This is a post by Daisy Pistey-Lyhne, ACE’s Policy Liaison and Regional Managing Educator in Washington, D.C.  

Last Friday, ACE was out in the 102* heat at National Stadium in Washington, DC with the Dave Matthews Band.

With a heat wave hitting the East Coast, ACE’s message about cooling the climate really resonated with DMB lovers on the verge of heat stroke. Here’s how we kept it cool…

DMB and ACE: a beautiful friendship

Eager fans braved the hot temperatures last week to check out their favorite band. Thousands of loyal fans wore t-shirts, baseball caps – some even had DMB tatoos!! – in honor of the man on stage.

The Zach Brown Band opened the show with a mix of rockabilly, blues, and bluegrass. And then DMB cranked out 3 hours of pure rockin’ tunes.

ACE was out before the show as part of the Bama Green Project, a partnership between DMB, REVERB, and IZSTYLE where the band works to “green” their shows, and volunteers talk to their fans about incorporating simple and positive environmental actions into their lives. While ACE was getting fans to sign up for a DOT and connecting with teachers and students, the Bama Green Project was getting fans to offset their carbon. (Did you know that 80% of the carbon emissions for concerts comes from the fans driving to the shows?)

Other organizations were out too, like The Surfrider Foundation and Project Vote Smart. The Surfrider Foundation was raising fans’ awareness of the damage occurring to our oceans – not just the multiple oil spills happening right now in the Gulf and beyond, but also ongoing over-fishing, trash dumping, run-off pollution, and ocean acidification. Project Vote Smart was signing fans up to vote in the important election coming up this November.

All in all, a great evening, and once the sun set and the music started, a very cool time!