my first ever Fourth of July DMB show. I saw a lot of great peeps, some that I haven’t seen in years. Thanks so much to Drews for the great tickets once again!
It was hard to keep my expectations down for Alpine Night Two. Walking again down the slope past the massive lawn, my seat partner Jeffy and I commented on how perfect the place is. He got us lounge passes and we got to hang out there prior to the show.
I figured if the Big 12 string guitar was on stage it was JTR, and if it was Dave’s standard 6 it would be Pig. Either way I would be thrilled, and I was really hoping for Pig.
When the guys took the stage, they really played up to the crowd. There were a lot of signs and just overall a lot of electricity in the place. Dave even lit a sparkler and waved it on stage.
The first song was not JTR or Pig…Instead: One Sweet World. It is a fine song, and one of my wife’s favorite. I just really do not like it as an opener. Only because it is my most seen opening song (15), and I really thought it was going to be Pig. I broke the cardinal rule of having too much expectation. I did get into the groove, and it was cool to see since it was a tour debut.
In the Fourth of July spirit Dave said something along the lines of, “I was not born in this country, and I have traveled all over the world, but I am proud to call this home.” A pretty awesome moment.
The Big 12 comes out and I am certain it has to be JTR, but then I remembered Sweet Up and Down was pretty early at Deer Creek……..AND wrong again: Bartender. I love that song and the Alpine crowd makes Dave’s wails even that much better.
I hate Everyday.
Jeff Coffin picks up the flute and my buddy Jay and I both said, “Say Goodbye?!” Dave then talked about how they’ve only played this tiny song a few times. It was Break For It. I do enjoy the song. It is very slow, and tonight seemed to drag on longer than versions I have gotten in the past.
After that, Jeff kept the flute. I noticed the drum tech guy run out and mess with Carter’s kit…then the spotlights go on Carter. We knew it had to be Say Goodbye!!! Awesome! I wanted this song at my first show way back in 1999. It actually took me until my 30th show which was ironically my first at Alpine in 2005. (Did you follow all of that?)
Anyhow, Say Goodbye was perfect. Jay asked me to video tape the whole thing and I did my best with his camera. I will upload it when I get the file from him. Dave’s voice sounded great and he hit the falsettos. Jeff was masterful on the flute. What a great surprise, and the Alpine crowd loved it all giving the guys a huge ovation after Dave’s final Say Goodbye.
Dave gets the raised B Gibson and Lying in the Hands of God is next. I just love the jam to this, and it was the first song of the night that really rocked out for me. The outro jam had a very slow build up, but when it got going it was fantastic. I like how Carter breaks it down now on the very end.
A lot of people do not like Digging a Ditch. I definitely would not want to hear at a lot of shows, but I had not gotten it since 2006. It was a nice little song, but it kept the theme of pretty slow songs going.
There were four tour debuts tonight. The next one is another all-time favorite and a song that features Carter Beauford. Drive In Drive Out. They were pretty tight with this song, and the last two verses were just awesome. There was a very slight hiccup in the ending jam, but of course Carter owned it as always. First time I have gotten DIDO since Berkeley in 2008.
I keep mentioning the Alpine crowd, and if you have never been it is hard to describe it. The best way I could try is you know how when you are in the car by yourself and a certain song comes on the radio and you sing pretty loud to it without a care because you are alone? Well that’s a lot like Alpine. 40,000 hardcore DMB fans singing in their cars all at once. Sometimes you can barely hear Dave. During the crescendo of Grey Steet Colors Bold and Bright I could not hear Dave at all. The massive wall of fans drowned everything out. I love those little moments at Alpine.
For a tired old song that has gotten a ton of play, Jimi Thing was surprisingly fun tonight. It started when Boyd Tinsley actually showed some life and jammed with Dave on his smaller solo. I loved that. Boyd is great when he shows off a little. Then Rashawn Ross played Thank You during his trumpet solo. Thank You has been a staple the past two years at Alpine and the crowd really sang it loudly. As a matter of fact, Dave didn’t sing much of Jimi at all letting the fans do most of his work.
Instead of the usual Dave scat, he went off stage in what I am guessing (I could be totally wrong)…but I thought he had his tech load the verses of Thank You in the teleprompter. Dave motioned to the band to keep up the jam. I thought he was stretching to go straight into Thank You. It wasn’t the case and I liked the fact Dave didn’t scat and Tim did not do a long solo. The crowd singing Thank You actually worked pretty well in Jimi and it made a song I don’t normally care for pretty groovy.
I love the sound of the acoustic guitar. With so many guys now on stage, sometimes Dave’s work gets lost in the noise. That is why I like Needle and the Damage Done. It’s a great Neil Young cover that is almost entirely Dave on guitar.
I find it ironic that last year I could not get my favorite song at a show. This year I have gotten Tripping Billies a lot and I love it!! Especially midset.
After Billies Dave said, “Of course you know everybody, but I’ll introduce them anyway.” I thought that was a small shoutout by Dave acknowledging the great fans at Alpine. Dave was also sure to tell us that he has a lot of nose hair. What goes on in that brain of his?
Several times Last Stop was chanted. And just like every single show I’ve been to…Dave laughed it off giving us no hope for one of their greatest songs. I have given up hearing Last Stop.
Ants Marching closes the set, but not before Carter seemingly does a bit of the Halloween intro prior to the snare drum start of Ants. I was for certain it was Halloween, and then I remembered some of my buddies that were at Detroit that said the same thing happened. No Halloween just Ants, but I would never complain about getting their signature song. During the end I swear Rashawn played the Samford and Son theme song. Pretty funny if that’s true.
The encore seemed obvious. I figured it would be Time Bomb/Watchtower with a chance of Stay. Stay is an awful closer, and luckily it stayed away.
The final surprise of the night happens during the first encore tune. Before the rest of the guys were even ready on stage, Dave begins on his guitar his very first song: I’ll Back You Up. Someone had a sign in the PIT that read: “Please play I’ll Back You Up for my wife in Iraq”
I often rip on Rashawn, but I thought he did his best work ever with the band on a beautiful muted solo at the end of IBYU. A really great treat for sure.
Last Stop chants again, and Dave did a little dance in front of the stage. Then he did an imaginary clay pigeon shooting as if to say he was shooting down that idea.
They guys go into a rocking version of Time Bomb, Fonz does the Star Spangled Banner intro to Watchtower. No Stairway to Heaven lyrics again, however the outro was awesome. Carter jammed it out much longer than usual while Dave was swinging his Taylor like an axe. The crowd ate it up, and it was a cool way to end Alpine 2010.
42 songs over two nights, 5 tour debuts, no repeats, and the guys didn’t finish until 11:40pm. That is DMB!
As we drive 8 hours back home with my Evansville buddies Ryan, Jason, and Kyle, I am thrilled I made another trip to Alpine. They weren’t epic shows like 2008. However, there were some great rarities and performances that were pretty exhilarating. The Alpine crowd adds so much to each and every song. I have never been to the Gorge, and hopefully someday I will be able to judge for myself. However, for now…nothing compares to the greatness of Alpine.
Reader Comments (5)
Thanks Lance. Say Goodbye is my wife's favorite. When we started listening to Dave back in the 90s and we were just "friends" it kind of summed up our relationship. I appreciate the details as well as how proud you are of Alpine. It certainly seems like an amazing place to see Dave and hopefully I'll have the opportunity some day. Enjoy the summer and future shows!
Wow Lance you summed up my feelings on Alpine! There is no better place in the world. I can't imagine next summer without DMB at Alpine.
Thanks for the reviews. Alpine has been my summer getaway since 2002 and I missed it this year, thanks for lettin my mind wander for a bit and imagine I was really there. Thanks.
great review!!
That was a great review. I was thinking of writing one up myself since it was my first time at Alpine, but you summed it up so well there's no need for me to do it now.