Rock Cliches and a Drumstick

"We all came out to Montreux
On the Lake Geneva shoreline
To make records with a mobile
We didnt have much time
Frank zappa and the mothers
Were at the best place around
But some stupid with a flare gun
Burned the place to the ground
Smoke on the water, fire in the sky"

-Deep Purple

Since last weekends wonderful time with Cyrill, I hadn't been able to get "Smoke on the Water" out of my head. I was extremely excited for my 4th of July Weekend and sang the first lines of the song repeatedly. Rock cliche, I know.

I left on the 8:35 bus on Saturday morning to begin my 'pilgrimage' to the Montreux Jazz Festival. What began as a jazz fest in 1967 soon turned into an arts festival spanning not only jazz, but reggae, classic rock, hip-hop, and any other genre under the sun. As soon as the Dave Matthews Band was announced to make their first appearance at the legendary festival, I knew I had to take the opportunity to see one of my favorite bands at such a historical fest.

In Zurich, I met up with a fellow DMB fan that I met online and we were going to make the trip together. We only live about an hour away so it made meeting up pretty easy. He had previously traveled to Paris earlier in the week to see them and is also going to their Amsterdam show this week. Lucky guy.

We arrive in Montreux to building storm clouds and skies growing gray. We follow signs from the station that have only one word: jazz. This is a serious fest! The Montreux Music and Convention Center and main location of the fest is located on the shore of Lake Geneva.



We scoped out the venue for lines and joined the only one we saw, thinking that it was already the line for the concert. It was the line for tickets to be released that day. We already had our tickets so we walked around. Stefan had met a woman at the Paris show that lived in Lausanne and she was also joining us in our adventure to be in the front row. Perhaps I should explicitly explain this. I'd seen DMB three times previously, all times being either in the lawn at an amphitheater or half-way back in an arena. I always had to rely on the video screens to even make out what was going on on-stage. The ticketing and seating arrangement for this show was opposite of typical North American shows: the general admission, cheaper standing tickets were on the floor and the expensive seats were in the balcony. Anyways, my goal was to be front row, dead center. Goal stated.

For easy re-entry once you enter the venue, your ticket was checked and you were given a bracelet. The three of us were first in line for that at 4 pm. From there, we proceeded to be first in the venue line.



We waited in line for 3.5 hours and met some interesting people. There was a couple who came down from Hannover for their first DMB show. There were some eastern European fans that came. There were people from Spain, France, Germany, and Switzerland to see the show that night. After 3.5 hours, the doors open and in the style of a cow slaughterhouse we sprint up stairs (taking 5 or 6 at a time) and there I am, staring at the stage set up for Steely Dan from the front row, absolutely dead center.

I make small talk with an older gentleman sitting on the floor next to me as we wait for the show to start. Since the festival's inception in 1967, he has only missed 4 or 5 years. He used to come for a week but now chooses a show to come to each year. He said Bob Dylan is always the best show. He even had juice boxes!

Finally the lights dim and the festival organizer comes out, introduces the night and Steely Dan takes the stage.





They played all their hits. From Reelin' in the Years to Aja to Two Against Nature, I was surprised that I recognized a lot more than I thought I'd recognize. They played a funky hour and 45 minutes of music. The piano player even played a melodica!





They started 5 minutes late and played 15 minutes over their allotted time. The DMB fans were worried that DMB would have to cut their set a bit shorter. After a quick change and 30 minutes to sit and rest up, the lights went down and DMB was introduced. The hall came alive with a bit more raucous cheering than Steely Dan had.



Starting 15 minutes later than they were supposed to, they also chose not to stick to their allotted time. Thankfully. They played many new songs off of their new album (which sounds fantastic, by the way). Dave's shirt was also soaked with sweat after about 2 songs. He didn't help himself in this regard by dancing like a mad-man.



They put on a fantastic show, even though it was a little over half the length of what they usually play.



Anticipating being in the front row, I made a sign. I heard a story that there was a person who brought a sign to each concert he went to that only said "Love". People were remembering him by making signs that said the same thing. Here's my Swiss Cheese Love sign:



At the beginning of DMB's set, there were about 15 photographers in the space between the front row and the stage. A couple took pictures of me holding the sign while I was singing and dancing. The camera behind Carter even zoomed to the crowd and I could tell he was focusing on me (or my sign). On #41 (a song by DMB), Dave looked down and gave me a slight nod. They noticed!

Not wanting to waste paper, I also wrote something on the other side. It said, "Carter rocks my socks off! ...stick?" Carter is the drummer. When they finished the set and walked off the stage, he walks directly toward me, pointing his sticks at me. He tosses two in my direction and I successfully catch the first. In awe that I caught the first, the second one lost my attention. I didn't care. I got a Carter Beauford drumstick!



Being hot and thirsty after dancing and singing to DMB, we exited the venue as the stage was being changed to Chickenfoot. Here are the three of us who met up: me, Stefan and Anne.



Anne left so Stefan and I went back in to check out Chickenfoot. They were terrible. It seems like Joe Satriani only knows how to play a guitar solo, not a song; and Sammy Hagar started every crowd participation in the book. We left after a couple of songs back to the train station and caught a 3 am train back to Lausanne, where we slept in the train station for a couple hours before getting on the first train back to our region of Switzerland.

It was a mighty fine weekend! Perhaps DMB will get invited back and will be allowed to play longer, but for now I'm just hoping that a DVD will get released. Montreux generally releases shows a couple of years after they happen, so I can only hope that a show (where I was front row at!) will get released on DVD.

I'm tired and need to brush my teeth as that hasn't happened since Saturday morning. Mmm.

Here's a slideshow with other pictures from the weekend, though I posted all the 'good' ones.



Keep on the sunny side,
Jon