Anxiety

So, what am I anxious about today?

1. How much it's going to cost to fix the sun roof in my car?

Bah. Child's play. I've got the money.


2. My impending wedding, and the blow-up I had with my mother on the phone last night about it?

Nah, if only for no other reason than feeling shitty about it isn't going to change anything. She's still going to be mad, and Melissa and I aren't changing our minds.


3. My Grandma's colon surgery that's happening this morning?

Well, yes, truthfully. But I'm taking the more "ostrich" approach to that. She's going to be fine, and if I don't think about it, it isn't happening. At least, that's what I tell myself. And, if I say it enough times, it has to be true, right?


What's in my craw this morning? I'm listening to the new Coldplay album I bought, and so far it hasn't disappointed. However, four of us are going to see Dave Matthews Band tonight in our annual birthday pilgrimage (mine is 6/14, hers is 6/19, and DMB usually shows up around these parts sometime in early June for a couple of evenings).

This year is starting to feel like going to a sporting event where an aging veteran has been injured for awhile and is coming back. You wonder to yourself: does he still have his fastball? Can he ever be as good as he once was? AM I GOING TO BE DISAPPOINTED??

Well, we've seen Dave every summer that we've been together, and he's actually gotten better each time. Last fall's "Vote for Change" concert in Dayton (with Ben Harper, Jurassic 5, and My Morning Jacket) was--without hyperbole--fucking awesome.

Last summer, there was the specter of a new DMB album hanging over the shows; would they play "new" stuff? Would it be good? They did, and it was.

Imagine my horror, then, when I purchased said new album last month and found that of the five new songs I'd heard the previous summer, only one (and in my opinion, the worst of them) made it onto the record. Instead, Dave had elected to become an African/Lou-si-anna Bayou singer. Of course, being Dave Matthews, that's certainly his prerogative; he's more than paid his dues. If he wants to go to Africa with Trey Anistasio, make movies about Winn-Dixie, and use those "experiences" to sell out the other musicians in his band, he certainly can. After all, the joke would be on me: I bought the stinking record.

I, however, did not like it. The songs are unimaginative, short, and really do not showcase the musicianship that made DMB so damn good. When a Dave Matthews Band album sounds like it could have been recorded with Dave Matthews and four or five hired studio musicians, that--to me--is a bad sign.

So, suffice it to say, I'm not exactly looking forward to the prospect of an evening of this "new" material, especially considering the last two DMB albums have been fairly horrendous.

Couple that in with the $8-per-ticket "convenience" charge (an oxy-moron if there ever was one), and I think it's quite possible that this has the potential to be my last DMB show for quite some time. And that's a sad feeling. Kind of like seeing that 38-year-old pitcher trotting in from the bullpen, fresh off of his shoulder surgery, just trying to hang on for one more season...


And Grandma, don't let my sardonic writing fool you; I really am thinking about you. Godspeed, love.