Every year for the past 10 years, around this time, we start making early plans for our annual trip to the Gorge Amphitheatre in Washington State – about a 2.5 hour drive east of Seattle. The venue has hosted The Dave Matthews Band for a 3 night run every Labour Day – “Labour Dave” – weekend for…forever, and we’ve been there faithfully with 28,000 of our closest friends for at least the past 10. Camping in the middle of a farmer’s field that looks more like a crop circle than a campground, people from all over the country make the pilgrimage to this place – often called the greatest concert venue in North America. We’ve made incredible friends over the years, and the Gorge (and Dave Matthews) has been a fixture in our world.
Until this year. For the first time in 25 years, The Dave Matthews Band is not touring. They’ve given up their permanent Labour Day Gorge gig to Guns n’ Roses (arguably still worth going to, but not the same). This year Dave Matthews is on a solo tour through parts of the US, and we just couldn't deal with going a full year without seeing him (I know, we're super-fans). Nashville is about the western-most point on his tour, and it's a place we've always wanted to go. So we called up our 'Dave Friends' from Florida, and decided to meet up in Music City for our make-shift annual Dave Matthews meet-up.
Here's our trip in pictures:
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We also managed to see one of our other favourite bands - The Lone Bellow. Watch this video. They're incredible. |
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The Ascend Amphitheatre in downtown Nashville is a gorgeous outdoor venue. Great sound, and a beautiful sunset city view.
Dave Matthews (right) is on tour with guitarist Tim Reynolds. We had pretty good seats and a great view up-close view.
The current site of the Grand Ole Opry is not the original. The Ryman Auditorium was the host of the Opry until 1974.
Some of the famous people who've graced the Grand Ole Opry stage. There are 16 themed dressing rooms - and only 2 shared bathrooms!
