Twas another hot, slightly overcast day in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The sweat was beading up as even the birds were seeking the shade of the surrounding trees.
Emily Kraus rolled along in her car with the windows down, jamming her favorite Dave Matthews Band album as she inched closer to the venue…
Emily had been a fan of the DMB since the wee age of 9 years old. When someone’s art impacts your life and grows along side of you, you don’t miss a chance to go see this person and band play a live concert.
So as Emily drove on down the road, surrounded by the grassy plains and trees of Pennsylvania, she was in a great mood. It’s just part of what you learn growing up listening to the positivity of great music.
That’s why, being the kind lady she is, Emily pulled over to help a man seemingly stranded in the middle of nowhere with a popped bicycle tire. It turns out that this person was also excited to make it to the Dave Matthews show.
He’d actually already been there at Hersheypark, but since it was such a fine Saturday he decided to whip his bike out for a pre-show ride. He still had time, so he thought, before the show started.
He was incredibly grateful to these good samaritans for stopping because he hadn’t brought his cellphone along. So when he saw Emily slowing down and pulling over in her tiny red car with a bike rack on the back, he knew fortune was shining down upon him, much like the fearsome Saturday sun.
As It Turns Out, It was Dave Mathews on the Bike!
Any fans of Dave Matthews who follow him on the various social networks know that he’s an avid bike rider. He’s always in this forest or near that gorge enjoying nature, the wind, and the exercise. Being on the road so much lends itself to being near some killer bike trails.
It may not surprise you as much as it did Emily to pull over and find that this man with the popped tire was none other than Dave Matthews!
To make things even more serendipitous, Emily’s parents had only just recently bought her that bike rack as a gift. They loaded up hitchhiker Dave and his busted bike and continued their journey on to the venue.
“We talked about how the tour was going and about his daughter’s summer camp schedules. We didn’t know what to say!”
Dave, being the good dude he is, invited Emily and her boyfriend to dinner before the show. Then he brought them backstage to meet the band and crew and check out his gear. And then he hooked them up with front row seats for the show!
“My cheeks still hurt from smiling, giggling and laughing all night long … this will always be remembered.”
It was so surreal that Emily woke the next day wondering if it really happened. Did she just dream that Dave was such a cool dude and she had the chance to meet him and chill with his crew? Maybe so… but that’s when she found her concert ticket stubs…
They were signed, “Thanks for the ride, Dave Matthews”…