The Haps at DMB...
Last night Rob and I went to the Dave Matthews Band show at the Sleep Train Pavilion in Concord. After every concert I attend, I kick myself at the realization that I spend more time observing the looneys around me than I do enjoying the show. I suppose that's because the universe always tends to seat me in the sections with the most entertaining people who capture my attention and never let it go.
Early on, before the pavilion got too crowded, we took our seats and proceeded to eavesdrop on the conversations around us. We quickly realized that every other couple in our section was doing the same thing, and were probably talking about us just as we were talking about them! From that point on, we kept our observations to ourselves until we got back to the car. Other people's lives are fascinating to me, and a lot of times I find myself trying to develop their story based on what I hear and see of them at any given moment.
Here's what we saw, and infered, throughout the night...
- The older guy sitting to the right of us at the end of row "PP" (hilarious in itself), with earplugs on, totally ignoring his wife as she carried on talking to him. You decide what the earplugs might have been for.
- The early 20s couple behind us, arguing during most of the pre-show about why she does not listen, nor remember, anything he says to her. He even threatened at one point not to tell her the rest of whatever he was telling her...
- Another couple to our right-front, having what seemed to be a heated exchange. Actually, it was more like him complaining to her about something, and her trying to calm him down by rubbing his neck. They also made several beer runs, and were dancing pretty weird by the end of the night.
- The girl immediately to my right was shooting a documentary, or something. Her camera/video cam was rolling all night. That never got annoying.
- The couple a few rows ahead of us who kept taking pictures of themselves. Each time I saw the flash start up, I posed and smiled. I hope I made it into their photos.
- The older ladies to my left were mortified by all the sights, and the smells of beer and smoke by DMB's second song, so they got up and moved. I saw them sitting in the unsold section later in the night, looking even more mortified.
- In front of those older ladies was another older lady, there with a younger man who could have been her son, however I think they were on a date. She appeared to be having a great time and I could tell she was proud to be there with him. He, on the other hand, was having a great time only by the 3rd or 4th beer. I really hope he was her son.
- At the start of the show, the tallest man in the world and his wife came and stood in front of their seats, directly in front of us, don't ya know. I was bummed for a few seconds, but then he started dancing. Funniest thing ever, I think he took lessons from Elaine on Seinfeld. Their friend came and got them after about 5 minutes, though, so we weren't able to see all of his moves, unfortunately.
- After Mr. Tall-son moved on, Mr. Curly-mop took his place. He wasn't as tall, but he had long, bushy, curly hair that blocked most of my view of the stage. Rob was nice enough to trade spots with me. Curly-mop was not very into the show, but his girlfriend was. I think she got tired of trying to make him enjoy himself, though, so they departed after about 15 minutes.
- Next to curly-mop and his girlfriend was perhaps the most fascinating couple of the night. I didn't notice them come in, but as soon as they started making out they had my attention. Things were getting steamy between them before the band came on stage, so I was glad when the performance finally started. They both stood up to cheer the band on, and I realized that she was a bit taller than him, and she seemed well aware of it too. That was when her night began to sour. He got really into the music, got really drunk, left her sitting by herself more than once, for more than 10 minutes each time, and embarrassed her to no end with his dancing and sexual advances. You could smell the disgust on her face. I expected her to get up and leave by herself at any time, that's how in to him she was. Poor guy. Well, maybe poor girl?
- John Sasaki from KTVU News. My family and I get really excited when we run into local celebrities, and being that KTVU is my news network of choice, it was great to see a familiar face. I didn't notice him at first, but I saw a guy and girl standing awkwardly in the aisle before the show, and it appeared as though they were being interrogated. No, it was just Mr. Earplugs in row PP asking John if he was, in fact, John Sasaki. "Yes, yes I am." He said. He and his girlfriend, wife, daughter, whatever she was, went and sat a few rows in front of us. I had a direct view of the side of his face. Then they got up and walked down to the floor section, and I realized it was because they were kicked out of their seats. They had been sitting in somebody else's seats while they waited for the show to start. Tisk tisk, John! Oh, but how envious I was! Imagine finding somebody in your seat and then you come to find out he's a news reporter for KTVU! How awesome would that be? I'm just glad I get to one-up on my family on my recent star-sighting!
Those were the most notable acts of the night. Oh, and DMB was great too. The music was really good and despite not being able to see the stage most of the time, I still saw a great show.
Until next time...
