so I saw DMB in Bristow last night~~~
It was...a bad show. Maybe thatâs unfair. It started out pretty good, but then the set just fell off a cliff, and since the end of a show tends to stick with you more than the beginning, I walked away thinking, âthat wasnât so great.â Moreover, it was a short show: they took the stage a little later than usual, I think, and it ended 10 minutes before curfew. That sort of thing irritates me. I know the band doesnât promise to play a certain amount of time, but when the show doesnât start for 20-30 minutes after the time advertised, thereâs really no excuse for ending the show early. If you start late, and the curfew is 11:00, then play until 11.Â
Letâs get into this thing (for reference, hereâs the full set: http://dmbalmanac.com/TourShowSet.aspx?id=453065409&tid=2154&where=2016)
Squirm opened the show. People seem pretty divided on Squirm: some like it, some donât, some hate it as an opener. I love Squirm. I think itâs one of the few songs from Big Whiskey that really came into its own live, and I think itâs a great opener, so no problems here. Then Dave announced Jon DâEarth, and I was filled with despair because I figured Jimi Thing was a lock. But then, lo, Seek Up! It was pretty great. I could nitpick and complain that it went on for a little too long - they shouldâve just given DâEarth the solo in the beginning rather than have DâEarth solo and then have Jeff and Rashawn do their horn duel - but Seek Up running a little long is hardly a tragedy.
The show stayed pretty good all the way through Samurai Cop. Then Joe Lawlor came out and I thought, âhuh, he just played on Rhyme and Reason last night. I guess theyâll do it again.â Iâve heard R&R twice before, and once with Lawlor, but itâs a solid song, so Iâd have been fine with that. Then they started playing Cornbread and I was like âoh ffsâ because I hate Cornbread. I like Joe, but Cornbread is not a song that needs to be jammed out, much less ten whole minutes. Joeâs solo was fine, I guess. This song sucks.
The set never really recovered from that. Grey Street and The Space Between are okay, but theyâre pretty generic. Sugar Will is great, but it just wasnât enough to save the set. DâEarth came back out to play - Recently, maybe? - no, of course not! Jimi Thing >> Sexy MF. It was bad. Then the band walked off stage and I thought, âdamn, that seemed like a really short set.â Dive In/Warehouse is a fine encore, but, again, it wasnât enough to save the show. We needed a really great encore here, and instead, we got a merely good one. And, as aforementioned, the band left ten minutes early.
When I got home, I saw the printed setlist and noticed there were four songs cut: Bob Law, Drive In Drive Out, Rapunzel, and Dancing Nancies.
Think about that for a sec.
Those would have been four of the best songs played, and they all got cut. The original encore was Dive In/Nancies>>Warehouse. Since they ended with 10 minutes to spare, there was totally enough time to play that; no reason whatsoever to cut Nancies. As for the other three, I have no idea why they cut those. Was it really so important to play Grey Street for the millionth time that they just had to cut Drive In Drive Out? They couldnât shelf The Space Between for Rapunzel? I swear, this band...
So, all in all, a pretty weak show. Iâd say the only reason to download the tape is Seek Up. That being said, I think I, personally, had more fun than the show really warranted. Bristow is the only show I go to all tour - hell, itâs the only concert I go to, period - so Iâm kinda guaranteed to enjoy myself. I definitely had more fun in â13 and â14, which were great shows, but I donât regret going or anything.
