It takes a special kind of rabid fan devotion to stand out in the cold, steady rain (in June, no less) in the wee hours of the morning just to hear a few tunes and hope to catch a glimpse of your musical idols. Granted, lining up outside of The Today Show boasting signs about where you reside, waving wildly and being oddly starstruck by Al Roker is nothing new. But it becomes slightly fresh when you have a band who has never been part of that scene. Dave Matthews Band, who have been out pimping their new album Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King nonstop (check out Dave's funny and self-deprecating skit during Wednesday's visit to Late Night with Jimmy Fallon), made their first-ever appearance on The Today Show this morning, which just so happened to mark their first-ever appearance on any morning show.
So did water-logged fans get what they were waiting for? The band, looking rather spiffy for the occasion (Dave in a suit jacket!), played a six-song set in roughly an hour or so, which included old favorites like "So Much To Say" (see clip below), "Crash Into Me", and "Ants Marching," as well as songs off the new album, including "Funny The Way It Is", "Why I Am," and "Alligator Pie." Blame it on the rain (or maybe those very early morning hours), but it took Dave a bit to get into his groove. Though once he did, Rockefeller Center suddenly felt like a jamming amphitheater. Drummer Carter Beauford interacted most with fans and handed out drumsticks between songs, while Dave jokingly ordered a ham and cheese sandwich through the window of the adjoining Dean & Deluca. So, even for fans without a primo spot, the band's music and carefree interactions with the crowd during commercial breaks made it well worth the wait and the weather.
What about you, PopWatchers? Is there a band you would go see in any kind of weather? Which band/musician have you endured crummy conditions for? Or is your fandom weather permittant?
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I have endured two thunderstorms on the lawn of Camden, NJ’s tweeter center. One was Jimmy Buffett & the other was Green Day. Both fantastic acts (in different ways of course!). For Green Day, the lawn people actually started a mudslide down the hill of the lawn since it got so muddy. And for Jimmy, the rain was coming down so hard that it hurt the skin! Luckily people next to us brought a plastic tarp in and invited us under it! Both storms had heavy lighting striking across the sky! It was amazing and scary all at once! I have also been to a Jimmy Buffett show where it was 100+ degrees and then humidity! That day you wished a rolling thunderstorm would have come through!
I thought it was a great performance.
Saw Pearl Jam outdoors in East Troy, Wisconsin, in October – 28 degrees at showtime. A little rain is nothing. As for DMB, they were fine this morning and on Fallon – the new album is really rock solid, probably their best since Before These Crowded Streets in ’99 or whenever that came out.
I’ve seen Dave in all sorts of weather conditions. One in particular that stands out was during a thunderstorm. They were playing Watchtower and out of nowhere, right as the chorus kicks in, a huge lightning bolt flashed to the left of the stage. Such a cool and scary moment!
Saw Bonnie Raitt, Bruce Hornsby, Jackson Browne, & Shawn Colvin in a hurricane (granted, a cat 1) – on the lawn of an amphitheater