Red Velvet Cake Cheesecake and Dave Matthews…It Should Have Been a Perfect Evening.

Last night was the night we’d been waiting for!  The Dave Matthews Band was coming to Cali and we had tickets…since March as a matter of fact!  Marcie, Mike, Elana and I jumped in the car and met Tami in Irvine for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.  The evening was off to a great start because the only dessert I ever crave is sold at the Cheesecake Factory…Red Velvet Cake Cheesecake! 
While eating most of it all by myself I sighed, “Red velvet cake cheesecake and Dave Matthews…it’s a good night you guys.” 

That was until we got to the venue – the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater.  Actually, we hadn’t completely arrived yet because, although we were on the property about 6:30, we didn’t get to park until 7:30.  That’s right, it took us about an hour to just park the car!  The parking lot was so poorly organized and executed.

Once out of the car, we forgot we were irritated and excitedly walked into the amphitheater.

Our seats were general admission on the lawn area.  Since we were late getting in (due to parking)  much of the lawn was filled up.  It took us awhile to find a spot.  Luckily, it wasn’t too long after making ourselves comfortable that the show started.  We jumped to our feet and cheered when Dave and the rest of the band got on stage.  At that point, the cheering literally drowned out the music.  Not because the cheering was so loud, but because the sound at last night’s show was atrocious.  It was quiet and somewhat distorted.  Even though there was a bank of speakers directly in front of us we could still hold conversations with people 15 feet away and some were able to talk on their cell phones.  Mike described it to be like we were all standing outside a car playing the music with the windows rolled up.  We could hear it, but it just wasn’t very loud or clear. 

After the first  hour of the show people started getting up and leaving.  After the second hour we decided to head back down the hill too, thinking that the exit traffic would hardly be worth the show we had just seen.  Dave usually plays 2-3 encores at each show, and I would never leave before they were over usually.  It was such a disappointment. 

What makes it even worse is about two months ago, the band announced a show at the Hollywood Bowl to be performed next week.  We never would have gone all the way to Irvine had we known about this show.  In addition, the Bowl sounds incredible all the time.  There are still tickets available for that show, and I’m almost tempted. 

But at least there was red velvet cake cheesecake!

Update:  Mike, Marcie, and I are headed to the Hollywood Bowl on Wednesday for DMB’s show.  Mike texted me tonight and it said, “I want a do over."  Me too!