DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. 05/25/07
 

Anyone else from here going? If so, what kind of seats did you get?
And does anyone know the policy on photography?

I'll be there. I'm in row K and I'm pretty excited about it.

Edit: I just tried to call the DAR Constitution Hall and they closed at four so I'll give them another ring tomorrow to ask about the camera issue if no one else knows the policy.

Last time I was there, they searched bags and made anyone with recording equipment of any kind (camera or audio) check it. I haven't been there in a long while, though, so it might be different now.

I'll be in Row F on what WAS Lisa's side, but is now Tomo's side :( I don't want to be in front of a bunch of drums. I'd rather appreciate them from farther away. My friend has an extra ticket in Row R if anyone out there needs a ticket.

Oooooo I want to go to the show so bad, but I could not get out of work. No one would work for me.

I'm pretty sure I'm row F too!

I hope they let us bring cameras, 'cause my friend's a photographer and she always gets great pictures.

I'll be in DC for the show tonight, driving in from B'more, 4th row, 118. Look for the happy ole Mucker lovin' his boyo up on stage!

****ing fantasitc.

better than the philly show imho.

Lonely Solider + Face!!! Just wonderful...


p.s. no vyv again. :(

but the crowd was a lot better than in philly i must say...minus a few shoutings. ie. "damien my boyfriend loves you?" wtf was that?

face? hell yea... got a setlist?

Setlist
 

Cannonball
Volcano - started on the Rhodes with echo in the vocals on the chorus
Me My Yoke & I
Accidental Babies
Delicate
Eskimo
Face
Rootless Tree
Coconut Skins
Woman Like a Man
Lonely Soldier
Amie
The Blower's Daughter

Encore:
9 Crimes
The Professor/La Fille Danse
stupid staged dinner theater Cheers Darlin

I'll post a review if/when I get around to it.

Vyv went home to take care of some stuff. She won't be back for this leg of the tour, or at least that's what I was told. Joel is also leaving the tour to go home and take care of some stuff, but will be back this summer. So they're going to be a trio for a little while.

he opened with cannonball?? nice. did he come out alone and do it unplugged like lately? good set list also, seems short though like the boston show.

Wow. It's just going to be Tomo, Shane and Damien for a while? I'd actually love to see what they could do together! (The famous Paradiso gig was just the 3 of them right?)

So jealous you got Lonely Soldier and face!!

No unplugged. Which I thought was odd cause the theatre was perfect for it. oh well.

and the setlist didnt seem short..2 hours like the previous night.

oh and GlttrGrrl, how do you know that about vyv?

damien didn't finish the set w/ an extra "unplugged" tune b/c of time contraints. tonight was 10000% better than philly. philly crowds suck, philly sucks. DC had a phenomenal crowd. it was taped...will be out in a couple weeks on dime

I asked. Joel will be at the next show, but goes home on Sunday, so the last few dates will just be the trio.

Damien started at 8:33 and was done around 10:30. I think it was just under 2 hours. It wasn't as short as I expected, but shorter than I wanted.

oh cool. did you wait around after the show and talk to him? how long did you wait? I was going to but my friend didn't want to.

And yeah, shorter than I wanted as well--of course six hours would be shorter than I'd want! haha

I just got home from this show and it was nothing short of amazing. I got some really good pictures and a 4-5 videos of different songs he did. I thought this show was one of the best I've seen him do.

I waited outside for the band after the show. Damien came out and chatted with us for a while. He said that Vyv will be back for this tour but that it will be for the last few days. He said that he's always been open to people coming in and out of the group as he pleases because he's Damien Rice and he plays the guitar and sings the songs (but he did not come of as an ass when he said it at all). He's one of the most down to earth guys I've ever met.

cool, how long did you wait?

also, can you send me/post the pics and videos??

cheers!

They started to come out a little after midnight. The bus turned on shortly after one and Damien said they better get going so I'd say he chatted for a good hour. Tomo came out for a few minutes, and Joel and Shane were outside for a while too.

I'll probably upload my stuff tomorrow.
I'll post it for sure.

wow! an hour, that's sick!

he only stayed for like 10 minutes when i met him. my friend's never going to hear the end of this for wanting to drive home...

The thing that I love the most about going to concerts is that you usually have no idea what to expect. I love to watch and listen to things unfold. I love the things that are different from the recorded music, and from one show to the next. After reading the setlists from this tour, I was actually expecting to be disappointed by Damien's show at DAR. He seems to be doing the same songs in the encore, doing the same schtick every night. For a man with no setlist, you'd think he would stray a little bit more.

With all of that said, Damien's show was still brilliant. He still made me giggle and took my breath away with different arrangements. Even the old Amie spaceship thing was wonderful. It was great to finally hear Face and Lonely Soldier was appropriate for the time and place I think.

Even though Vyv was absent, I didn't really miss her because Joel did a fantastic job of filling in her parts. Lisa was sorely missed, though, and I kept hearing her parts in my head. And I really love the more elaborate production with the lights. It definitely complements the music well. The lightbulbs hanging against the backdrop reminded me of the cover from Duncan Sheik's album Phantom Moon. Overall, it was beautiful, and the crowd was very well-behaved, with a few rare exceptions. I think it helped that Damien pretty much didn't engage all of the yelling people.

I have to complain a little more about this tour, though. I've been going to Damien's shows in the States for 3.5 years now, and I'm not pleased with how expensive his shows are getting. For $52 total (including all the fees), I would expect an opening band. Last time around (only 6 months ago)tickets were cheaper and there was a great opener. Back in 2004 the tickets were half the price or less and we got Damien and the Frames. Even the t-shirts and tote bags have doubled in price for no reason other than more profit.

Another thing is Damien won't come out if the seats aren't mostly full. If no opening band, then I'd expect the show to start on time instead of 33 minutes late. I would also expect that if there is no opening band, the artist would announce it in the advertisements or on the tickets. Most people don't come to this site, so they don't know. I would also expect him to have the venue flash the lights to tell people to get to their seats around 8 instead of around 8:25 if the show is supposed to start at 8. All of these things (an opening act, announcements and alerting the audience at the show) would help fill the seats but were inexplicably missing. As a result, a few people sat around for 45 minutes or more waiting for the show. Some people who got to their seats early left to go grab a drink because the show obviously hadn't started yet.

I can go see Pearl Jam with a great opening act for about the same price, so I don't see "he's more popular now and playing bigger venues with a more elaborate production" as any excuse. Just because he can charge more doesn't mean he should. Even though it was a sold out show, there were tons of empty seats, even in the first ten rows. Which tells me that tickets were picked up by scalpers who were unable to unload them even at face value (as was evidenced by all the ads on craigslist trying to sell tickets below cost). Call me disenchanted.