Swirling Dust Sparkle Jet Stream

I can't remember
all the times I tried to tell myself
to hold on
to these moments
as they pass...

Okay, so my Friday night?  Pretty freaking awesome.  If you haven't already, you might want to read Part One first.  If you're already caught up, read on...

Curt and Amy drove in from wherever it is they live, we picked up Kelly, and the evening was officially underway.  We started at Carabba's.  Our food, as they would say in Italy, was delizioso.  Now, I have to admit, being the professional worrier that I am, I was a little concerned about being the "bridge" between friends from different circles.  This proved to be a pretty dumb worry.  I know I've said this before, but I have great friends all across the board.  Good conversation and great food.  No crabcakes though, but we steamrolled right over that speed bump.  We bonded over Sonic and "the high voice" and assorted other random topics.  After eating til we nearly burst, we set off for the House of Blues in Dallas.

Curt and Amy (who, by the way, seriously need names that are more easily merged, like "Bennifer" or "Brangelina."  "Camy" just doesn't put off the right vibe, you know?  Anyway...back to the story.)  So while I tried not to kill us all on the highway or get us lost in downtown Dallas, Curt and Amy dipped into the treasure chest of Old College Stories.  None of which I will bore anyone with here, but maybe another time in another place.  After all applicable statutes of limitations have expired.  And once we come up with names to protect those we made fun of, er, the innocent.  Anyway...moving on.  After passing sites both interesting (American Airlines Center) and not-so-much (the Greyhound Bus Station!) we finally saw the House of Blues' neon sign up ahead.  Serendipity had already cued up Rain King on the stereo a few minutes earlier, so right about the time we rolled through the last green light and got to the parking lot we had an impromptu yelling out of the last few lines:

She's been dying
and I've been drinking
and I am the Rain King
well I said that I am the Rain King
well I said I... I... I... I... I,
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, well
IIIIIIII ammmmm the Raaaaainnn Kiiiiinggggg
Yeaahhhhhhhhhhhh

Go ahead, I'll wait for you to pull up your itunes and see for yourself how fun it is sing along with it at the top of your lungs.        Ok, moving on.

Now, the HOB really knows how to host a function.  The concert was part of the Reebok Heroes Celebrity Baseball Weekend and benefited several local charities, including The Mike Modano Foundation.  They literally rolled out the red carpet for this show.  Feeling a little overwhelmed and a little unworthy of the red carpet treatment, we skirted the sidewalk and found the Will Call window.  (My Zach Braff-esque daydream had me owning the red carpet, and when paparazzi appeared from nowhere to ask me what I was wearing I'd have to answer, "The shirt is J Crew and the jeans are from last year's GAP spring collection.")  Once our tickets were torn and our wrists freshly wristbanded (with the blue ones, not the black ones) we made our way inside.

We get to our Balcony Right seats while most of the people downstairs (and some of our upstairs neighbors) bid on various sports-themed packages up for auction.  After placing our drink order with the waitress for our section (!) one of us said, "Hey, that guy on stage looks like Mark Cuban....wait, that is Mark Cuban!"  A few minutes later Kelly almost fainted when Mike Modano came out on stage.  Fun times.  A few minutes later Curt spotted Adam Duritz through a window another floor above our seats and to the immediate side of the stage.  Amy had time to squeeze off one shot with her camera before he moved out of sight.  A few minutes later the lights dimmed, the curtain pulled back, and he and the band were on stage and "starting it up again."  Here's the set list:

Recovering the Satellites (with Speedway alt lyrics)
Mrs. Potter's Lullaby (Kelly's favorite song)
Mr. Jones
Goodnight Elisabeth (with Pale Blue Eyes alt lyrics)
Anna Begins (Amy's favorite song)
Return of the Grievous Angel (Graham Parsons cover)
Friend of the Devil (Grateful Dead cover)
A Long December (with I am feathered alt lyrics)
Hangin' Around
--encore--
Hard Candy
You Ain't Goin' Nowhere (Bob Dylan cover)
Miami (newer slow, all acoustic arrangement they debuted at the previous night's Telluride Bluegrass Festival)

If you've never experienced a Counting Crows concert, it's a little tough to put into words.  They don't just stand in place and play the songs note-by-note as they appear on their albums.  Adam is all over the stage; acting out the words, bending each lyric to make it fit the music however he wants it in that moment.  He's strumming air guitar, alternately slapping hands stretched from the front row while sitting on a monitor or sharing the spotlight with any of the six other band members...and just generally getting into the music.  And it would be easy to focus solely on Adam, but it's worth it to keep an eye on the rest of the band.  Their many talents were most easily recognized as they freestyled the middle sections of Elisabeth and A Long December, respectively.  Adam launches into alternate lyrics culled from other songs or off the top of his head, and it's just a musical roller coaster ride.  You sit and marvel as they wind their way through it and eventually land back to finish out the original song.  They're a seven member band, and they do a great job of featuring everyone throughout the show.  Everyone gets a chance to shine...and somehow the whole is still greater than the sum of its parts.

And now's as good a time as any to mention that Amy brought her camera to the show.  It's one thing to read about the show, but you're doing yourself a disservice if you don't link over to her site and see the great shots she took all night.  She definitely captured the moments perfectly.  With any luck she'll let me put a few up here at some point, but please go check out her site.  She's a rockstar behind the camera.  Thanks again for watching most of the show through the lens, Amy, I appreciate having those photos more than I can say.

Like with all great concerts, this one ended way too soon.  They wrapped up acoustic Miami and Adam introduced the band.  The lights came up, the familiar opening strains of California Dreaming kicked in and the band exited the stage.  We posed for a few pictures of our own and then it was time to leave.  I don't think my feet hit the ground once on the way out to my car.  We recapped the show and relived all our favorite parts while driving back home. 

Ok, remember back when I said that I am a professional worrier?  Well, going into the night I was a little worried that my friends wouldn't love the band in a live setting quite the way that I do.  Curt hadn't seen them live in ten years and neither Amy or Kelly had ever seen them in person.  And as much as I'd talked up their live performances, I was praying this wasn't one of those times when an event didn't live up to all the hype for the newcomers. So it was with much satisfaction that I was able to sit back and watch them sing along with the words and exchange knowing, near-giddy smiles with them throughout the night.  I could read the excitement and the euphoria off of their faces, and sharing that experience with them is what made the night all the more special for me.

Oh, and I should also point out that Kelly won the pre-show bet on which album the first song would come from.  I don't think we ever settled on a prize for winning the bet, so I guess receiving notice here will have to suffice.  Congrats!

Comments

[Curt]

You summed it up well, that one will definitely be hard to top.

[Deanna]

Geez, that would have been a nice birthday present, to go to a CC concert. Guess you forgot that they're my favorite band, too :(

Glad you had fun :)

[amyc]

Nice. I'm so glad you wrote out such a detailed post because with my memory, it'd all be gone in a week or so. Ha!

And, little correction...I have, indeed, seen Counting Crows once before.

Also...I'll be sending you all the photos soon. Well, some of them to start with because it would take me AGES to email them all to you. But, when you're out next, I'll hand over a CD with all of them.

[Kelly]

Thanks again for such a great night! Your recap is perfect and Amy's pics are amazing! What a great night!

[Luke]

Good times. Hey, "Long December" would make it on my favorite songs of the '90's list. Does that mean I get to join the club? :~D

[Michael Norwood]

To quote that old barber from Coming to America... "ef you, ef you , ef you. Who's next"

Only he didn't say "ef." He said THE word, the big one, the queen-mother of dirty words, the "F-dash-dash-dash" word!

Look at that two movie references in one comment.

As much as I love you guys, I kind of hate you right now.

[Alicia]

Amazing recap David...you captured it all. There's a reason that you can see them over and over again, and you summed it up perfectly. I'm glad they put on an amazing show, you guys deserved nothing but the best!

[gina]

perfect summary of a show davidfriend. i'm a bit jealous right now.

[ÃÝË]

I'm sure the one thing everyone is wondering, did Amy ever hit the atmosphere??? My favorite all time band, too, and I'm waiting and hoping for the next time they're live out here. Five time's I've seen them, but its been almost two years now. I was parked under the venue that I saw them at last time the last couple of days, and it brought back memories.