Xmas Jam Rocked!
This was my first time attending the Warren Haynes Xmas Jam. In fact it was the first year I'd even heard of it, even though this was the 21st year it was held. Apparently it's a big deal in Asheville, but if it wasn't for Counting Crows playing this year, I probably still wouldn't know about it. Warren Haynes (of Govt Mule, Allman Brothers, etc) lives in Asheville, and does this show every year as a benefit for Habitat for Humanity.
The tickets are general admission (even the "VIP package" gets you inside a few minutes earlier earlier, but not reserved seats), We got in line at around 5:30, and the doors opened at 6. It was pretty cold waiting out there, but it went by quickly. Once we got inside we got seats. They were pretty decent seats, view-wise, but not very comfortable. The only other option was to stand on the main floor of the arena, and since I'd heard this show could go until 2 or 3 AM, an uncomfortable seat is better than no seat at all. The Civic Center's pretty old, not exactly state-of-the-art
The show started at 7 with the XMas Jam Band, a group of local musicians, and then they rotated through some special guests, such as Edwin McCain, and Brad Whitford from Aerosmith (not to be confused with Bradley Whitfield from The West Wing...LOL). A complete list of sets and musicians can be found here if you're interested. Following that, they had sets from William Bell (an old r&b guy), Ani DeFranco, and moe. Except for moe, Warren Haynes came out and played at least a song with everyone. After moe, we left our coats to keep our seats, and went down to watch Counting Crows on the main floor. To get down to the floor area, you need to go through doors & stairways that seem like you're heading into a service corridor or back hallway. It was after midnight at this point, so the people on the floor have been down there, standing, for about 5 hours, and a lot of them looked like it. There were people sitting on the floor, either up against the walls, or in the middle of the crowd, surrounded by all the cups and hot dog wrappers and stuff that gets thrown on the floor. We managed to work our way up pretty close.
Counting Crows came on probably around 12:30AM. Adam was really really messed-up, as in, drunk or on drugs or whatever. But other that that, their set was great (short, but that was to be expected). They played some Beatles stuff in addition to their own songs. It was really hard to even understand what the hell Adam was talking about, but from what I gather, they recently played in a concert celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Abbey Road album, so they played the Golden Slumbers/Carry that Weight/The End part of Side 2. Of their original songs, I enjoyed 1492 the most, and that's also a song they did not play when we saw them over the summer. Warren Haynes came out and played with them on "Rain King," and he rocked it!
After Counting Crows' set, we got some drinks & a pretzel and went back to our seats to see how much longer we'd make it. It was about 2AM and lot of people were leaving, you could see empty seats, and there was more room on the floor for the hippies to dance, which was fun to watch. I didn't really know any of Govt Mule's music, and it was getting close to 3 AM. I almost asked Frank if he was ready to go, and figured I'd stay for one more song. That next song was the Grateful Dead's Sugaree. Frank & I got up and danced! We ended staying for the whole thing, and we were glad- the last hour was the best. Finally, around 4AM it ended and we went back to the hotel- it was so worth it to stay within close walking distance to the civic center.
Frank wants to go back next year and bring a bunch of people. Ryan & Tracy might want to go sometime, it's really their kind of thing. It's a really cool experience. I would go back if there were groups playing that I'd want to see. I guess we'll just have to wait until they announce the 2010 show and decide.
The tickets are general admission (even the "VIP package" gets you inside a few minutes earlier earlier, but not reserved seats), We got in line at around 5:30, and the doors opened at 6. It was pretty cold waiting out there, but it went by quickly. Once we got inside we got seats. They were pretty decent seats, view-wise, but not very comfortable. The only other option was to stand on the main floor of the arena, and since I'd heard this show could go until 2 or 3 AM, an uncomfortable seat is better than no seat at all. The Civic Center's pretty old, not exactly state-of-the-art
The show started at 7 with the XMas Jam Band, a group of local musicians, and then they rotated through some special guests, such as Edwin McCain, and Brad Whitford from Aerosmith (not to be confused with Bradley Whitfield from The West Wing...LOL). A complete list of sets and musicians can be found here if you're interested. Following that, they had sets from William Bell (an old r&b guy), Ani DeFranco, and moe. Except for moe, Warren Haynes came out and played at least a song with everyone. After moe, we left our coats to keep our seats, and went down to watch Counting Crows on the main floor. To get down to the floor area, you need to go through doors & stairways that seem like you're heading into a service corridor or back hallway. It was after midnight at this point, so the people on the floor have been down there, standing, for about 5 hours, and a lot of them looked like it. There were people sitting on the floor, either up against the walls, or in the middle of the crowd, surrounded by all the cups and hot dog wrappers and stuff that gets thrown on the floor. We managed to work our way up pretty close.
Counting Crows came on probably around 12:30AM. Adam was really really messed-up, as in, drunk or on drugs or whatever. But other that that, their set was great (short, but that was to be expected). They played some Beatles stuff in addition to their own songs. It was really hard to even understand what the hell Adam was talking about, but from what I gather, they recently played in a concert celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Abbey Road album, so they played the Golden Slumbers/Carry that Weight/The End part of Side 2. Of their original songs, I enjoyed 1492 the most, and that's also a song they did not play when we saw them over the summer. Warren Haynes came out and played with them on "Rain King," and he rocked it!
After Counting Crows' set, we got some drinks & a pretzel and went back to our seats to see how much longer we'd make it. It was about 2AM and lot of people were leaving, you could see empty seats, and there was more room on the floor for the hippies to dance, which was fun to watch. I didn't really know any of Govt Mule's music, and it was getting close to 3 AM. I almost asked Frank if he was ready to go, and figured I'd stay for one more song. That next song was the Grateful Dead's Sugaree. Frank & I got up and danced! We ended staying for the whole thing, and we were glad- the last hour was the best. Finally, around 4AM it ended and we went back to the hotel- it was so worth it to stay within close walking distance to the civic center.
Frank wants to go back next year and bring a bunch of people. Ryan & Tracy might want to go sometime, it's really their kind of thing. It's a really cool experience. I would go back if there were groups playing that I'd want to see. I guess we'll just have to wait until they announce the 2010 show and decide.