Dave Matthews Band at Oak Mountain - Part One

I did not originally intend for my recap of last Saturday's Dave Matthews Band show to be two posts; but, you know me - long winded - and the post was getting way too long. So, I've split it in to two posts and today bring you part one.

Saturday afternoon, Justin and I headed south to Birmingham for the Dave Matthews concert at Oak Mountain Amphitheater. I found out some time back in January that Dave (yes, we are on a first name basis) was coming to Birmingham, and immediately made a note for myself to buy tickets the day they went on sale. I asked Justin if he would like to go and if so, then I would buy his ticket for an early birthday present (his birthday is May 3). He said yes, that he would like to go and so the plan was set in motion. 

The tickets went on sale back in February and I logged on as soon as they went on sale and was able to purchase a couple - with the help of Jackie who I was on the phone with and was logging on as well. Whichever one of us got through first would do the actual purchasing. As it turns out I was able to get through and buy the tickets without any problem. 

Justin and I left my house around 2:00 Saturday afternoon and arrived in Birmingham about 3:45 or so. Our first stop was The Fish Market, my favorite place to eat in Birmingham. There was no wait and we were able to get in, get a table, order and eat in less than an hour. Needless to say we had a lot more time on our hands than I anticipate we would; but, I'm a sticker for having plenty of time and arriving early so it was no problem. 

I got my usual - the combo with fish and shrimp - and Justin wanted to order a plate with fish fillets but somehow ended up with a plate that had not only fish, but also shrimp and oysters. We both cleared out plates and left with full bellies. Justin pointed out that it had been exactly four months since we had last eaten there (December 6 when coming back from the State Championship football game), which I found to be quite interesting. After dinner, we went over to the Dunkin Doughnuts across the parking lot and got six doughnuts for the ride home. I figured we might be hungry by the time midnight rolled around. 

We left downtown and made our way to Oak Mountain. I had bought an advance parking pass with the tickets and our spot was very close to the entrance which was nice. There were lots of people out tailgating and boozing it up. Justin and I just sat in the car and observed all the shenanigans going on around us. Then we started reminiscing about Dave concerts from years past and ended up calling our mother to ask her about one such show. It was (I think) my sophomore year of college and mother brought Justin to Oak Mountain to meet me and some friends. I don't even remotely remember the plan to get him back to Huntsville. Maybe he was going to stay the weekend in Tuscaloosa with me. At any rate, I remember there being beer in the trunk of the car and that it was confiscated by mother. I wasn't old enough to legally drink at the time. Justin didn't remember any beer; so, we called mother to see what she remembered. She also didn't remember beer being confiscated. She remembered leaving the beer with all of us. Obviously none of us can remember exactly what happened that night long ago. Suffice it to say Justin and I probably killed those particular brain cells and mother can blame her lack of memory on MS. 

We made the decision to go in to the venue around 6:30ish. We honestly were not sure if there was going to be an opening band or not because the ticket didn't indicate one way or the other. So, we made our way inside and found our seats which were in the middle section of what was once the lawn at Oak Mountain. I don't know when they put in seats there, but they did and they are actually quite nice and we had a great view. The seats are at a steep incline and we could see the stage very well. At this point of the evening we reminisced about all the shows we had seen there on the lawn when it was a lawn, including the Widespread Panic show in the summer of 1997 that we were both out but didn't know the other was there until this past weekend. Yeah, I know. 

There was a trio of women that came in and sat to the left of Justin (I was on his right) which included a mother and her two daughters (one pregnant). The concert was the mother's early birthday present as well and they were from Mobile. They were nice people and were calm and not rowdy which was a plus. As it turns out there was in fact an opening band called Vintage Trouble and they were not very good. There sound was nothing like I expected and neither Justin nor I enjoyed their performance. I left towards the end of their set to get a Diet Coke. I was thirsty and decided to go ahead ans shell out the ridiculous amount of $5.50 for a 20 ounce soda. I first made a pit stop and then went to the main concession stand where the people working there were not letting people have the caps to their sodas because supposedly people in the stand might throw them down towards the stage or at other people. Listen, I'm not about to pay $5.50 for a soda and 1) not get the three Coke points associated with it; 2) leave it open so someone could slip a roofie (I doubt that's how you spell it) in it; 3) leave it open so someone can kick it over and get the place where I'm standing sticky with Diet Coke or 4) not have a top so that I can safely transport said soda from Point A to Point B. So, I found a beer cart that was also selling soda and bought one from there - cap and all. My guess is that one of those Pelham football boosters is a collector of Coke Points and was hoarding all the caps for his or her self. 

Come back tomorrow for part two of this very enthralling story.