Dave & TJ

Dave Matthews Band at UVA's John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Va., 9/22/2006.

We got back from Chicago just in time to watch football on Sunday afternoon, what luck! Then it was another short week before we were heading off again, this time back to our old stomping grounds in Charlottesville, Va. We drove up. We stopped at Lago’s parents place on the way there and the way back to drop off and pick up JP Stinkerbutt. We stayed at the Day’s Inn, about a mile from the new arena at the University of Va. (UVA) where we were going to see the Dave Matthews Band (DMB) perform Fri. and Sat. nights, the last two nights of the tour. We picked the hotel for location, not for amenities. Wasn’t bad, but wouldn’t have stayed there if not for its walking distance to the arena. We checked in and then walked about halfway and had dinner at the Ruby Tuesday’s in the Barracks Road Shopping Mall. That was our plan from the get go. We got there early and got a table. People who came in after us had to wait. I forget when I got the call from ol’ Lazy Acres, but they were at the arena with a prime tailgating spot and we headed up to meet them after dinner. It was good to see ol’ Lazy Acres and have a few brews before the show. We went in a little early to catch the opener, Robert Randolph & the Family Band. We’ve seen Robert Randolph play with DMB before so we were really looking forward to the entire evening because we knew Dave would bring Robert Randolph onstage to play with the band at the end of the show, which he did both nights. I only moderately agree with Lazy Acres about the show Fri., mostly because the first 4-5 songs of the show were the same as in Chicago, something DMB rarely do. Sat. night had a looser feel and they hit all the songs they didn’t play Fri. night. The guests were great and Robert Randolph and DMB really rocked the last couple songs Sat. night. There was a weird guy in a rain coat who walked onto the back of the stage late in the show and just as he was about to walk out front beyond the drum riser and speaker stacks, security rushed him off the stage. He looked a bit “crazed” and I was glad security was on top of things.

Ol' Lazy Acres and the Mrs.

Sat. afternoon Lago and I went over to the home of Thomas Jefferson, Monticello, since in all the time we had lived in the area we had never been there, together anyway. I took a visit over there with the Monkey in March of last year when he was down to see G. Love at the Star Hill. It was a perfect day and it was nice to go again because the gardens were green and alive. I thought it was also fitting to go there since we were seeing DMB at the university Thomas Jefferson founded. The entire weekend was a nice trip, but we were looking forward to getting home after two trips in two weeks.

Thomas Jefferson's Monticello

Pumpkins growing in the gardens at Monticello.

Thomas Jefferson referred to this as his "sea view."

Comments

Anonymous said…
Oooh... much better seats than we.
October 3, 2006 at 9:04 AM
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