The Best of What's Around - Parts Five & Six

You see, I really would like to get all these concert recaps done by Friday, which won't happen. But, if I do the two night shows together in one post, I should be able to make this go by faster. So we'll do both nights of Noblesville 2009 in one post, but still as the separate shows they are. My guess is that night one will score the highest yet, but we'll see. Just a reminder of the scoring system:

1 = A song that I would gladly go to get a beer, use the restroom, or do anything else that I needed to do during.
2 = A song that will make me want to stay in place, but that I'll hunt down the beer man during
3 = A song that I'll dance a little to, has moments I'll love, but that I'll talk to The Wiese or text during.
4 = A song I'll be totally lost in, and one which brings me the aforementioned joy and happiness.
5 = Epic; a top ten song, or such a rarity to hear live that I am going to lose control, and might knock someone over I'm dancing in such a crazy way. MJ almost got thrown over a balcony for one of these.

And now, to set the mood. As I previously mentioned, I learned from my 2007 and 2008 Nobelsville experiences that it's best to do the two night stay, camp out, and enjoy the whole atmosphere. So, in 2009, Bows, The Wiese and I set off to Noblesville for both nights of DMB. The latest album, released that year, was Big Whiskey and the Groo-Grux King, and it was, by all accounts, a toss back to the original three albums in terms of quality (although it is lacking in 5 score songs, at least at this time, when they are all a bit saturated live). We parked the car in the yard at Deer Creek, and set up camp with the usual suspects. We strolled into the show, and as I returned from the restroom the band was just taking the stage. What ensued was an absolutely epic opening, one which had The Wiese, Bows and me going nuts:

1. Bartender - 5
2. Proudest Monkey > - 2
3. Satellite - 5
4. Seven - 3
5. Shake Me Like a Monkey - 4
6. Funny The Way It Is - 3
7. #41 - 5
8. You Never Know - 4
9. Why I Am - 5
10. Crash Into Me - 4
11. Spaceman - 3
12. So Damn Lucky - 4
13. Lie In Our Graves > - 4
14. Shotgun (Tease) - N/A
14. Squirm - 4
15. Alligator Pie - 5
16. Jimi Thing - 4
17. Time Bomb - 4
18. E: Rye Whiskey - 3
19. E: The Maker - 4
20. E: All Along The Watchtower - 5

A few things to note:

- Bartender to open a show should be a 6, not a five, but I'll respect the scoring system and give it the 5 it is.
- I had to adjust scoring for the Big Whiskey and the Groo-Grux King album: Both Alligator Pie and Why I Am moved up to 5s from 4s. This moves it's overall album score up to a 3.67, tying it for fourth with Crash. I did this after reflecting on my attitude when those songs are played.
- This was my first Watchtower ... and it was epic. Only one other song has given me that kind of reaction: the final encore from night one in Charlottesville. When MJ almost got tossed.

Anyway, night one at Noblesville 2009 was a solid 20 songs (one tease), with the always solid, but honestly too slow "Proudest Monkey" as the only two. A total score of 80 gives us an easy math equation to realize this show scores a 4.0. My previous hunch that taking Stand Up out of the rotation (no songs out of this set list were from that album, and none from Everyday, but also none from the highest scoring album, Before These Crowded Streets) would impact the rankings. So, heading into night two, our rankings look like this:


1. Noblesville 2008: Night 1 - 4.00
2. Assembly Hall 2008 - 3.71
3. Noblesville 2008 - 3.65
4. Noblesville 2007 - 3.43
5. Tinley Park 2006 - 3.32

Night two started off with the best song off of Stand Up, and then (as it was an album tour year) some repeats from the night before. It looked a little something like this:

1. You Might Die Trying - 3
2. Seven - 3
3. You and Me - 3
4. Dancing Nancies - 5
5. Lying in the Hands of God - 2
6. Shotgun - 4
7. Say Goodbye - 3
8. Funny The Way It Is - 3
9. Dive In - 3
10. Crush - 4
11. The Stone - 4
12. Shake Me Like A Monkey -4
13. Alligator Pie - 5
14. Burning Down The House - 4
15. Pantala Naga Pampa > Rapunzel - 4
16. E: Don't Drink The Water - 5
17. E: Two Step - 5

A few notes:
- This show had the only "2" off of Big Whiskey (Lying in the Hands of God), which is a great song that is ruined by the slow, sleepy pace and tune, mixed in with a long and often unnecessary jam session. It's not a 1 because the lyrics and vocals are great, but the jam session is an absolute bathroom break waiting to happen.
- "The Stone" was rated as the number one DMB song of all by antsmarching.org, but I can't give it more than a 4. It's a great song, and I'm excited to hear it, but there are other songs which get me much more excited. It is about Judas, however, which makes it sneaky deep in its lyrics.
- This was my first two step, and a two song encore is usually a disappointment, but with two songs which bring down the house, nothing was lost.

So, 17 songs, and a total score of 64, for a concert score of 3.77. When put up on our big board, my sixth career show stands up like this:

1. Noblesville 2009: Night 1 - 4.00
2. Noblesville 2009: Night 2 - 3.77
3. Assembly Hall 2008 - 3.71
4. Noblesville 2008 - 3.65
5. Noblesville 2007 - 3.43
6. Tinley Park 2006 - 3.32

A couple trends:

- It seems as if we are trending upwards, although I doubt the next few sets will top 4.00.
- It appears my theory about ditching Stand Up material for Big Whiskey material inflating scores has held
- My memory served correct thus far: I would have ranked night one at Noblesville 2009 as my favorite show to that point. In fact, this looks pretty accurate thus far. I'd have to say that moving forward I'd expect the 2010 Charlottesville shows to outscore 2009 night one, but everything else should be close. We are over half way done now ... at least until this upcoming weekend adds three more (maybe a fourth) show to my resume.
- I'm not sure if I should count the ten song (or there abouts) set that Dave and Tim will do Saturday afternoon. I'll have to mull that over.