Carolina Hurricanes, Dave Matthews Band, Lethal Weapon: How DMB will bring a Stanley Cup back to Raleigh

“I’m getting too old for this shit.”

“I’m getting too old for this shit.”

Danny Glover’s infamous catchphrase from the “Lethal Weapon” movies has been running through my head for the past month. Mostly due to a nine-school graduation tab and a magazine to go along with publishing a weekly newspaper. Ah … spring time in the world of journalism.

Then there’s the least bi-weekly reminder that I’m turning into a gremlin. But instead of turning into a pod and producing evil green versions of myself that like to wreak havoc on bars, movie theatres, candy shops, YMCA’s, department stores, snow plows, and lift chairs after eating past midnight, my stomach turns into a bubbling cacophony of sounds that resemble a lab of illegal experiments. When I was younger, I could come home at 2 a.m., gone off Mountain Dew, chocolate wasted, and eat a box of bagel bites. Ever since I hit my mid-30s, my stomach goes all “Spaceballs” and causes a tiny-alien to jump out of my stomach and run across the counter singing show tunes if I eat a grape too late.

Tonight, I’m thinking about it in the context of my Godmother and her taking me to see “Lethal Weapon 4” for my 16th birthday where I’m sure she heard the f-word in ways she never thought she would. Check tape on Chris Rock and Joe Pesci riffing on cell phones for proof. Not only did she do that, but she took me to see “Halloween H20: 20 Years Later,” that same weekend. Talking with her about it recently, I joked she took me to see them because she felt sorry for me because I was stuck at home on my 16th birthday, in summer school, while my folks and brother were in Los Angeles for the week. She simply laughed and said, “no, it was because I love you.”

Word up, Aunt Kak.

It’s in that spirit of love and appreciation that this column will continue.

My godmother’s daughter and son-in-law, along with my Aunt Kak, apply that same love to the Carolina Hurricanes. To the extent they’ve held regular-season tickets for 20 years, putting them at Jack Nicholson/Bill Murray status. They were there for last year’s Eastern Conference Finals collapse, the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals sweep, a nine-year playoff drought (2009–18), and Cam Ward accidentally dragging a puck caught in his skate across the line for an own goal in 2018. Like Nicholson and Murray, they are good people, though, and have stuck with the ‘Canes through thick and thin, good times and bad times, til death to them part, and it’s paid dividends. Eric Staal’s game-winner against New Jersey in Game 7 of the 2008 Eastern Conference quarterfinals. Ward’s performance in the 2006 playoffs. The “Storm Surge” of 2018–19 and of course, the 2006 Stanley Cup championship.

I love the Dave Matthews Band as much as they love the hurricanes. As I write this, I’ve been to 17 shows in three different states and five different venues, have all 72 of the official Live Trax series on my phone, and a few bootleg live songs whose downloads have led to some annoying phone calls from telemarketers. I first saw the band at the Greensboro Coliseum in 1999 and have been following ever since, making it almost a yearly pilgrimage.

For the longest time, we always caught the group at Walnut Creek as it was not even a two-hour drive from home. Similar to being a sports fan, I’ve been through ups and downs in the venue. Seen killer versions of my favorite songs, met some amazing people, had some great times, but have also gotten lost outside the venue and ended up in Fayetteville, North Carolina, at a gas station, where my brother and I saw a man get jumped at 2 a.m., gotten lost in the parking lot after a little herbal fun, and spent $100 on a beer, hot dog, and nachos.

Around 2008, we started rotating venues a bit between Jiffy Lube Live in Bristow, Virginia, and Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheatre, as the Virginia-based band knows when its home and responds with a smoking setlist. Ever since, we’ve met quite a few women with long legs and brains, have hippie-danced-twirled, have enjoyed recreational activities while jamming out to our favorite tunes, and been on the receiving end of generosities such as people helping us get our mom, who had dementia, off the lawn and under the shelter after an impromptu thunderstorm. We’ve also encountered quite a few headaches trying to get out of the mazes that are each venues.

I’m getting off point.

My love for DMB and their love for the Hurricanes lock in other ways as well. Two nights after the ‘Canes’ win over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 6 of the 2006 Stanley Cup that clinched the franchise’s first and only title, I went to see the group at Walnut Creek. The band’s drummer, Carter Beauford, came out wearing a Carolina jersey, and Dave proclaimed, “I hear the Stanley Cup is here,” before launching into the opener of “One Sweet World.”

You’re still wondering what’s the point, I’m sure. Where’s the juice? Where’s the squeeze? What’s the big picture? Well, you’ve come to the right person.

I haven’t been back to see the band in North Carolina since ’06, and in that time, the ‘Canes have missed the playoffs outright 11 times — including nine straight from ‘09–18 — lost four conference finals, and four second-round losses. Hopefully, that’s about to change.

On May 16, I’ll be going down to see the band at Truliant Amphitheater in Charlotte, North Carolina, marking my return to seeing a show in the Tarheel State. In the spirit of my Godmother, her daughter, and her son-in-law, and the love they’ve shown me and the Hurricanes, I hope my return will mean another Stanley Cup championship to celebrate. It would also be awesome to see the band liberate songs such as “Crazy-Easy,” “Angel,” “Good, Good Time,” and “Break For It.”

“Celebrate we will

Because life is short but sweet for certain.”

— “Two Step”