Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Dave Matthews Band Caravan



It’s Festival Week once again at The Rock And Roll Guru. This week I will be discussing five select festivals including the highs, the lows, the bands on the bill, the places to go, and why you should attend.

Dave Matthews Band Caravan
http://www.dmbcaravan.com
June 24 – 26, 2011
Bader Field
Atlantic City, New Jersey

July 8 – 10, 2011
Lakeside
Chicago, Illinois

August 26 – 28, 2011
Governors Island
New York, New York

September 2 – 4, 2011
The Gorge
George, Washington

Overview
Celebrating their 20th anniversary in style, Dave Matthews Band has decided to do their own festivals this year. The first festival will take place in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in late June. DMB will headline every night of each festival, which guarantees an amazing experience for the fans.

Ticketing
Tickets are available through the official festival website (www.dmbcaravan.com) and are sold in packages. The general admission tickets for the 3-day event are $195. These can be purchased in installment payments of $65 each. The VIP package costs a heck of a lot more but provides a lot more as well. For $825 fans will get premiere reserved seating at each stage, a VIP hospitality area that includes food and beverages (beer, water, or soft drinks), and a gourmet buffet dinner.

Lineup
Obviously Dave Matthews Band will be headlining this event. They have announced a headlining set for each night of each festival. That alone makes the tickets worth the price. Every festival will have different bands on the bill. OAR has been confirmed for both the New Jersey and Chicago festivals. Other acts include Guster, Ray Lamontagne, David Gray, The Flaming Lips, From Good Homes, TR3, and a special acoustic performance from Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds. So far, the lineups are amazing. Visit the official website to see which acts are performing in which cities.

History
This is the first time that the Dave Matthews Band have decided to host their own festival. While the band has played three night stints in the past, most notably their annual Gorge performances, they have never taken on their own festival. However, DMB is noted for doing things right. I expect that the festivals will run smoothly and with two stages, there should be hardly any waiting time in between acts.

Places To Stay
The official website lists nearby hotels for each of the festival cities. For Atlantic City, the prices of the rooms were a bit high (approximately $180 per night), but a little research should yield some decent results if you don’t mind staying a little further away from the festival. If you decide to go with the hotels that are listed on the website, a shuttle service to and from the concert each day is available. That would save the hassle of parking and paying parking prices.

Overall
DMB Caravan is going to be an amazing experience. With exceptional bands on the bill and a headlining set from DMB every night, this festival is worth the price. Add in the fact that these are the only shows that Dave Matthews Band will be performing in 2011 and it all adds up to an incredible event worth traveling to. If you have the time and the money, cousin Ryo highly recommends seeing one of these festivals this summer.

Ryo’s Final Word
It’s my hope that DMB releases a live concert from each of these festivals, or perhaps a set of highlights from the four. Even though I won’t be able to listen to them until the end of the Every Album Challenge, I would still like them to be there when I emerge to own new albums again.

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