Dolbyfest Spring 2006

Details coming soon. Dinner's in the microwave. Please stand by. Over.

OK. Finally.

The Dolby weekend was fantastic.

Gonzomantis came out from Minnesota, and he, Merujo, and I traipsed all over Maryland and Northern Virginia on our own incarnation of following the Grateful Dead. Except in this case we didn't bum any tempe patties from people in the parking lot, and we were mercifully spared any patchoulli odor.

We were comped at the first show by the man himself. Can't thank him enough for that. It was extremely cool being on a guest list. It was even cooler when we found out that we were the guest list.



Dolby stopped by our table to say hello prior to the show, which was very kind of him and very unexpected. The opening performer, Carey Ott, was quite listenable and ultimately very patient (after I plied him with questions after Monday's show). His set lasted half an hour. Our man took the stage after about fifteen minutes, and was kind enough to turn his head toward me during the first chorus of "Leipzig," for reasons which are fairly obvious if you know the song. I was a total dork and kind of lamely waved, because I was so stunned I couldn't think of what else to do at that particular moment. Even though I'd met him before (and he even bought me a drink at the Willard here in D.C. a few years ago), I must admit to being slightly starstruck at that moment. He's a flipping genius, and it's always a bit disconcerting (in a good way) when one of those types pays even the slightest bit of positive attention to you. I can't say that I'd like to be on the receiving end if he were angry. I have a feeling that the whole "passionate artist" thing would not be a good thing at that point. But I digress.

Our seats were right next to Johnny DeKam's video rig, so we could see some of what he was doing along with Dolby's music. Awesome stuff.

I suppose I should touch on some of the show's content. I won't gush because that's not really my style. However, there were a few moments that had quite an impact. First, the air raid sirens that opened the show and then segued into "Leipzig." Massive chills, and then increasing appreciation as the calls of mourning doves were brought into the mix as well. Second, the additional chords in the intro to "Flying North." I discussed this with resident tour groupie StevieD, and he agreed that there are certain chord progressions/structures that can have a deep resonance, a resonance that will provoke an unexpectedly emotional response. And although I'd heard the song a gazillion times before, the raw and open approach to "Budapest by Blimp" was unexpected (as was the song choice, frankly).

Sunday's show was just as great as the previous one. Our table was about 8 feet closer than Saturday's, which was good, as I couldn't really see the video screen on Saturday. (We opted out of ordering the house special for the evening: "Thomas Dolby Salmon." No joke. His tour manager brought him the listing from the menu and he reportedly just raised an eyebrow.)



Finally, and sadly, we arrived early at the Birchmere in Alexandria. Of the two venues, this was definitely better. Louder, too, to my delight. (Air raid sirens only work when they're turned up to 11, you know.) We sat with a few people from the
thomasdolby.com Forum, which was cool.



Even though I'd played fanboy in the past and had a few things signed by him, when I was clearing out some stuff at my mom's house I found this, and couldn't resist:



I felt a bit lost on Tuesday, as there was no Dolby gig to attend. However, Gonzomantis got to see one more show in St. Paul about week later. Lucky bastard. What makes him an even luckier bastard is that he got to hear "The Flat Earth" performed in its entirety, when the rest of us schlubs only got to hear the intro.

Although this is being posted fairly late in the game, thank you, Thomas, for a fantastic weekend. I'm looking forward to the tour DVD. Big time.