My Adventure in Carrboro, NC

I just returned home from Carrboro, NC today (outside Chapel Hill) where David and the band performed last night, and am still on a high from the experience.

My friend Jennifer (who I also saw the Knoxville show with) picked me up on Saturday and we drove 3 1/2 hours to our hotel in Chapel Hill. It was pretty late when we got there, so we grabbed a bite to eat and got settled in our rooms and watched TV for a little while. Then we drove the short distance to the venue in Carrboro to see what it looked like and also to get an idea of when we should get there the next day (it was standing room only and we wanted to be sure to get near the front, as we were the last time). The Cat's Cradle was very easy to miss. It was set back in a strip mall, and looked nothing like a music club from the outside. It was basically a storefront, and a not very clean looking one at that, but there were posters for local and indie bands pasted all over the glass. None for David, however. We went inside and spoke to the guy taking tickets for that night's show, and he told us he didn't know what time we should be there, but probably not that early (he probably had no idea just how popular DC actually is). So the next morning, after eating a continental breakfast in the hotel lobby, we decided to play it safe and get back the the Cat's Cradle to make sure we got a good view of David that night. Good thing we did too, because at 10 AM there were already at least 30 people waiting, some camped out with chairs, coolers and sleeping bags in front of the venue. A few had been there since 3 AM! So we took our place in line, and took turns walking around Carrboro checking out the local stores and eateries. I found a used bookstore and bought a paperback to read, in case I got bored waiting, but no such thing happened. We talked to people in line with us, Jennifer met some ladies she knew from the Race for Hope in Washington, DC (she attended the event), and everyone was really friendly.

At about 1 PM the Penske equipment van showed up followed by a bus (which turned out to be the crew's, not David's--apparently they bought a second bus for the band), and they were forced to park in the same parking lot, but off to the side with yellow tape separating them from the rest of the vehicles in the parking lot. After the initial excitement that it might be David died down, we took turns going into the Amante Pizzeria which was also right in the same strip mall. I could have eaten a horse, I was so hungry. The pizza was good, thin crust and dripping with cheese.

The weather was beautiful, but was becoming very hot. My feet were sore and I felt like bugs were crawling on me (but it was just my hair brushing against my neck). At around 3 PM the second bus containing David and the EEB pulled in and parked behind the first bus. From our place in line, we could see the doors open, and someone get out. Some of us edged up closer to see. We saw David first, and he didn't acknowledge us, but went inside the back of the Penske trailer and started bringing things back into the bus. He was wearing a black vest over a tee shirt and his black derby. We also saw various band members and Ryan Star going back and forth from the building to the bus several times. David also went inside the venue, then came back out, but didn't look up at us. They all seemed to be very busy. David went back inside the bus, but Ryan Star came out and started walking across the parking lot toward the stores on the other side. A bold lady named Joanie walked up to him and started talking to him, handing him a bag of gifts she had for David, and then started taking pictures. Some of us went over and took turns having our pictures taken with him! Ryan looked great, was very friendly, and was wearing a pair of plastic sunglasses with heart-shaped frames. Ryan finally said he had to get back inside, and a little while later, we saw Andy and Kyle making their way across the parking lot, probably to get some dinner. I was too shy to go up to them, but they did wave to us, and we shouted back to them.

At around 6 PM Neal told some girls in the front of the line who wanted their pictures taken with him that he couldn't do it then, but would after the show, so the possibility of finally meeting David after the show looked very good! Finally, at about 8 PM, when my feet were ready to fall off, and all my clothes were literally sticking to my body from the heat, we were let inside the cool (but rather small ) auditiorium, and we took our places near the front, but almost directly in what would be David's line of vision. But it quickly became just as hot in there, due to so many bodies being packed in so closely. Several people became claustrophobic or felt faint, and had to leave.

Ryan Star came on first, and was as great as I remembered from Knoxville. He sounds like a hard rocking version of Neil Diamond. He sang a new song he wrote (I can't remember its name) that seemed to make him very emotional, and almost made me cry. I really must buy his CD--he is amazing. He engages the audience a lot, and at one point invited two girls up on stage with him to play the tambourine and do "back up." They were grinning ear to ear, and he joked around with them and with the audience. One thing I noticed about Ryan was his spicy language! He let the F and S words slip out a few times, but was so funny he had everyone laughing. Ryan finished at around 8:45 and then stagehands came out and fiddled with the equipment until finally, at around 9:05 (my feet were numb by this point) the lights went out and David and the band appeared on stage.

We had an excellent view of David, and also of Andy, who is very cute. We were toward the front, and David seemed close enough to touch. He was also very different at this concert than he had been in Knoxville back in April. For one thing, he seemed in better spirits, as if a great weight had been lifted from him. Certainly not having to worry about Adam anymore contributed to this. This time, David didn't seem to avoid performing songs that might make him cry, and in fact, he did--he teared up at the end of "Lie," and then turned to wipe his eyes and grinned sheepishly back at us, as if to say, "Yeah, I know I'm a cryer, but all my fans know that about me; it's our little secret..."

He performed some of his rockers--Bar-ba-Sol, We're Only Honest When We're Sleeping, Heroes--but no Declaration or KOTN. David seemed in a more introspective, less rocking-out mood than he had in Knoxville, and performed two songs I have rarely heard him do a the concerts--Anodyne (my favorite) and Avalanche! I was pretty much freaking out, and sang along with both songs, but so did everyone else. Particularly on Anodyne, I felt the music all the way through to my bones, and felt like it was lifting me up with it, away from the crowd and into a different realm altogether. In spite of the heat, it gave me chills. Anodyne always does. He also sang Come Back to Me, Mr. Sensitive, Little Lies (the Fleetwood Mac cover), and Light On. David loves it when the audience sings along and otherwise interacts with him, and always encourages it. David always focuses on random people when he performs, and it did look as if he was looking directly at me several times while he was singing and even during the banter, which was hilarious as always. It was very surreal, but in a very cool way.

Since this was his last concert of the Declaration tour (he's taking a much needed 2 week break), at the very end Ryan Star came out and performed his song "Last Train" with David on guitar, and then David ended his set with "Light On," which he insisted everyone sing along with, which of course we did.

But the heady mood was ruined a little when an older lady who was behind us passed out. I became aware of a hush behind us, and then saw the crowd around her, and finally saw the woman on the floor. She came to for a moment, but then fainted again. We tried to move back away from her, and a few people called out to David, who had almost finished Light On, and tried to get his attention. David and the band finally realized what was happening, and stopped playing. David became even paler than he already is, and murmured something like, "I'll get help," but his mood appeared to be ruined, and as we stood outside waiting for them to come outside to greet fans (as Neal had promised they would do), a fire truck and then an ambulance pulled up and the lady (who thankfully, was conscious) was taken to the hospital. We stood around after they left, and were then informed by a guard that David was not going to be coming out to greet fans after all, and we should move along. I would bet what happened inside the venue probably had something to do with his change of heart.

In spite of the evening's worrisome ending, the concert itself was fantastic--even better than Knoxville, because this time I didn't get the impression David was holding anything back. It was a very powerful, heady, and moving experience.

I'll be seeing David in Columbia, SC in October, so maybe I'll finally get to meet him then!

Heroes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=302j5GrONNI&feature=related

Anodyne:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhQoj0sc1kk&feature=related

Avalanche:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEEfTLaxFiQ

Lie (watch him tearing up at the end):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0rSkHYHFVQ

Ryan Star/David Cook (Last Train Home):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DX2AFczZzE