Jeff McClusky & Associates

Having never been to a Dave Matthews Band concert, let alone a mainstream music festival setting, I was extremely excited to attend the Caravan.  Traveling there via public transportation was very congested, amounting to nearly two hours of travel time from Lincoln Park; however, once I had entered the atmosphere and mood was great.  The location was poorly planned, in a sense that it was hard to reach without a car, but the actual Caravan grounds were beautiful for such an event.

While there I was only able to catch the Kid Cudi and DMB sets, with just enough time to grab a pricy cheeseburger beforehand; however, I was more than satisfied.  Commanding the crowd from the Lakeside Stage, Cudi played from 7 until 8 PM.  Within his hour long set he smoothly moved through songs from both of his major label LPs, as well as from the mixtape that earned him the recognition of Kanye West.  Although many thought he would bring out fellow Cleveland-based emcee Chip the Ripper, who played a show at Chicago’s Metro the night prior, Chip wasn’t in attendance.  However, paying respect to Mr. West’s hometown, he offered the crowd an immaculate and high energy cover of Kanye’s single All Of The Lights.  Ending on a medley of three of his most fast-paced songs and an encore of Pursuit of Happiness, many would agree that he put on quite the spectacle.

As soon as Cudi’s set came to an end, fans immediately took off toward the South Works Stage to catch the beginning of DMB, with only 5 minutes to spare.  Like I said, with no prior history of attending a “Dave” concert I was taken back by the quality and longevity of their performance.  Playing for 5 minutes shy of a 3 hour set, it was amazing to see the same amount of energy maintained throughout each song.  Needless to say every individual in that collective is very talented; however, what amazed me the most was the performance of their violinist Boyd Tinsley.  During some of the extended versions of their songs he played solos that seemed to be over 2 minutes long.  The whole experience was one to remember; something I would definitely suggest to a friend, or a stranger.  As cliché as it may sound, I left the caravan ground truly inspired.

-Dan