Dumbek's Random Stuff

9/10/90 - The Grateful Dead - The Spectrum in Philly.

Oh, how I loved The Spectrum. I ended up seeing The Grateful Dead there 14 times before Jerry died. The 1990 shows were among the best. This was Vince's 3rd show with the band. There's nothing like a Dead show in Philly. Any show that starts with "Shakedown Street" is going to be a good time. Guaranteed. This one was no exception. "Foolish Heart", "The Other One", "Scarlet->Fire", "U.S. Blues"....yeah - this one was a blast. Check out the link above and listen to the crowd singing along to "U.S. Blues". That's such a Philly crowd - haha. We were about 2 years into going to shows at this point and our perspective on traveling was starting to change. We decided that it was perfectly reasonable to drive from dc->philly->dc 3 nights in a row, while working until about 3:00 each afternoon. Hanging out in the parking lot - while fun - had become secondary to the music. Besides - we were both broke and couldn't afford to take any extra time off of work.





9/10/99 - R.E.M. @ Merriweather. Despite being a local boy, this was my first time in the Pit at Merriweather. 4th row. Great to be close, but damn they pack 'em in there. It was seated, but still seemed really tight. Nice show. We got the rarely played "Low Desert" and the 3rd "Camera" since 1985. Dinger got a shout-out from Stipe for a small sign he made. "Nice sign, boys." At one point I made Stipe laugh by beating him to one of his stock "Man On The Moon" moves, where he bops his head during the "Newton got beaned" line. Either we're starting to see them too much, or Michael needs new schtick. Probably a little of both. He still does that same move, btw. Nice show.





9/10/04 - Snow Patrol @ 9:30. I understand Snow Patrol had played 9:30 once before and it was practically empty. Not this time. Packed to the gills with frat boys and Jennifers. My old review is here. Fun show. Good band. New album next month.