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On Aug. 1, 2006, John Paul Jones Arena officially opened, hosting Cirque du Soleil for its first event. The modern, flexible sports and entertainment arena would quickly become one of the nation’s top venues.
Established with a $35 million commitment from UVA alumnus Paul Tudor Jones (and named in honor of his father), JPJ many times over has generated enthusiasm, visitors, economic activity, sports glory, and cultural enrichment over the years.
Almost instantly, national performers made Charlottesville a stop on their tours and still do – Taylor Swift, Jay-Z, and George Strait among them. The homegrown Dave Matthews Band got the trend started, performing the grand opening concert at JPJ on the evening of Sept. 22, 2006.
For many Charlottesville-area residents and those with UVA connections, the initial DMB show was particularly special: The local act with a global fanbase returning home to christen an arena and launch a new era of entertainment here.
UVA External Relations employees Meg Walker and Katherine Ludwig were both at JPJ that night. Here are their recollections:
Walker: What I remember most is the scale of it. Before JPJ we had U-Hall, and JPJ felt grand in a way U-Hall never did. It also felt like it fit what UVA was becoming. The new Commerce School opened the year after I graduated, and the South Lawn project came together not long after. JPJ was the first signal that all of that was coming.
Ludwig: I remember thinking how cool and kind of surreal it was to have such a world-class venue with big-name acts in our little(ish) town. I also remember being grateful for how logistically uncomplicated it was to get there, park, and get home. Having grown up and lived in larger cities, where concert going is quite a schlep and undertaking, I recall being almost giddy with how easy it was!
Ludwig: Yes. DMB was the soundtrack to my undergraduate years. I didn’t grow up or go to school in Charlottesville, but I can tell a few of those annoying stories about seeing the band when they were still up and coming in tiny venues and watching Boyd Tinsley play the strings off his violin from like 15 feet away.
Walker: Honestly, no. But it was a big deal that he was opening JPJ, and the excitement was less about DMB and more about being there for the first one. Getting tickets was its own ordeal. I spent hours stuck in the online queue getting nowhere. I’m fairly sure the servers in Charlottesville were buckling under everyone in town trying at once. My roommate’s dad in Northern Virginia is the one who finally managed to get them.
Walker: All the way in the back. I went with my friend Stacey, and I could still walk in there and point to our seats. It was the biggest concert I’d been to at that point, and being that far up gave you a view of the whole room reacting at once. Everyone around us was completely locked into the music. I feel like I spent half the show just watching the people in the row in front of me and enjoying how much they were connecting to it.
Ludwig: Somewhere in the balcony. It was the kind of energy you only get from a hometown crowd. When John D’Earth joined DMB on stage, the place exploded. I think I teared up.
Ludwig: I remember that I was pregnant with my first child and maybe wasn’t having quite as much fun as many others in the crowd.
Walker: That nobody was watching it through a screen. You were just there, surrounded by people who were fully present with the music. I have no photos from that night and a very clear memory of it, which I don’t think is a coincidence.
Ludwig: Yes, lots—from UVA basketball games and Sesame Street Live to my daughter’s high school graduation.
Walker: Many times. Lady Gaga put on a phenomenal show. Nine Inch Nails in 2008 is probably still the best concert I’ve ever been to, just incredible energy in that room. These days my JPJ habits have shifted considerably: the Hot Wheels Monster Truck show has become an annual family tradition, and with the right ear protection it’s genuinely a great time.
