i really need to suck it up and do a groundwork review before more time passes.

um. yeah. groundwork was absolutley phenomenal. one of the best live shows i've ever seen. the venue was incredible - 2700 people, perfect acoustics... our seats were first row balcony, which was pretty fucking cool as well.

(good GOD this cd is distracting the hell out of me. see the post below this one. it's really really doing weird things to me.)

they love to tell you stay inside the lines
but something's better on the other side

anyway. so the vibe before the concert was off the hook. i'd been giggling all day, we wandered around the market, went to a few bars. good times, good people. the vibe when dave came out, however, was electric. it was towards the end of emmylou's set(that woman has the voice of an angel), and dave came out mid song to join her for a duet. the crowd just erupted...i remember clapping my hands together and then just keeping them clasped in front of my lips, smiling. great moment. he had a piece of paper in his hands with the words on it, and the duet they did was just beautiful. he nailed it. i can't wait to hear it again. i remember thinking that i've never heard dave's voice sound so....professional? can't think of the word for it. but it sounded like a highly trained voice. it was strange.

so then there's dave's set...oh my. i've never heard or seen anything like it. just dave sitting on a stool with his guitar. granted, that's the way it was for farm aid and for bridge school, but this was so much different...the size of the venue and the fact that everyone was sitting. of course, i had bet mel that he would not play the stone(because i figured out a while ago that whenever i bet the boy that something won't be played, it shows up in the set list without fail, and i REALLY wanted to get that song), so it served as the perfect opener, especially seeing as mel was sitting right next to me, in mike's seat, making sure the levels and everything were ok on his gear.

crush was just incredible. dave just went off - guitar-wise, vocally and physically - his leg kept flying out to the side, away from the stool. by far the best crush i've ever seen. when the world ends was right on...watchtower was killer - the audience reacted to the build up during "the hour is getting late" just as they would have had it been full-band - screams errupted everywhere. grace was lovely. the crowd was so quiet...with one exception that completely threw him off, causing him to fuck up one of the verses. but whatever. the new song melted my heart - it is soooo sweet. the trio with daniel lanois and emmylou for "the maker" was a much expected treat.

i can't even remember what the rest of the setlist was. i just know that i walked out of there with a massive smile on my face, and hugs all around. words can't even express how fortunate i feel to have been there. having never seen dave and timmy, or dmb in a small venue, the dramatic side of me wants to say it was almost vital that i saw that show. i had told everyone going that they wouldn't be able to talk to me about it afterwards if i didn't go - and i now realize just how true that would have been. it would have driven me up the wall. and to think i had given up on getting tickets...

the conspiracy against me was shot to hell.

heh.

i won.

it was an absolutley perfect ending to an amazing 10 day seattle extraaavaganza. ;)