DMB, take one

Last night we went to the first of two Dave Matthews Band shows at Great Woods....er, the Tweeter Center....er, the Comcast Center. The show itself was fantastic -- hearing the crowd jam to Everyday was awesome! Tim Reynolds guest performed on electric guitar, which Tom and I had never heard before. A little strange not having piano (although Dave did play for one song), but it did give some of the songs an interesting sound.

The venue, however, was a bit of a nightmare. If you haven't been to Great Woods recently, you now have to show your tickets when you pull into line to park. No tickets, you get sent to Will Call, a temporary parking area in which you have 20 minutes to produce a set of tickets or you are asked to leave. We had three cars and were immediately split up based on tickets (will call, VIP and our regular issue).

The town of Mansfield is cracking down heavily on public drinking, even those of age. In the past, if you've used plastic Solo cups and were of age, they looked the other way. No more -- the police force and event security must be triple what it has been in the past. Granted, you see a lot of kids running around that look extra young, but they weren't messing around. Coolers taken, cars raided. We eventually closed up our car and headed over to meet our friends in the VIP area where not only was the average age closer to ours, there was less fuss.

We complain every year about how stressful it is to see concerts at Great Woods -- maybe this will be the last of the shows we attend.