Seeing Hootie and the Blowfish has become a Labor Day tradition for Nicole and me. We head downtown, eat ribs, enjoy the show, and spend a great evening together.

This year, we had to pay and entrance fee, which was a little disappointing. We then had to go buy tickets so that we could trade them in for ribs and drinks. We picked a tent, picked some ribs, and and had a great dinner before making our way through the lawn. We were about an hour early and it looked like we were going to have a great location — until we walked into the fence. They created a special “premium seating” area that you had to pay for to get in to. They were out of tickets.

No worries, we still have a great location and show started before we knew it. The band is always seems to be upbeat and happy to play and this year was no different. Their old favorites are great, their newer songs continue to grow on me, and their cover of the REM tune Losing My Religion was fantastic.

My only complaint is that the set list was little lower-energy than the previous year, but hey, there’s always next year!