the concert that never was...

Last year in April or so, I heard an announcement on the radio that one of my favorite bands was coming to Salt Lake for a concert in August. Because I knew this band is one of Ben's favorite--if not his most favorite--bands, I immediately sent him a text message and he bought tickets that same day. The band, if you couldn't tell from the posted picture, is Dave Matthew's Band.

The concert was supposed to be last Wednesday. Ben and I were both SO super excited. Then just a few days before, we heard that the concert was "postponed" because of the recent death of Leroi, Dave's saxophonist. The radio said that Dave was "hell-bent" on coming to SLC and wouldn't cancel the concert. So, we waited to hear the new concert date.

Today on the radio I heard an updated Dave Matthew's Band concert announcement. The concert has now been officially canceled and all ticket holders are supposed to return their tickets for a full refund. Yet again, I sent Ben another text message about the Dave Matthew's Band concert. We're both SO super bummed by this!

Dave Matthews Band and I actually have a little bit of a history. And to be honest, the history is part of me and Ben's story, as well.

I remember when I first heard "Satelite," and "Ants Marching," two of my most favorite DMB songs. My brother Zach had the cd and I loved to listen to it. In high school I became more familiar with DMB. On our (me and Ben) first real date--junior year homecoming dance--he picked me up for the day activity to Ruth's Diner and the Zoo and the music playing in the back ground was DMB. That was something we talked about virtually the whole car ride and something that we had in common, which is strange because at that point, there wasn't much.

A few years after high school, my concert-loving dad invited me to see DMB in Las Vegas. I was obviously still a fan and flew down for the concert (and a trip to California for Disneyland!). We had great floor seats and I got a second-hand marijuana high...seriously. My dad bought me a DMB t-shirt and I had fun watching all the dope heads and beer drinkers, which was kind of a shock to my fresh-off-BYUI-campus naivete.

DMB's album Busted Stuff came out while Ben was on his mission. This was when we were writing each other quite devotedly and I remembered he was a fan of the band. I bought the cd the day it came out and, as I made my weekly tape for Ben, I was certain to have the new DMB album playing in the background so he could *kinda* hear the new songs. Then, like a girly fool, I dedicated the song "Where are you Going" to Ben on the last little bit of the tape. If you hear the song, it's kind of a love song and it has sense been one of our favorites.

While Ben was still living in Washington and I in Idaho, he splurged and got tickets to see DMB at the Red Rock concert venue in Washington. He called me from the concert, bought me a t-shirt and a sticker for my car and told me all about how wonderful it was. That sticker is one of only two Ben will allow me to put on my car. It's started to fade and peel and we were both hoping to get me a replacement DMB sticker at the concert last week. The t-shirt was my favorite t-shirt to wear around the house and finally one day I decided I was going to dye my hair dark..and just happened to be wearing my DMB shirt (which had holes and was faded by this time). I got dye all over the shirt but I refuse to throw it away!!!

The announcment on the radio today said that the reason the concert is cancelled is because the band has to make a record-company mandated visit to the record studios to work on the new album. Apparently Dave feels awful about having to cancel two shows (the one in SLC and Sacramento). They also said that when he tours again, SLC will definitely be on the list of stops.

So maybe I'll get to see DMB again in a few years. And get my new sticker.