Just finishing up my little mini-vacation in Berkeley and it was one hell of a weekend of shows here. The boys did not disappoint and nights 1 and 3 of the 3-show run were up there in terms of just literally kicking everyone's asses all over the Greek

Dave Matthews Band seemed, and this could just be me, like there was some new found energy to the group. It's terribly sad, but very possible that the death of LeRoi Moore has reminded them just how short life is and just how amazing what they get to do for a living is...and not to take it for granted. Now, I'm not saying that they did take it for granted before, but just throwing out a hypothesis for the seemingly added energy. I have never seen them dance so much, smile so much, and just genuinely dig on playing music with each other so much. During last night's encore of "Thank You" by Sly and the Family Stone, Dave honestly lost it up on stage. He put down his guitar, picked up someone's glasses and cowboy hat from the crowd and just flat-out got down, dancing and flying around the entire stage like I honestly have never seen him before in any of my 60 or so attended shows. It was great to see, and got me fired up about the possiblitiy of some new music from this band soon. It's no secret that there last few albums have been lacking in excitement and feel from the early days, so we'll have to wait and see what they have in store for us in the future...

Other than the shows, I just had a sick time all weekend. I had new friends fly in and they kicked it with old friends from the Bay Area and everyone just got along and had an amazing time, which is what you always want you bring groups of people together. There is no doubt that we drank too much and need a little recovery time, but it was all worth it. It really was just what I needed, and I feel energized to get back into some work stuff...

Speaking of, we're heading to the Borgata this weekend, so expect some new 'PokerRoad Radio' shows from there soon. Ali and I are actually going a day or so ahead of time to catch the Cal/Maryland football game this coming Saturday and then hang out that night in DC, so if anyone wants to try and meet up for a drink, be sure to give a shout at prradio@pokerroad.com, and we'll try and make it happen...at either Maryland or in DC that night...

That's it, kiddies. I'm trying to decide if I want to drive back to LA tonight or just chill out here and split tomorrow. Starting to lean towards driving tonight right now.... Poker TV

Talk soon...

peace,
J