Seeds Of Compassion Friday
As mentioned before, Teresa and I traveled to Seattle for a Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds concert. Before the show, a talk was to occur between Dave Matthews and the Dali Lama. Since the event was schedule to begin at 430pm, we decided to spend the morning and early afternoon touring Seattle.
Thanks for Frommer's, I found a walking tour to get us started. The tour starts at Pike Place Market. I've been once before, but this was Teresa's first time. Its as vibrant and pretty as I remembered. We didn't get to see a lively show at Pike Place Fish, but we did sample some awesome chocolate covered dried-cherries at Chukar Cherries. We continued through the market and marveled at the fresh produce and colorful floral stands. Just outside the market, I stopped to listen to an Appalachian street band that was performing in front of the world's first Starbucks. We stopped for a few moments in Steinbrueck Park, but the amazing view was ruined by excessive amounts of bums. It was a shame, because its an excellent vantage point to enjoy the Puget Sound and Olympic Mountains. We continued our tour down Post Alley back toward the market's main entrance. We didn't stop at each suggested place, so the entire tour didn't take but two hours. We decided to walk north into Belltown.
We didn't see a ton of sites in this neighborhood, but we did stumble upon one the best moments of our tour through Seattle, the Bellton P-Patch. Literally, we were walking west on Wall Street back to the waterfront, and we saw an array of bright and beautiful tulips. A few trespassing signs immediately kept us off the property, but the fine print assured us respectful visitors were welcome to enjoy this community garden. As Teresa relaxed in the tranquil setting, I walked about snapping pictures. I even had an opportunity to speak with a few gardeners. They informed me this was the peak of the Tulip Season, and the flowers were blooming in extraordinary form. The sight was breathtaking. Right as we left, a huge tour group arrived of some fifty people. We couldn't have had better luck.
Back on the waterfront, we caught the free 99 bus which is known as the George Benson Waterfront Streetcar Line. We road the bus over to Pioneer Square. We needed to find a place for lunch. The square itself was very pretty, but the immediate area seemed a bit seedy. We aimlessly tried to find a place to eat before settling on Julie's Garden. This Asian mashup turned out to be an excellent choice. Teresa enjoy Pho while I had Pad Thai. It even inspired a new word - Photastic.
After our meal, we rode the 99 back to Belltown. Instead of directly walking to the show, we stopped into Olympic Sculpture Park. This wasn't a planned activity, but I'm glad we stumbled into yet another awesome park. Olympic Sculpture Park provided much better views of the Puget Sound and Olympic Mountains than Steinbrueck Park. We walked up and down the waterfront gazing at the awesome combination of water and snowcapped peaks.
It was just a few minutes before 4pm, so we decided to walk up the hill to the Seattle Center and Key Arena. It felt very strange to be going to a concert so early in the day. Just a few blocks before the venue, we walked past Tini Bigs. A split decision had us enter the martini bar. Its not normally our scene, but the place wasn't packed due to the early hour. I enjoyed a Bass while Teresa had a Florida Keys Martini. I tasted this fruit pretty drink, and I can't lie, it was good.
Finally, we found ourselves in line for the concert. There seemed to be extra security to protect the Dali Lama. This made sense to me, and the line moved quickly. Once inside the venue, we took our seats stage left about 20 rows from the floor. They weren't bad seats, but hardly the first few rows. At least we had a clear line of sight to the stage without the aid of a jumbo screen.
At breakfast, I read a Dave Matthews interview from the local paper. He seemed ready for the encounter with a Nobel Peace Prize winning world figure. I'd be nervous. Dave opened the questioning and was obviously nervous. He even mentioned that he wasn't a good orator while swaying erratically in his seat. Essentially, he asked the Dali Lama how music could influence and create compassion. Unfortunately, it was hard to understand the Dali Lama's responses for a few reasons. Number one, he has a thick accent. Number two, he needed help from the interpreter to supply certain words in English. Number three, he seemed to sway from topic and ramble on until possibly answering a question. From what I could tell, and I could be remember improperly, he thought music could be a conduit for compassion. He expressed that music has great power over the human soul. Anne had her chance at questions and went with a few hard hitting ones. One went something like, how do you see compassion in the world's future with terrible events continuing to occur in Darfur and Tibet? It seemed to me, the Dali Lama skirrted her questions more than Dave's. He seemed to give general and positive answers. Overall, he explained that inner peace is the path to compassion. If individuals can be at peace with themselves and their circumstances, they won't inflict anger or harm on their surroundings. He encouraged dialog between enemies instead of war. He professed that dialog could lead to peaceful resolution because adversaries more often than not have a number of similiarties. His last major point was for more women to gain power. He feels that a motherly attitude would be nurturing and good for all of society. He even said the word nipple which had everyone laughing. The session lasted about an hour. It was a unique experience I won't soon forget.
The next couple to take the stage were local radio personalities. They delivered the second big surprise of the evening. Death Cab For Cutie were now on the bill! They were going to preform an opening acoustic set. I assume, since they are Seattle natives and have a new album on the horizon, they squeezed onto the bill at the last minute. There was about an hour until the start of their set, so we decided to walk around the concourse. Not surprisingly, it was crowded and all the special merch was sold out. However, the event staff was another big surprise. For whatever reason, the venue thought no one would be eating and drinking at the show. They only opened a few of the concession stands. I'd never seen longer lines for beer at a concert. Plus, the beer wasn't even allowed at your seats! It was a concert for compassion, but lets be realistic people. We decided not to try an procure any type of food or beverage.
After sitting in our seats for sometime, Death Cab took the stage. I've never seem this band live, and I was excited at the opportunity. I'm a big fan of their material, but not the biggest fan. From what I can tell, and acoustic performance is quiet rare. They had enough talent to nail the forty five minute set that featured a few new tunes and tracks from their breakout album, Plans. I will have to see another show with a full set and electric instruments. However, this set was cool.
Directly after the last note, we ran up the stairs to try for a beer. There was a "pub" at the top of our section. Basically, it was a room with no windows, a few bars, tables and chairs. It was located just off the concourse. They only had two bartenders for the entire room, and it took forever to get a few beers. Dave and Tim took the stage right before we placed our orders. Because we could hear the music from the "pub" and beer wasn't allowed at your seats, we didn't relinquish our spot in line and placed an order for a round. Lets take a look at the setlist:
Bartender
Old Dirt Hill
So Damn Lucky
Stay or Leave
Save Me
Cry Freedom
Gravedigger
You Are My Sanity
The Maker
Sister
Cornbread
Some Devil
Everyday
Where Are You Going
Eh Hee
Dancing Nancies
Encore:
Lie in Our Graves
As I said, we listened to "Bartender" and "Old Dirt Hill" from the "pub." I had properly prepared Teresa for the sit down atmosphere. I am all for dancing, but I was tired from the long day. It was very relaxing to sit and listen to such awesome music. We weren't close enough to stare at Tim's fingers, but we could see his talents on the jumbo screen. I really found my myself foot-stomping to "So Damn Lucky" and "Save Me." "Cry Freedom" was an amazing surprise. I truly love that song. "Gravedigger" was extremely powerful. Daniel Lanois, "The Maker" brought back memories of the '99 Dave & Tim Tour. "Everyday" had the entire venue singing, and we continued the tradition of inserting #36 lyrics. The "Dancing Nancies" and "Lie in Our Graves" were treats as closer.
Besides the music, there were other interesting facets to the show. During Dave & Tim concerts, Dave tends to ramble between songs. This has affectionately been dubbed, Davespeak. We heard one story of large sea turtles awkwardly mating in the Indian Ocean. He also talked about how nervous he was when speaking to the Dali Lama. He says his wife always calms him down in stressful situations because he tends to fly off the handle. He couldn't stop mentioning his daughters. He seems so proud. He spoke of how dance has been a powerful part of their lives, and he loves watching them dance around their home. He also spoke of the power of dance in other cultures. He told the crowd of a trip to Botswana. He describe "bush people" dancing mad for him and his family. During Tim's solo piece, we could see Dave holding one daughter in each hand. It was a cool sight probably only visible from our area of the arena.
I mentioned that the concert was sit down, but it ultimately wasn't. All other Dave & Tim concerts I have attended were located in small theaters. I guess the over sized feeling of this show allowed people to stand in their seats. In past shows, I'd seen people shushed and asked to sit. On pieces like "Cornbread," lots of concert-goers jumped out of their seats to dance. This was the final surprised of the evening. I was even up for the likes of "Everyday", "Nancies" and "LIOG."
I really enjoyed the show. The entire thing lasted from 430pm until 9pm. It was a longtime to be inside an arena venue. It was a special and profound experience to see the Dali Lama speak. From what I could understand, he had some excellent ideas on compassion. Death Cab was a great surprise, and they didn't disappoint. I honestly hadn't expected to attend another Dave & Tim concert. It was great to once again see these two amazing performers on the stage. Dave really has a talent to captivate an audience with song. He might not be the best speaker, but he can speak volumes through music.
Comments
Weren't you with me when we caught a few death cab songs at bonnaroo? We caught a few songs at the Which stage(??..bright eyes stage) before heading over to catch beck?
Hmm... you might be right. I definitely remember Bright Eyes. I'm surprised I don't remember Death Cab. However, that was a long and very hot day.
