REGINA'S STORY:
My concert buddy and I had hung out at various venues near the lots where dMb tour buses were parked over the past few years, only to catch fleeting glimpses of most of the band members, snap a tiny, fuzzy picture or be lucky enough to get a ticket autographed [courtesy of Roi Moore on one occasion]. We managed to meet Boyd Tinsley at Border’s Books & Music/King of Prussia Mall when he was promoting his solo CD and the Blue for the Music campaign in 2003. While we have numerous exciting and happy memories of DMB concerts, tailgating, meet-ups with new and “old” passionate fans, like ourselves, we still “Hungered for the Great Light” of meeting Dave … REALLY meeting him, which we defined as: eye contact, a handshake [at least…], an autograph, AND a picture! …not exactly “low” maintenance fans !!!
Our best opportunity arose when we discovered that Dave was scheduled to appear at a local college [Haverford College] in PA, where he and three other folks were being granted honorary degrees for their contributions to society via their individual artistic medium. Commencement Day arrived, we drove to Haverford, parked our car and found two empty seats towards the back of the lawn on a beautiful morning in May 2005. Dave’s speech to the crowd of professors, graduates, parents, younger siblings, and US, was nothing short of amusing, but moving and inspirational all at once. We browsed among excited family members scattered around the grounds, hoping to make contact, unaware that the honorees were ushered into one of the handsome and sturdy Quaker-style buildings that grace the whole campus and served a luncheon. We spotted Daryl and did our best to shadow his movements, knowing he would eventually lead us to Dave [as if we could follow a body guard around and him not notice us !!!].
My instincts told me to head into a certain building, and … my instincts were right! After a brief wait, a door opened, Daryl emerged, announcing that we were all to “let the man pass through – no autographs, no pictures, etc” At the moment Dave emerged, being mere feet away, seeing him “up close and personal” … the thought of being THAT close, and NOT meeting him – I began to tremble inside. I was SO happy to be in the same room with him and really wanted the opportunity to thank him for all the joy that he and the band have brought into my life. Well, Dave had his own agenda – and he began to meet and greet everyone in the rapidly filling room! Everyone was on best behavior – the love in the room was tangible. And, as is mentioned in one of the Charlie Rose interviews, Dave truly DOES emanate an aura of serenity and presence…and I did feel it that day! I had brought with me that day my Some Devil CD case, a camera, and a bookmark that I had made to give to Dave as a gift in honor of his receiving the degree. I gently made my way towards him, smiled [as if my facial muscles could do anything other than smile!!], said: “Congratulations! – I made this bookmark for you”, handed it to him, he said: “Thank you” and smiled. I asked him to sign my Some Devil CD, he asked me my name, I told him, babbled something about how much he and the band have given to me/everyone, and that I was enjoying the new CD, Stand Up. He was very gracious, attentive and genuinely pleased to be among everyone in the room!! At that moment, I did not have the chance to ask for a picture with him, but my buddy did, and I took their picture together.
Dave weaved among all the parents, graduates and their families for nearly an hour. I stood on the periphery of the room, just soaking in the whole experience, admiring him from that short distance and did my best to avoid disrespectfully gawking at him. We did make eye contact a couple of times, and, to borrow the words from a gal from Charlottesville who has had the pleasure a number of times…when you make direct eye contact with him, you find yourself having to look away, much like you would when “looking into the eyes of the sun”. Perhaps this is not the case for every DaveHead who might read this … but for THIS one … well … ‘nuff said!!!
One of my favorite memories of that day is whenever a young sibling of a graduate approached Dave and requested he sign the CD’s they presented to him, he would ask them “Who is this for?” and the kid would say “Me!!!” … the ear to ear smile that broke across Dave’s face … priceless. He seems to be blown away by his much younger fans and he obviously has a great affection for children.
So, the love fest drew to a close and we saw Daryl usher Dave towards the back of the building. Earlier, we had seen a private car parked a fair distance away on the campus. We knew it was Dave’s because we saw Daryl stash the video camera he had used to tape the graduation. Ashley, Stella and Grace were not in attendance, but must have wanted their own taste of the ceremonies that day. We ran over to where the car had been parked but it was no longer there. I suspected that the car had been moved to the back of the building, in a small alley there, so that Dave could leave discreetly and get to his next commitment. We walked casually around the building and there was the car! Two other women had made the same conclusion and we spoke with them for a few moments about the upcoming summer tour. A door opened, Daryl and Dave emerged and a young man who served as an usher that day asked Dave for a picture. We stood there and watched the scene unfold and were again face to face, only feet away. The expression on Dave’s face seemed to say “You two again?” … I said “Naw, Dave, you’re just having Déjà vu” !!! He smiled, looked very apologetic and said “Oh, it’s ok, no problem” I approached him and asked if he would take a picture with my buddy and me, he said “Sure!”. I stood on his right side and my buddy on his left, he put both arms around us and…there’s the result! I had a clutch purse in my left hand and forgot to switch it to my right hand and did not put my arm around HIM !! duh … After the picture was taken, he gave my right side the sweetest, most chaste little squeeze … ::sigh:: I thanked him – again – and floated for weeks afterward.
A few weeks later, we attended our first concert of that summer in Scranton, PA. I had bid on and won 5th row center Bama Works seats and didn’t tell my buddy. I gave our tickets to the venue usher and she showed us to our seats. My buddy was beside herself when we sat down … what an exciting way to start the summer tour !!! I had made a poster cut in the shape of dMb and wrote on it “Déjà vu, Dave”, which can be found on the Warehouse Fan Pix page from that show. AND … Dave tossed me his guitar pick at the end of the show!!!! My advice to anyone who really wants to meet him??? “Conceive, Believe, Achieve” !!!! Thanks for allowing me to share my/our story! Thank YOU Dave for being who you are!!!
