Dave, Tim & the Dalai Lama...

We documented our trip down to Seattle yesterday, so here are some of the highlights.

I ate some Jack in the Box while I made my lovely wife pump gas. This is profound as it shows you how I provide sustenance for my out-of-shape body. It also shows you that I am not gender biased and I believe that women are also fully capable of pumping gas.

You also need to know that we pre-purchased a parking pass for this concert. This apparently saves you $3. And FYI, that $3 will buy you a pop inside the arena, so every dollar counts.

However, I assumed (mistake #1) that the parking garage being used for this concert would be the same one they used for the Eric Clapton concert held at the same location last year, so I didn't print off a map (mistake #2). I was wrong. So we drove around with no particular address trying to find a parking garage on Mercer street. We finally drove into one, explained our dilemma and the attendant told us "It's way past the freeway and you need to take a shuttle". Go figure. But alas he was kind enough to take our ticket and let us park in that garage anyway.

I wish I had taken a picture of the obligatory picket-wavers out front when we finally made our way to the KeyArena. Apparently we all needed to be aware of the fact that we were going to hell. I'm not sure why. I was more concerned with the concert than my spiritual status at that particular moment (hey, I'm just being honest). Come to think of it, maybe that's what settled my eternal destiny.

At 4:40pm the Dalai Lama took the stage with Dave Matthews and Ann Curry. They talked until around 5:30pm. I'll be honest and say that the whole thing lacked any depth. Ann Curry seemed like she was being so over-respectful that she didn't seem to ask a good question. And when she at one point asked about China and how do you show compassion to your enemies, the Dalai Lama seemed to sidestep the question. As for Dave, he later admitted to being nervous but his comments seemed to add some of the lighter moments.



But after listening to the conversation, this is what I am left with:

1. My goal in life is to be happy
2. True happiness and inner peace is only obtained through compassion
3. I think the Dalai Lama said the word "nipple", thus cementing the fact that everyone who giggled is still, in some ways, a middle school student at heart.
   

Ok, so I'm loosely paraphrasing much of this as I wasn't as absorbed in the whole dialog. But I was amazed at just how many people showed up to hear this exchange, especially when the concert wasn't slated to begin until 7:00pm.

At 6:30 we were treated to an acoustic performance by Seattle band Death Cab For Cutie. They weren't on the bill to begin with, but they played until 7:00pm.

I'll have to give them another listen to tell you what I really think. But the 30 minutes I heard was ok, and it was kind of funny to watch the lead singer fight with his mic stand for the entire 30 minutes.




Dave & Tim finally took the stage at 7:30pm, while we were trying to pay for our $3 pop and $3 pretzel. Apparently the guy at the counter was having a rough night with his till. But we extended him some compassion before making our way to our seats. Dave & Tim were only playing the intro to "Bartender" and the lights hadn't even come up, so we didn't miss a thing. So we settled in for the rest of the evening.




If you're a fan (or at least a little familiar with Dave's music), here's what was played.

Bartender
Old Dirt Hill
So Damn Lucky
Stay or Leave
Save Me
Cry Freedom
Gravedigger
You Are My Sanity (Tim Reynolds solo)
The Maker
Sister
Cornbread
Some Devil
Everyday
Where Are You Going
Eh Hee
Dancing Nancies
Encore:
Lie in Our Graves

It was a very enjoyable night of music. Dave had some funny stories. Tim Reynolds is a tiny man (I don't know why I mention that, except for the fact that I noticed he is much shorter than Dave) who makes unbelievable sounds come out of an acoustic guitar.

We ended the evening by wandering through Easy Street Records where I picked up some vinyl and a few used CD's before jumping in the car to head over to Azteca. In hindsight we should have opted for The Outback since it was close to 11pm and karaoke night in the lounge at the Azteca was definitely well below par.

We were home and in bed before 2am. And now I'm writing this down before I forget it all. If you made it through this entire post, please let me know as I'd like to reward you with a kind compassionate word.