Accidental Christmas: Dave Matthews Christmas Song

Dave Matthew's Christmas Song has long been my favorite Christmas song. With its simple melodies and poignant lyrics, it that touches on the humanity in such a miraculous story. This Advent season is about preparation and anticipation. It is about hope and love that can fill up this whole world.

The best concert I never went to

I spent a good portion of my afternoon today donned in rubber gloves helping a fellow teacher clean up piss that a certain 4 year old had sprayed all over the bathroom earlier in the day. Yup, school is back in session leaving the smell of freshly sharpened pencils and urine lingering in the air. And while I am still not entirely used to a school year that isn't accompanied by a cool crisp in the air and the musty smell of falling leaves, there is no doubt we are making our way into fall, a time to look back on the musical highlights of this hot hot summer. 

Except the musical highlight of my summer, the concert that left me giddy, clutching my hands at my chest and singing along to every song as I simultaneously danced and bounced in excitement wasn't even in Austin. I wasn't even there in person! Such is the awesome power of Dave Matthews, who streamed his final Caravan performances online this past weekend from the Gorge. It wasn't like being there in person, as I have done 9 times before, but it had so much of the same magic. He is an astounding artist who surrounds himself with incredible musicians. He said during the concert, "I'm here because I love to play." He does and it shows. It is infectious and his music seeps into the parts of my soul I never knew existed. 

I'm gushing. But he played Everyday! And he played Lying in our Graves and didn't even finish the song until the ENCORE! AMAZING!

But fangirl gushing aside, If you have never experienced Dave in person, standing in the hippie and prepster haze, letting the music wash over you, add it to your bucket list. Even his streamed version in my living room was the perfect way to end my summer and ring in a fall full of amazing concerts.

Setlist from his final Caravan concert on 9/4

Everyday
Seek Up
Why I Am
Alligator Pie
Crash Into Me
Say Goodbye
Digging a Ditch
Warehouse
Raven
Gravedigger
Lie In Our Graves
Loving Wings Good Times Bad Times (cover)
Black Jack
Granny
All Along The Watchtower

__________________

Baby Blue *
Lie In Our Graves (reprise)
Halloween
Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)  (cover)

I make a pretty sick hurricane playlist

A little over a week ago I took a vacation. I ventured into the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate NY to find respite from the Texas sauna and relax and breath in fresh mountain air. I thought, I’ll just take a few days off from music blogging. Nothing major.  My vacation was going to end in NYC with the euphoric music delight of Dave Matthews Caravan on Governor’s Island. Dave Matthews! That perfection was only trumped by all of the class acts he had with him. I was going to see THE FUCKING ROOTS! 

And then a hurricane hit...

Fail.

And then I came home to Austin to find mice had infiltrated my apartment in mass quantities...

Fail.

Were my life a Disney movie, the hurricane would have ended just in time for the concert and my prince charming (obviously the fiddle player in a band) would have called me up on stage to confess undying love and we would have ventured off into happily ever after underneath a post-storm rainbow. I would also possess the ability to talk to animals, which would have been convenient when I arrived home to find cute cartoon mice wearing ray ban sunglasses and playing in an indie pop band in my kitchen. I would have blogged about their music that showed promise if sometimes a little bit squeaky.  

My life is not a Disney movie. 

Caravan was postponed. 

Mice are gross and caused me to develop very unsexy dark circles beneath my sleepless eyes. 

So my absence can be explained by my wallowing in DMB disappointment, cleaning up mouse shit, and calling on a brave friend to bludgeon and dispose of carcasses. I also listened to old school Dave Matthews to make me feel better and then went about getting an actual good nights sleep.   

I am refreshed and ready to catch up on all of the music I have been lack in writing about. My calendar is rapidly filling with concerts (Friendly Fires, MOE.! FUCKING ADELE!), ACL is a few weeks away, and Dave is streaming his Gorge Caravan this weekend. http://www.davematthewsband.tv/ Perfection. 

Hippie Arms and Caravans: Making my way to Governor's Island

The very first major concert I went to without parents was Dave Matthews Band. It was the night before I graduated from high school and my friend had an extra ticket. I remember obsessing over what I was going to wear, nervous to spend the evening with two cute college boys listening to a band who's lyrics and melodies had carried me though adolescence. There is nothing quite like a Dave Matthews concert, the melodies, jams, hippie dancing, and the way Dave has his own little dance he does across the stage (we've all imitated it at some point). It is the very definition of euphoria. I have seen Dave eight more times since then.

This summer I will travel from the heat of Central Texas up to Governor's Island with NYC as the backdrop for Dave Matthews Caravan. It will take trains, planes, and ferries to get there, and will no doubt be worth all of it. It will be the perfect way to kick off my fall of Festivals, which will include ACL, and Fun Fun Fun Fest, only this one will feature Dave headlining each night. Can't complain about that!

Will you be at Caravan? Who are you most excited to see?