Man, what a gig. I may be half asleep looking at the screen, but it was worth it!
We left Limerick to head for the National Stadium in Dublin, only roughly knowing where it was. After getting slightly lost for not turning right (thanks Lou!!), we found our way back onto the South Circular Road, and the venue was easily spotted from there. Having left at 3pm, we were parked with nothing to do at 5:30pm. Doors were at 7:30pm, and the concert was due to kick off at 8pm.
We went and got some food, and waited for the rest of the gang to show up. The venue was small, and fully seated, so there was no major queue or crush to get in. I guess it took between 1,500 and 2,000 people.
There had been no prior confirmation of Tim Reynolds joining Dave for the gig, but we had heard rumours that he was going to be there. The pair were met with huge applause when they arrived out on stage. They started off with a slightly slower than usual version of “Don’t Drink the Water”. Constantly changing rhythm and mood, we heard “Crash (Into Me)”, “Crush” and “Ants Marching” among plenty of others.
In between songs, we got some short narratives which kept the crowd entertained. Having told us how happy he was to be playing in Ireland, he went on to describe a situation that we’re nearly all aware of — the Irish American — that is, when Americans visit Ireland, or vice versa, inevitably the conversation includes “Oh, you’re Irish? I’m Irish!”. This, of course, finished up with Dave claiming he was Irish! Other stories included how Tequila is like coffee, and proof of semi-retardation from pretty insane stunts he did when he was a kid.
Tim Reynolds never spoke during the gig, but his guitar said all that was needed. At one point around mid-way through the concert, Dave left the stage for a few minutes leaving Tim alone. He filled this slot easily with an amazing guitar solo. Throughout the gig though, Tim’s impressive guitar solos met with Dave’s music beautifully.
The encore lasted about 30 minutes, filled with more music, more stories, Guinness (for Dave) and a bottle of wine (for Tim)! The whole gig finished up around 11:15pm, with the crowd glad to step out into the cooling rain from the heat that had built up inside. All in all, a very enjoyable evening, leaving me very much looking forward to the Dave Matthews Band gig in May.
I met Mick ‘the hat’ and Graham from TKO beforehand, but didn’t see them afterwards. I can only presume, however, from the cheers I heard from Mick during the gig that they enjoyed it as much as us!
