Navigator’s Log, Earth Date 2009.07.24, Friday

At 0730 we officially dragged our under caffeinated asses down to the local Dunkin Donuts to begin a fun filled weekend road trip, something we have not done in far too long. With coffee in hand, BBQ from the night before and the loaf of applesauce bread safely packed in the cooler, and tickets to the concert firmly affixed to my other hand, we were on the road and heading south west for our motel in Pottsville, PA.

Ginger will especially appreciate this; I had been running around making up my own “I can’t wait” song for the three or so days before Friday. I frequently burst out into song or dance, yes it’s true, and I find it perfectly acceptable, everyone should try it. Anyway. We get in the car and hit the road. I pull out my iPod and hit shuffle songs. The first song to play?


Fate, destiny? I don’t know but I will say a whole lot of Dave played on the seven hour ride so I think Oreo just knows.

The road is always a fun place for Matt & I, we love road tripping so much that at one point we even considered becoming a trucker team. No, I am actually not kidding. We are both gypsy souls and love to travel so it sounded great. The part where you sometimes have to shower at strange gas stations was what really stopped us in the end.

We got to the hotel in about eight hours (not bad considering morning rush hour in Boston). My first reaction to the room was “Huh. I think I’ll take pictures of this just in case the cops ever call to collect evidence for the probable homicide which occurred here. Yeah.

But it was a roof, bed and shower not in a rest stop so it would certainly do for two nights. We got ready and headed for Hershey.

It is not exactly a secret that I am a fan of Jason Mraz, I mean, his name is one of the most used labels on this blog, but seeing Dave Matthews Band live is like a spiritual experience. There is something that happens when those guys take the stage that is literally inexplicable. You just have to be there to feel it. And I have never seen him indoors; being in the air under the stars definitely enhances the overall amazing vibe that reverberates through the Universe when he is up there. There were about 30,000 of us who were sharing in the love that night and it was spectacular. This is a shot of the crowd just after Jason finished his set.

Some notable stuff from the show:

☺ We were not front row after all, AA - EE were in front of us and we were actually about a football field’s worth away from the stage in section 25. The place was immense!

☺ Dave emceed his own opening act and came out to introduce Jason. Very cool.

☺ Jason rocked an electric guitar during his “I’m now writing jingles for porn movies” 1970’s-esque instrumental intro. It was groovy.

☺ Billy was there walking through the crowd and I could swear he was with Jon Marro from Blend Apparel. I wanted to chat with Jon because I’ve interviewed this guy for Green Leaf Reviewer but by the time I realized it they were heading into the VIP area and I never would have caught up. (So, Hi Jon if that was you!)

☺ The smell of cow poo hanging in the air was so bad Dave said at one point ‘I thought I smelled chocolate for a second, but no, it was just cow shit’.

☺ Apparently “Satellite” is out of retirement (YA-FREAKING-HOO!), they did many new songs (at least 6 I think), he also pulled out “#41” which they turned into a total jam session and played for, what felt like 41 minutes (one of my top 5 so that rocked), and they closed the show with “All Along the Watchtower” which they do an amazing rendition of (and he turned it into a Hendrix/Dylan slash Zeppelin “Stairway” montage which was freaking amazing). I frequently say there are some bands that should not be touched for covers due to the sacrilege of the situation. I think that rule falls away when one of them covers another and pulls it off like it’s their own.

Luckily all the threatening looking storms passed us by and although we saw a couple very cool lightning strikes early in the night under sprinkly skies, the rain let up and we got to enjoy about a half hour of setting sun, stars and a very cool sliver of the moon.

☺ We heard Don McLean’s “American Pie” on the radio on the way out of the parking lot. I know that sounds kind of odd but how often do you hear the entire song on the radio? Plus, Matt & I are two of the only people I know who can sing every single word to that song, not just the chorus. And we did. It took us about an hour to get out of the lot and another hour to get back but DMB played for about three so how could we ever complain?

Day one, done and perfect.

Tomorrow’s Road Trip Earth Log will include details on all things Saturday -- the underground burning city of Centralia and a little on the wind farm we happen-stanced upon (over at Green Leaf I’ll be posting an extensive article on the Locust Ridge Wind Farm project [read: I am so writing off the mileage from this trip] if you’re interested come on over and check it out.)