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Entry 8 - Running With Boyd VOTE
It's August 1st, 2001. I'm extremely
excited because I'm going to see
the Dave Matthews Band for the third time in one summer. I
wake up early
because I plan on getting my weight lifting and running in early
so that I
can rest up for the concert.
After getting a quick breakfast, I head to
the Mid State Sports Complex
in Camp Hill and begin my grueling workout. About halfway
through the
workout, I'm ready for a break. I head off to the water
cooler, and a huge
black man is ahead of me. "He's a monster," I
think to myself. I notice the
dyed blonde dreads look awfully familiar. Thinking to
myself, I determine
that I am going nuts, and it's just another football player that
works out
there.
As the man turns around, I realize who it
is, and my heart stops as my
jaw drops. "How you doin'," the man says to me.
Unconsciously, I put my hand out and say,
"Mr. Tinsley, I'm doing
alright. How 'bout you?"
Shaking my hand, he tells me that he plans
on going running, and that
he'd like to work on some hills, and wants to know if I know of
any good
places to run.
Before I knew what hit me, I'm calling my
mom telling her not to pick me
up, and heading out the door with Boyd. I took him to one of
the toughest
running spots that I have ever encountered. Right across
from Hershey Park
Stadium is the old Milton Hershey High School. The District
III Cross
Country race is held there every year, and for good reason. Hills
are
everywhere.
This is not going to be an easy run, even
though both of us have been
running consistently since it has been nice enough outside to do
so. With a
big concert that night, we decide that it is better not to run too
hard so
that we don't kill ourselves.
After being to two shows already this
year, I talk to Boyd about how set
lists are picked and what determines whether the Lovely Ladies are
there or
not. He's surprisingly not quite sure himself, just that
they come around
more when the band is in a similar area a while, so that
transportation isn't
that bad since they obviously can't stay in the same road bus with
a bunch of
guys for personal reasons.
I am very happy when he told me that the
Lovely Ladies were scheduled to
be in Hershey that night. I can already tell that this show
is going to be
the best. Continuing to run, I bring up the question of what
his favorite
songs to play are. With little surprise, they are some of
the biggest jams
the band has, including Lie In Our Graves, Two Step, and #41.
With the stadium and Hershey Park so
close, as we near where the finish
line would be if we were in a race, Boyd asks me if I'd be
interested in
getting a quick couple hours of riding in the park before I had to
go home to
shower, and he had to get ready for the show. Since the band
was playing
that night, Boyd got me in for free, which worked out since I had
no money
and this moment was too special to put a price tag on.
The park is extremely crowded, with ticket
holders for the show getting
in for half price. This doesn't matter, because all that
Boyd needs to do is
sign a few autographs and we get through an hour wait in five
minutes. It's
the perfect day too, with the weather so hot that the water rides
feel great,
and going on a roller coaster while wet makes the wind twice as
refreshing.
After three hours of riding, it's almost
two o'clock. With a sound
check at four thirty, it is time to go to assure that Boyd makes
it back in
time. The forty five minute trip back home is awesome.
Having my copy of
last year's Hershey show with me, we put that in and listen to it
all the way
back to tiny Shiremanstown. Boyd comes in just long enough
to meet my Mom,
and to see my room, which I'm attempting to make into a shrine of
the band,
but am unfortunately running out of space for posters. I
walk back out to
tell Boyd to play a knockout show tonight, but he doesn't here me.
He's too
busy rooting through the back of his car for backstage passes for
a friend
and me.
He also asks me if I have any requests for
that evening, and one thought
pops into my mind. Best Of What's Around. With the
Lovely Ladies there, I
can't turn it down. I have so many shows with them in on it,
but I have
never seen it live, and it is a must. That's the last that I
see of Boyd
until I get down to Hershey. Before that, I have to shower,
find out if I
have any shows in the mail, or emails for new trades, and mentally
get ready
for the show.
I go pick up a friend of mine that's
coming to the show with my other
ticket from the Warehouse. We head to Hershey, listening to
a mix of my
favorite live songs, which only has a few songs because they are
some of the
longest versions I've ever heard. We get to the show well
before the gates
open, so we go into Chocolate World and get lots of candy, then
tailgate with
chocolate and soda. Finally the gates open, and we take
advantage of the
backstage passes and walk right past security, flashing the passes
in their
faces.
I meet Dave, Carter, Stefan, and Leroi, as
well as reminisce with Boyd
from earlier that day. This is the most amazing thing that
has ever happened
to me. I don't want to be a pest, so I simply ask a few
questions since this
band has intrigued me since I heard their unique music. After
that, I leave
so that they can get ready for the show, but Dave grabs me just
before I'm
about to go join the rest of the DMB maniacs. "How'd
you like to come out
and introduce the opening act with me?"
Speechless, I don't answer knowing that my
friends are going to see me
on stage with Dave Matthews himself. I give some sort of
nod, and my friend
and myself hang around and get all the free food we want until the
band comes
on.
"I'd like to introduce y'all to a
friend of mine, from Mechanicsburg,
John Smith." For some reason, the crowd erupts. I
can't figure it out, but
decide that it is a good time to introduce the band, and I
shouldn't over
elaborate the moment. As quickly as I got on, I'm off, and
back behind
stage.
I finally decide that it is time to go
back to my seats and give the
band some time to get ready for the show. I'm more patient
than normal,
because I know that the show probably won't be able to beat the
experiences I
have had already today, meeting the band, running with Boyd.
The only way to
describe it would have to be a made up word of "impecular"
that my friend
created.
I soon find out that I am very wrong.
A ton of songs I haven't heard
live before are played. Before Best Of What's Around is
played, Dave creates
what becomes my favorite Dave speak of all time. "This
one goes out to John,
the former 103 pound wrestler with a bigger gut than me. He
nearly broke the
stage when he was up there."
I nearly feinted, and tears came down my
face like some stupid girl at a
Backstreet Boys concert. It doesn't matter. I'm too
wrapped up in the
moment to care. Angel From Montgomery is played, as well as
a twenty plus
minute version of Jimi Thing, one of the few songs that I haven't
heard yet.
After one of the longest encore breaks
ever, the band comes on and plays
an amazing four song encore, ending with Ants Marching, which
never fails as
a great way to end a show.
I get into the parking lot and head home.
I can't believe what a day I
just had. Nothing can beat a day of nothing but the Dave
Matthews Band.
Tired, I go right into my bed, but can't get to sleep. Looking
up at my
posters, I try to get myself to realize that I just met all of the
members of
my favorite band, and was promised pictures with them to appear on
the
website.
A month later, I go out to check the mail
like any other day. Sorting
through it, I receive a special copy of the show from the band
made on actual
professional CD's, and with the cover art that a live show like
Listener
Supported would receive. After this, it's official that life
can't get any
better.
VOTE
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