The DMB Caravan was supposed to be over the weekend of Hurricane Irene.
Emily and I had three day passes where we would be in Dave Heaven for 3 days straight but unfortunately, weather got in our way. We saw the Friday night show and then the Saturday and Sunday were postponed.
Oh and before I go on.. I just have to randomly show this photo with Dave just because this was when I met him in Melbourne in 2005 and you know.. I just had to share it. Now THAT experience was epic.
Now, back to the Caravan. The Friday night show was great BUT it was not enjoyable. Here we were, in the middle of New York Harbor on Governor’s Island wondering if in 48 hours the island would even exist. Or if Lower Manhattan be totally washed away. Or if New York be a city of devastation and destruction. Quite simply, it was a buzz kill. Getting to the island was also a drainer. Organizers cancelled the Brooklyn Ferry so we had to go into Manhattan and get on the Island ferry at the Staten Island Ferry terminal and then walk 5 million miles to the stage. Coming back was worse and what should have been a 30 minute journey ended up being nearly two hours. Gah! To make it worse, the weather was oppressive. It was so humid and the air so thick, sweat was just pouring out of every pore in my skin. You could hardly breathe. Mix that with thousands of other people who are all standing too close to each other and you can imagine how it felt. Not very nice! Taking into account the anxious three days of refreshing all the fan sites constantly to see if the show would even be running, it was a relief just to get there.
There was plenty of ‘those guys’. If you are a PCU fan (one of my favorite movies of ALL time) you will know what I mean.. if you don’t –
It was at this concert that I had one of those “Oh my gosh – I am in America.. this is America… I live in New York.. oh my gosh.. this is SO American!” moments. To see frat boys in their polo shirts carrying multiple beers and wearing loafers, people lounging on the lawn in tiny tank tops.. the multiple uses of the word “Awesome!” “You guysssssss!” and “Mannnnnnn….” it was like I had been transported to a Midwest college… it was SO much fun. To turn around and see the Lower Manhattan skyline… absolutely beautiful.
Hearing him play Crush was beautiful. When he played Good Times, Bad Times… I was that loony, screaming girl that people look at and shake their heads. It was tops. People on the Ants Marching board (a DMB fan site) slammed the show though and blasted Dave for not totally ‘bringing it’ to a show that could have been the only show for many fans as they wouldn’t get back to the city for the rescheduled shows. I thought while they were not energetic, they played well. This was the setlist –
Don’t Drink the Water
Squirm
Grey Street
Shotgun
You Might Die Trying
Stay or Leave
Spaceman
Jimi Thing
Shake Me Like a Monkey
Too Much
Out of My Hands
Lying in the Hands of God
Crush
Good Times Bad Times
Blackjack
Granny
Funny the Way It Is
All Along The Watchtower
Encore:
Like a Hurricane
Time Bomb
Two Step
It was then announced that they would be holding the Caravan at Randall’s Island (right up at 125th Street) for three days… the weekend before we left for Australia. WIN WIN WIN!!! Even more amazing? That first Friday night show ended up being a free show. All of us who had three day tickets were having the whole three days honored for Randall’s Island. Thanks Dave!
The three nights were… EPIC. On the Friday night the crowd was so small it actually felt intimate. We had a fab position – right on the barrier where the people who paid for VIP were! We had room to dance and it was a really chill show. We felt lucky to be there. The stage was set up in such a way that the Manhattan Psychiatric Hospital was facing the crowd so it was a little creepy when it got dark. Getting us off Randall’s was left to a stack of MTA buses that took us straight to 125th. We got the train from there straight to Brooklyn and made it home by 12.30am. After standing on concrete for five hours we were sore and weary. We also had to do that for another two nights.
The was the 2nd Friday night setlist –
Everyday
Seek Up
Crash Into Me
#27
Seven
Granny
Say Goodbye
Funny The Way It Is
Dive In
Grey Street
Black Jack
Spaceman
Rhyme And Reason
Lie In Our Graves
Pantala Naga Pampa
Rapunzel
Shake Me Like A Monkey
Sweet
Gravedigger
Tripping Billies
The Saturday night show was a different experience. We still got to be in the same position we had the night before but it was not nearly as comfortable. The crowd was huge and it had more of that festival feeling. Drive In Drive Out was SO good and he sang Whiter Shade of Pale beautifully. Here is the setlist for that show –
One Sweet World
Big Eyed Fish
Bartender
Break Free
Why I Am
Stay Or Leave
Crush
Shotgun
Drive In Drive Out
You and Me
#41
Cortez The Killer
So Much To Say
Anyone Seen The Bridge
Too Much
Stay (Wasting Time)
A Whiter Shade of Pale
Two Step
On Sunday night we got there early and Emily took the lead and we followed a group of people who were going to meet their friends down near the front. With a lot of squeezing past people we ended up in a little haven of space. We actually ended up chatting, doing photo taking swaps and dancing with them and we had a comfortable space to see the stage and sing loudly. We were in a great position and Dave was on fire. In fact, these three shows were so energetic and they played so well – it was just breathtaking! You don’t want to know how it felt getting up at 6am on Monday to go to work.. but it was worth it.
Here is the Sunday night setlist –
The Stone
Squirm
Alligator Pie
Don’t Drink the Water
Proudest Monkey
Satellite
Warehouse
Write A Song
Burning Down The House
Out Of My Hands
Lying In the Hands of God
Jimi Thing
Corn Bread
Digging a Ditch
American Baby Intro
American Baby
You Might Die Trying
Sister
Lie In Our Graves (reprise)
Ants Marching (tease)
Halloween
Ants Marching
In a nutshell, we love, love, LOVED the whole Caravan experience!!! I am also sure Bill loved the peace and quiet at home once we got out of the house!
And of course what would any concert be without some dodgy old iPhone photos –
Emily and I taken by our ‘friends’ that we followed into the crowd –
Sweet –
The stalls and festival setup was really well done –
The sky as the sun was setting –
How it looked in daylight –
