Hey little dreamer's eyes open and staring up at me.

This weekend was absolutely wonderful.

Thursday, I left with my dad for Charlottesville. As soon as we got there, we walked downtown to the Jefferson to see Tr3. TR3 is a Charlottesville-based band with Tim Reynolds (Dave Matthews's guitarist), a bassist, and a drummer. We had front row spots right on the stage for the show. Before TR3 came out, an opening band with Joe Lawlor, Dave's sound engineer, played. Joe is an unreal guitar player and I could have listened to him play by himself for three hours.

After a short break, TR3 came out. I was so excited to be near the one and only Tim Reynolds. I took a million pictures and watched him play his original songs. TR3 is a little too hard rock for my taste, but they did a couple of Led Zeppelin covers which were cool.

About halfway through the set, Tim brought out Jeff Coffin, Dave's sax player, for some bluesy songs! He's so amazing. This was, by far, my favorite part of the show.

The show got a little bizarre at points, but it was awesome. Case in point. Yes, that is an Eeyore with a gas mask and a James Brown statue. There was also a Pooh with a gas mask, an Elmo, and an alien that danced around. Weird.

Friday, Dad and I went to John Paul Jones Arena for the first of Dave's two last shows in C'ville. The opening band, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, was easily the best opener I've ever heard with Dave. I would love to see them again.

Then, the majesty that is the Dave Matthews Band came out. It was amazing - as always. I won't force you to read another ode to my favorite band, but the show was incredible. Dave even played a few songs that I've never heard him play live (and trust me - that list is very short).

Here was the setlist:

Squirm

Big Eyed Fish

Still Water

Don't Drink the Water

Seven (!)

Grey Street

Spaceman

Everyday

#41 - Joe Lawlor guitar battled with Tim Reynolds.

Shake Me like a Monkey

Spoon

Warehouse - with John D'Earth.

Jimi Thing - with John D'Earth and Trombone Shorty (AMAZING!)

Black Jack

Christmas Song

Lie in Our Graves

Time Bomb

You and Me

Stay (Wasting Time)

Encore:

Sister

All Along the Watchtower

Halloween (!!!!) - Obsessed.

Yum.

Saturday, I woke up early and drove home by myself to surprise my amazing friends from Derailed. We met Clint at Doc's for dinner before driving down to Newport for a much-needed night out. We had a few drinks and danced on the benches at Hofbrauhaus, then walked to Toro for some bull-riding, more dancing, and gawking at the gorgeous worker. (Okay, maybe I was the only one gawking.) Eric and Ben even rode the bull together. Don't worry - I have video proof.

It was wonderful to see all of them at the same time. This is the first time we've all been together since we left Miami. It was long overdue and I can't wait to see them again.