DMB Concert

I went to my first Dave matthews Band Concert…wow, what an experience! There was a tremendous amount of energy feeding electrically between the audience and the musicians. It was one of the best concert experiences of my life, between the pure love pouring from the stage to seeing each and every expression cross the performers faces. We were 10 rows from the front enjoying the explosion of sound from the front house speakers. There were one song that just poured from Dave’s mouth with such sincerity that it captivated everyone: Grey Street. The band seemed to be humming with the loneliness of the main character of the song…aching with it in fact. Matthews has such an odd voice, somewhere between a growl and a whine. Animalistic, primitive in a way that is both exciting and frightening.

The last time I remember feeling that connected to someone onstage was with Danny Elfman from Oingo Boingo. I must’ve seen them over a decade ago in Northern California at the Warfield. This was pre-security days where there were only maybe 2-4 guards on the actual sides of the stage, so I was pressed against the apron of it staring deep into the blue-blue eyes of Danny Elfman as he sang to me, “If we don’t try to hard, we might start falling in love”. At which point he touch my outstretched hand and drifted back to stage center to finish the song while time stood still for me.

The two things that stand out to me about these moments in my life is seeing the absolute joy on the singers face and seeing the echo of that force of personality penetrating and entrancing the people seeing the show. The essence of spirit, of soul that unites the musical encounter. For a brief interlude you feel not as alone, as if there are no boundaries between your soul and those of everyone around you. It’s an realization of our shared hopes, dreams, fears, needs, and love. I have no doubt we seek out these communal events all the time. It’s why movies are so popular. The mutual expression of a vast dynamic of feelings.

Here's a funny article about Dave from the Onion.