Posted this on concert thread on July 7, but decided to bring it to my profile as well.
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A little late, but here is the account of my virgin DC experience. It was AWEsome, of course.

I got there early because my ticket had 7:00 as the start time for needtobreathe, but the program that was handed out at the venue entrance was printed with 8:00 as start time. The extra 75 minutes were spent sitting in hot sun and drenching sweat listening to the radio DJs blast their music so that, by the time the concert started, my eardrums were already fried. I forgot my earplugs…and still have roaring in my ears 2 days later! As David mentioned, however, there was a nice breeze.

My 8th row seats were much better than I thought. According to the diagram, they were off to the far side of Neal. But they turned out to be directly in front of David! When the usher seated us, we double checked to make sure she was right. Everyone who came in after us did the same thing and questioned whether they were in the right seats. We were all happy campers!

From my seat, I could see the back half of one of the parked buses. At one point before the show, a gaggle of people flocked to the fences taking pictures of David walking his dog. I didn’t go there because my heretofore dependable camera had died in my purse, apparently because my contraband bottle of cold water had sweated and formed condensation in the camera – therefore I didn’t get one single stinking photo from my excellent view of the stage. I was, however, able to see Dave in the distance with his doggie. So precious. I was thrilled to see that he was wearing a white shirt (although the sleeves were longer than I prefer – *winky*).

Needtobreathe – I was not familiar with them before. They were very good high-energy performers and I will buy their music. They were even louder than the DJ’s music – the sound went right through my chest and made my heart feel like it would explode. Kyle sat off to the side of the stage and seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the band. I saw him singing along on at least one song.

It was fascinating to watch the set-up for Dave. Compared to the opening act, he has all the bells and whistles and a fabulous light show. By the time the concert started, the crowd was getting very antsy – and everyone just exploded out of their chairs when Dave and the band appeared and we stayed on our feet without being ordered by the Boss. Once I got past that surreal feeling, pinching myself that I was really there, I just lost myself in the music. When Dave introduced IJDIYAT, the crowd roared and my normal inhibitions deserted me. My hands clapped high in the air the entire song – and I apologize right now to the people behind me for my wild booty shaking. I don’t even know what anyone else did – it was just me and Dave and the song, baby! No screaming, mind you. Probably would have if I could, but a surgical accident a few years ago took away my ability to speak loudly, yell or sing (all of which my family are very grateful for). I did make a few guttural attempts at whooping. Was really hoping for HFT to go with IJDIYAT, as well as a side dressing of TIB. Oh, well…one out of three. And you've already seen for yourselves how smokin hot IJDIYAT and MS were that night.

Neal – I never understood anyone’s physical attraction to him until seeing him in person. He does have a great body to go with those mad guitar skills and I love his shorter haircut.

Last couple of things – When Dave was speaking into the microphone, he sounded (to me) like he had been sucking helium. I’ve heard his voice soooo many times on every banter video and interview and his voice never sounded high. So I don’t know whether it was my damaged eardrums or faulty sound setup or something else. He sounded pretty much the same singing as he does on the videos, but the speaking voice did not. I also got a kick out of seeing him pump the crowd when the lights were down - you don't see that on the videos.

As has been reported by others, David creates a warp in the space-time continuum which causes the observer to think the show just started and then suddenly it is over. When it ended, I was convinced that we only got 8 songs. Had to check when I got home – and lo and behold, there really were 12 songs listed on the concert thread. It was a wonderful night and I’m grateful to David and the band for giving it their all every night to entertain us.