Benedict Advertising - Business Building Solutions

by Donna Cooper, Jr. Copywriter

It has been a crazy couple of weeks since Dave, which is why you are only now going to hear about my adventures in West Palm Beach. Let me just start by giving a brief explanation on why I went in the first place. A very good friend of mine is a HUGE Dave Matthews Band fan. She’s been to his show every year since 1998. Well, this year her boyfriend only wanted to go just one night (using the weak excuse that it would be the same both nights), my friend was having none of this and only wanted to be joined by a person willing to endure both nights of the concert. This is where I came in.

Now, I have never been a devoted DAVE fan as she is, but I liked him. Having said that, I haven’t actually LISTENED to DMB since I was in high school. Needless to say, I wasn’t very familiar with his latest songs, but I was willing to go anyway. So, we booked our hotel and decided how and when we would arrive. Originally, we were going to drive and then an idea occurred to my friend that changed the whole scope of the trip.

We decided we were going to pretend to be high rollers and arrive in style, that is to say, fly down to West Palm Beach, courtesy of the company she works for. It worked out that we also got deals on a hotel and the rental car. So, we were set. On Friday morning, we rolled into the private airport and even parked in the VIP spot (although, this was by mistake) and waited to board the 14-seat plane.

A half an hour later, we arrived at the airport and the adventure began. Mere moments after we pulled out of the airplane hanger in our luxurious Dodge Caliber (insert sarcastic tone here) we were lost. After turning around no less than three times we finally figured out that the directions we had were wrong. And no less than 10 minutes later we were lost again as we got off at the wrong exit (thank you, Expedia) again.

Getting lost didn’t stop there, we (as in I) got lost in the mall every time I came out of a store, we got lost going to the concert on Friday night, and even got lost in our own hotel! It seemed to be a running theme through out the weekend. We were lost every time we turned around, and concluded that had we been on the Amazing Race we’d be in dead last!

One adventure to another…off to the concert on Friday we go! Not only did we get lost on our way there, but also we left late, so when we actually got with in a mile of the Sound Advice Amphitheater we were met with standstill traffic. We made our way through the traffic and into the parking lot just in time to miss the opening act: The Wailers. I know, I know. We missed a great opening act, but there was always Saturday night…right?

I have to remind you, at this point, that I haven’t listened to all things DAVE in a very, very, VERY long time, so Friday night left people near me wondering if I was enjoying myself. A few people even asked if I was having a good time. And truthfully, I was. I was simply trying to absorb Dave’s energy. Friday night was pretty mellow, especially considering the amount of marijuana that was being smoked. I don’t know if it’s possible to smoke too much, but the guys standing next to us kept lighting up, one right after another. I didn’t think that could be a good idea.

Anyway, Friday night’s concert was awesome, considering. The stage design and show were amazing, and the live performance of all the members of the band were out of this world. I’ve been to a few concerts in my time, but generally I don’t like to go to concerts because the performers don’t usually sound as good live. But, DMB is an exception. They are probably one of the best live performance bands ever.

Saturday was a whole other story. After sleeping in, spending some time in the mineral pools at the resorts and then pampering ourselves some more with a manicure and pedicure, we ventured back to the Amphitheater for the Saturday show. This time we came prepared. We filled our cooler full of food and beer and had our own little tailgating party before the show. The only down side was that we, once again, missed the opening act.

This concert was not nearly as mellow as the night before. If I may make an observation, I would say that Saturday was for the TRUE DMB fans. There was so much more energy than the night before and the people weren’t nearly as interested in getting high as they did on Friday. Aside from that, the concert was PHENOMENAL! So much so, that by the end of the concert I was sick! Oh well, I had a great time. And by the way, they only played one song from the night before. It was a completely different set, and I love them for that.

Dave definitely made an impression on me. I might just find myself going back next year. What impressed me was that even though DMB hasn’t been real big on main stream radio over the past several years, he still has a dedicated following of tens of thousands of people. Dave is also really good about sharing the spotlight with the other members of his band. One of the best parts of the show is when Dave and his violinist do an instrumental. Man, oh man! Talk about amazing! The crowd just cheered and cheered as these two went at it for nearly 20 minutes.

You don’t have to be a DMB fan to appreciate good music. But, I will tell you, from personal experience, that once you go to a DMB concert you WILL be a DMB fan, simply because Dave and his band are all about the music.

And that’s how it should be.

I LOVE YOU DAVE!