Sometimes it takes a Jimi Thing ...

Instead of starting with the "worst," I want to start with one my most favorite concert experiences ever -- Feb. 6, 1997. It was my first time seeing Dave Matthews and years later I realized how lucky I was to see a Dave & Tim Reynolds show.

This show was at Burruss Auditorium at Virginia Tech. I went with my friends Joel (a high school friend who was attending Tech), Grace (a friend from Lynchburg College) and Neil (an old friend from high school) -- each of us seeing Dave for the first time. Our seats were near the back, so the sound wasn't the best. But I'll never forget that the first song I heard was "Lie In Our Graves." With the "Crash" CD coming out the year before, "Lie In Our Graves" was one of my favorite songs at the time.

Here's a look at the set:
Lie In Our Graves
Dancing Nancies
#41
Granny
Crazy
Recently
Let You Down
The Song That Jane Likes
Two Step
Say Goodbye
Jimi Thing ...>
What Will Become of Me
Cryptorchid
So Much To Say
Crash Into Me
One Sweet World
Too Much
Proudest Monkey ...>
Satellite
Little Thing
Stream
Is Chicago, Is Not Chicago ...>
Minarets ...>
Dream I Killed God (Tease) ...>
Typical Situation
Tripping Billies
I'll Back You Up
Ants Marching
Encore:
Warehouse

The highlight of the show how to be when "Jimi Thing" was played -- nearly everyone in the back of the auditorium made their way toward the front. Dave politely told everyone to return to their seats, but several people -- including myself -- lined the walls and stayed fairly close to the front the rest of the show. Unfortunately, since this was 11-plus years ago, the rest of the details are a bit sketchy. It's one of those deals in which I know I had a good time, I remember bits and pieces, but all the dots don't quite connect. I do remember Tim Reynolds ripping it up and I remember how bad I wanted to see a full-band show at the time. Little did I know that experience was still more than a year away.

It's interesting to note in looking at dmbalmanac.com that "Warehouse" was in the encore 28 out of 29 shows that winter. DMB has become known for its variety of setlists and really mixing it up, so if the same song closed every show today fans would be in an uproar, even if it is a great song like "Warehouse." The same can almost be said for the "LIOG" opener -- that song opened 15 shows that winter. You can click here for even more stats about that tour.