The Great American Road Trip: Dave Matthews Band Part 1

"Making plans to change the world while the world is changing us"

3 days, 8 states and 2,000 miles later, the Dave Matthews Band Touring Team lands in Texas.

Let's meet the team:

Justin "The Dude" Morales: A hybrid of Russell Brand and Drake, hailing from Kansas City, sports long, curly, black locks and a deep love for adventure.
Favorite Dave Song:  No. 41

Anthony "Fuego" Miranda : A veteran HeadCount Team Leader and Massachusetts Native, Anthony eats, breathes and sleeps music. (He also occasionally likes to eat steak.)
Favorite Dave Song: Shake Me Like A Monkey

Sarah "Mother Hen" Cioffi: Like a true "Mother Hen" would, Sarah keeps the team fed, rested, punctual and alive. She is an avid supporter of "Atkins Health Bars" and comes from a long line of Dave fanatics in the D.C. area.
Favorite Dave Song: Two Step

Emily "Do I Smell Smart Ass?" Mottahedeh: A gorgeous, responsible, caring, ambitious, compassionate, intelligent, cultured young woman from NYC. (Guess which one of us is writing the blog.)
Favorite Dave Song: Grey Street

And last, but not least...

Jimmy: A very handsome, brand-new, fully equipped, 2012 Volkswagen Routan. Jimmy is, by far, the most versatile member of the team, with satellite radio, a DVD player, navigation, storage space, secret compartments and plenty of legroom. His only flaw? He is a bit overweight, weighing in at 9,000 lbs, but with Sarah's Atkins Bar, the team is hoping to help him shed some pounds.
Favorite Song: Jimi Thing

The Great American Road Trip began at HeadCount headquarters in New York City and will be making stops in Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, Charlotte, Cincinatti, Cuyahoga Falls, Scranton, Hartford, Mansfield, Saratoga Springs, Long Island, Washington D.C, and Virginia Beach.

Jealous? You should be.

With Curb on the DVD player in the backseat and 90's on 9 blasting on Sirius -- Thankfully, we all share a love for the music that twelve year old girls listened to, circa 1997 -- the team drove its way through New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana to arrive in Texas for two DMB shows.

En route, the Team knocked more than a few things off their bucket lists. The first, a stroll down Bourbon Street  (No. 16 on Sarah's) and a nice Southern meal at the Cracker Barrell in Alabama (No. 27 on mine) A cheeseburger, fries and chocolate shake at In and Out in Dallas fulfilled No. 12 on Anthony's.

 

 So far so good. The first show of the tour took place in Houston at The Cynthia Woods Pavilion, and was absolutely incredible. We met up with HeadCount's amazing Houston team of volunteers, led by the awesome Megan Buchheit. First we did an icebreaker, asking everyone what their first concert was. Then we had a training, and assigned everyone different places to go register voters.

People were super receptive, and we registered almost 150 voters! People of all different ages and from all different places - Texas of course, but also people from Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana. It was interesting to see all different people come together. The show, of course, was absolutely incredible. The band led off with "Big Eyed Fish" and closed with "Grey Street"  (thanks Dave, - it's my favorite).

After Houston, Jimmy took the crew down to Dallas where we registered even more voters, with the help of the local League of Women Voters, and met the one and only Jeff Coffin. Jeff stopped by the HeadCount tent to meet the crew and encourage all DMB fans to register to vote. That was definitely the highlight of the pre-show. The show that night was incredible again, and the crowd was great too. The "Too Much>All Along the Watchtower" encore was just what we needed to send us into the long drives that lay ahead.

The last few days have been nothing short of surreal for the Dave Matthews Band Touring Team.

Next Stop: Atlanta, Georgia