Marathon Music Works in the fear that it would sell out, I did not expect Yacht Club Nashville to pick me as a winner for two more tickets. With all my Nashville friends stuck at work or out of town for the weekend I had nowhere to turn except for Facebook for this deal of a lifetime giveaway. Once the day of show was upon us I started to receive some messages on Facebook inquiring about the tickets. Phone numbers were exchanged and the details were hammered out. A friends cousins boyfriend was interested as well as a friends friend. Frankly, I didn’t care who got the tickets as long as they weren’t wasted and everyone enjoyed themselves. Once inside I happily accepted the free beer from the first of the ticket recipients. After discussing all things Umphrey’s and moe. we parted ways. As with every show I headed to the merch stand. (It’s actually on my resume under interests that I collect artist merchandise). I grabbed a poster, tour shirt, and two 3 disc albums that were $5 a piece. With a beer in hand I was now wondering how I was going to juggle all this during the show. Having rolled the shirt up and stuffing it into my right pants pocket, and placing the two CD sets into the other pocket I was ready to “comfortably” enjoy the show. I believe it was the best of Supertramp that was being played over the PA while we all positioned ourselves for the concert. Standing next to the one taper in the crowd I had spotted the creator of the UMPH LOVE sticker a few feet away. We discussed Summer Camp briefly and how this would be the 10th consecutive Summer Camp for the both of us. That’s when moe. took to the stage. The first set started off with “Rainshine” and lead into an unbelievable “Blue Jeans Pizza.” The “Dr. Graffenberg” wrapped a smile across my face as I finally ran into the guy who I gave that first ticket to. He bought me another drink and proceeded to discuss moe.’s light snow and how it’s gotten better since the last time he saw them at Marathon. We talked about Jefferson Waful’s history with moe. and his transition into Umphrey’s. Then moe. went into a “Hava Nagila” that would playfully not end. I stopped my recording one verse too early. http://youtu.be/rhHYeiIngiQ “White Lightning Turpentine” reminded us of how lucky we are that Jim Loughlin is such a wizard on the xylophone. Rob Dehark brought out the five string bass for an out of this world version of “Hi & Lo” as well as “32 Things” to close out the first set.
During set break I managed to make it to the 3rd or 4th row just in time for the show photograph that was shared to Facebook. This time Weird Al Yankovic’s newest material was being played over the PA as we prepared ourselves for the second set. After a short wait moe. came back on stage for a stellar performace of Yodelittle. As Camp Counselor Alex put it when discussing “Yodelittle” on his 15 favorite moe. songs‘, “This song has so much quirk too it’s being served to you by the pounds.” “Yodelittle” transitioned into “Bones of Lazarus” at which point I escaped the dense crowd up front and made my way back to the merch table to spend more money. This time the idea of reading was top of mind and having John Derhak’s “Bones of Lazarus” staring me right in the face I had to jump on buying that as well as “Tales From The moe.Republic.” Each book was signed by John and I happily held onto both copies as I made it back by the sound board to enjoy their cover of “Wagon Wheel.” Leading up to their show in Nashville, moe. posted to Facebook that, “In the spirit of moe.’s upcoming show in Nashville at Marathon Music Works, the guys have decided to do a cover of a country tune and we would love to hear your suggestions!” There was just under 500 requests including mine, Johnny Cash’s “Ring Of Fire.” Bob Dylan’s “Wagon Wheel,” now popularized by Old Crow Medicine Show and Darius Rucker beat out all the rest. http://youtu.be/NSjufxG06_E The second set closed out with Al on Mandolin for “Shoot First” into the crowd favorite “Brent Black.” Right when you think it couldn’t of gotten any better they came out for an encore that made many moe. fans not in attendance jealous. Everyone went ape shit when the opening notes to “Plane Crash” began. Having raged to this song prior to every flight I’ve ever taken out of Nashville I started to believe they were playing it for me. Walking out of that show I placed my brand new moe. bumper sticker on the back of my car. I thought to myself, “Now I’m that fan.” I’ve seen these stickers for years and now I am a part of the family.
Set 1: Rainshine (NH) Blue Jeans Pizza (NH) Chromatic Nightmare, Dr. Graffenberg> Hava Nagila, White Lightning Turpentine, Hi & Lo#> 32 Things#
Set 2: Yodelittle> Bones of Lazarus> Yodelittle, Wagon Wheel$, Shoot First%> Brent Black
Encore: Plane Crash@
# Rob. on 5 String Bass
$ Chuck. on Acoustic and Al. on Mandolin (1st Time Played)
% Al. on Mandolin
@ Walking On the Moon Tease Before P.C
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