I realize that I just wrote a post about accomplishing #16 on my list, but I felt this one deserved a mention even though I really did it for the first time a few years back. The Gorge Amphitheater in George, Washington is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. The venue holds about 25,000 people and the stage is set directly above the Columbia River.
For as long as I can remember I have had friends that would drive up there on Labor Day weekend to camp and see Dave Matthews Band who plays shows on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. Each year I always had to work and was unable to go. Two years ago, I was finally able to make the trip, and have been each year since.
It is seriously an atmosphere unlike any other. The parking lot turns into a mini-city for three days as a wide variety of different people show up for the event. For some it is strictly about the music; there are a ton of hardcore Dave fans out there. For some it is just about the party; many don’t even go to the shows and just hang out with their friends and drink the entire time. For most, it is all about the experience and being able to get out of town for a few days.
This past year was a slightly different experience than years prior. Normally it is 90 degrees and sunny the whole time. This year, on Saturday afternoon the skies opened up and we got poured on for a good three hours, completely saturating everything around us. Although it didn’t do much to dampen the spirits, as everyone there was already had a few drinks in them. Even with the rain, everyone had a fantastic time.
There really isn’t a whole lot that I can say to do the weekend justice. So I will make this post relatively short and just leave you with some pictures and let you see it for yourself. I will say this though, if you are ever up there, security seems to be very lax, as we were able to sneak down to the front 5 rows on both Friday and Saturday night. Makes a pretty big difference when you aren’t stuck up in the nose bleed section!
View from our original seats
View from our new seats
I hope everyone else had a fantastic Labor Day weekend as well. Any good stories? What did you do?
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Sean Ogle
Sean Ogle is the Founder of Location Rebel where he has spent the last 12+ years teaching people how to build online businesses that give them the freedom to do more of the things they like to do in life. When he's not in the coffee shops of Portland, or the beaches of Bali, he's probably sneaking into some other high-class establishment where he most certainly doesn't belong.Join over 40,000 people who have taken our 6 part freelance writing course. Sign up below and let’s do this together.
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12 comments on "#32 See Dave Matthews Band at the Gorge Amphitheater: Completed"
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Incredible. The view from your “new” seats looks amazing! That first picture is incredibly beautiful, too. I am definitely taking this idea, and putting seeing Dave on Labor Day weekend on my master list.
Awesome pictures!!
🙂
Great photos, Sean! And way to cross off one more item from the ol’ list!
Looks like a great time! Love the look from the “new seats” haha. I used to sneak down really close at Boston Celtics games like that, but now they are really good and it’s harder to do that. Anyway, cool post man!
This weekend was amazing. Tell me about how you got from up there, which is basically exactly where i was only more toward center stage and right up on the fence, to right there humping dave’s right leg. i’m jealous as fuck.
Great post, Sean. Loved the pictures. I’ve only seen Dave live one time, and it was at Bonnaroo when he played with Dave and Friends. What a performer. I can only imagine how fun the show must have been at that venue–looks fantastic! Congrats on crossing off another goal.
Alan
Thanks everyone for the comments. The trip to the Gorge was fantastic, and Dave always puts on a great show.
We ended up just getting lucky with our new seats. We walked right up to the reserved area, flashed our general admission tickets to the ushers, and just kept on walking. Apparently they don’t check very closely for that kind of thing! It worked Friday, so we tried it again Saturday, and it truly made the shows something special.
I would love to just see DMB in person let alone in a great setting. Lucky!!!
Congrats on another check on the list
Dave
LifeExcursion
I still haven’t seen DMB live and I can’t think of a good reason as to why I haven’t. Judging from the pictures alone (especially the first one) it seems like the Gorge Ampitheater may be one of the better venues to see them for the first time, huh?
I don’t know if you’ve ever had a chance to go to Shoreline near SF but the pics of Gorge remind me of Shoreline…another great venue.
Paul
The Gorge is the by far the coolest venue I have been to. I have never been to Shoreline, but have heard it is worth seeing. Red Rocks is another one that I have always wanted to go to.
Dave has played at the Gorge every Labor Day weekend for 12 years or something like that, and people make the trek from all over the country to see him. So it is definitely a great place (if not the best place) to see him for the first time if you are able to make it out there.
Looks like a great time! I am planning on going to the Gorge in 2012! I am seeing DMB next week in St. Paul! They always put on a great show!