A Change of Season

[tinhuviel]

What a weekend.


Saturday, Llew and I slept late and lounged about until around 1 PM, when we piled in the car and headed off to Boone, NC for the Dave Matthews/Tim Reynolds acoustic concert. The sun was out and the temperature was a balmy 73. A perfect Spring day! The drive was relatively pleasant and we made it up there around 4. The first thing we did was locate the venue for the concert ~ sorta casing the joint for our imminent intrusion so to speak ~ then we went to find a hotel room and freshen up before the gig. We had a few hours, so we indulged in Chinese food. The place didn't have peanut chicken, much to our dismay, but it offered almond chicken, which was almost as good.

At about 6:45, we headed to the concert hall in order to find a parking spot and our seats in time enough for the 7:30 concert. All was well, except that it was turning a little cooler and the wind was blowing rather hard.

Our seats were fantastic! About 22 rows from the stage right in the middle! Of course, I would have like to have been closer, but I think the label folks deliberately keep me at a distance from Dave because they know I'd make a German spectacle of myself if ever I get within 50 feet of him. He's yummalicious, and I'm understating my opinion of the man.

The concert started about 10 minutes late, and folks were still filtering in at that time. The place was packed. Dave and Tim started out with a very ominous version of "Bartender" replete with Pink Floyd style psychedelia for lighting. It was muy atmospheric and really set the tone for the entire concert. Dave was high as hell, as usual, and totally laid back and groovy. He told some bizarre, but funny, stories about a cow and Porsche collision, the Blue Men, his days as the fall guy for a juggler/knife thrower who used to set him on fire. Even if none of these tales were true, he told them eloquently and hilariously, so that's all that matters. Tim Reynolds got a couple of solo periods where he wowed all with his delay technique and wa-wa wonderment. The highlights of the show for me were "Grey Street" and "Satellite", two of my favourite songs by Dave. Another great highlight was when he incorporated "This Land Is Your Land" in with "Don't Drink the Water", a protest song about the treatment of indigenous people. The irony was not lost on me and I hope on anyone else in the room. He also very gently made his point about the wrongness of this war the Shrub has instigated and made a point to talk a lot about Peace on Earth and even sing his "Christmas Song" Here are the lyrics, which I find extremely appropriate, given the fact that so many churches in this country are so fervently pro-war.

The Christmas Song
She was his girl; he was her boyfriend
She be his wife; take him as her husband
A surprise on the way, any day, any day
One healthy little giggling dribbling baby boy
The wise men came three made their way
To shower him with love
While he lay in the hay
Shower him with love love love
Love love love
Love love is all around
Not very much of his childhood was known
Kept his mother Mary worried
Always out on his own
He met another Mary for a reasonable fee, less than
Reputable as known to be

His heart was full of love love love
Love love love
Love love is all around
When Jesus Christ was nailed to the his tree
Said "oh, Daddy-o I can see how it all soon will be
I came to shed a little light on this darkening scene
Instead I fear I spill the blood of my children all around"

The blood of our children all around
The blood of our children all around
The blood of our children all around
So the story goes, so I'm told
The people he knew were
Less than golden hearted
Gamblers and robbers
Drinkers and jokers, all soul searchers
Like you and me

Rumors insisted he soon would be
For his deviations
Taken into custody by the authorities
Less informed than he.
Drinkers and jokers. all soul searchers
Searching for love love love
Love love love
Love love is all around

Preparations were made
For his celebration day
He said "eat this bread and think of it as me
Drink this wine and dream it will be
The blood of our children all around
The blood of our children all around"
The blood of our children all around

Father up above, why in all this anger have you fill
Me up with love
Fill me love love love
Love love love
Love love
And the blood of our children all around

The concert was a good 3.5 hours, but time flew by and everyone was in awe, I could tell. I know I was, but I always am in Dave's presence. Llew was amazed by Tim Reynolds' prowess and I believe he is now an official fan of Dave. Very cool!

Speaking of very cool. When we left the venue, the air had turned decidedly frigid (38 degrees) and the wind was blowing a light rain right into our faces as Llew and I made our way back to the car. We shivered our way back to the hotel room and settled in for the evening. It as going on midnight and we were more than pooped.

At 5 am Sunday morning I awoke freezing. The heater was off. I got up, turned it back on, and jumped back into bed before my limbs started to drop off from the cold. What happened to Spring? I found out at 7 when I got up again for a drink of water and nice leisurely peek out the window. As the guy in 'Pitch Black' says, "What do my eyes see?"

Snow. EVERYWHERE! Snow, snow, and more snow. About 2 inches of it and coming down like gangbusters. I called Llew's name and got soft snoring in response. I poked him and called his name again. "Llew. I hate to wake you up, but you need to come see this." So he crawled out of bed and shuffled to the window. Eyes wide, he said "Holy shit!"

We both agreed that perhaps we should turn on the Weather Channel and see what was in store. We found out relatively quickly. A winter storm warning with the promise of 7 or more inches for the higher elevations. Since we were near Highlands and Grandfather Mountain, we surmised that we were indeed in the higher elevations and proceeded to haul ass out of there. After locating the car under a mound of snow, we were on the road by 9 am, Llew driving since he's from Jersey and has experience in such wild weather situations. But, Ohhhhh! how we wanted to stay and play in the snow! It was such an enchanting thing to be in. We drove past a lot of Christmas Tree farms and the little trees looked wondrous in their new white lace.

It took about 40 miles to clear the storm and, even though it was beautiful, Llew and I both were glad to be out of the snow for the simple reason that driving on winding and steep mountain roads in snow and ice isn't the wisest or most enjoyable thing to do. The rest of the journey was soppy and grey, but the company was great, and we sang to Kristen Hall and Dougie MacLean most of the way back home.

By noon we were home and we took about a 3 hour nap before Llew had to go back to TR.

It was a wonderful weekend, filled with beautiful music, lots of love, and a magickal change of season that was truly a delightful surprise.

Comments

sounds delicious!

[godblossom.livejournal.com]

...glad you had a great time!