He wasn’t playing with his band. It was just him and a sidekick guitar virtuoso. It was Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds. And it was right here at UF.

Matthews sat hunched on a stool with his close-cropped hair holding a light brown Takamine guitar. Reynolds stood. Funny how the two were about the same height. Reynolds’ guitar was almost as big as his body, but he played with so much grit and determination, everyone in the crowd was left in awe. They ripped through more than 25 songs from Matthews’ catalogue.

Finally, the “Ants Marching” encore sent the crowd to its feet. This was not a big production with lights or costumes. Just two guys in jeans and button-down shirts with acoustic guitars demonstrating a night of pure musical genius.

Great musical moments have happened here on campus and around Gainesville for years. As the student body changes, the one thing that remains constant is the love for great music.

The likes of Bob Dylan, Elton John, the Rolling Stones and Janis Joplin have rolled through here. Some of the places where they played don’t even exist today. Other places you’re surely familiar with.

Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, the home of Gator football, was the home of rock in the 1970s. The large bowl was a staple venue.

In 1973, Elton John made a visit wearing sparkly suits and big sunglasses on his Yellow Brick Road tour with Stevie Wonder. The stadium hosted a show in 1976 featuring Bob Dylan and Joan Baez. The last act to play at the Swamp was the Rolling Stones, who brought their Voodoo Lounge tour to UF in 1994.

The O'Connell Center has also housed some big names, including Billy Joel, Sting, Neil Young, R.E.M. and Pearl Jam. Local hero Tom Petty made his last Gainesville concert appearance there in November of 1993.

Speaking of Petty, journalism professor John Griffith, who came to UF in 1969, remembers seeing the artist in the early ‘70s as a local bar act. Just imagine one of your professors in a tie dye.

“He used to play in town at a bar on South Main Street called The Keg,” Griffith says.

Back then, Petty was not playing with his famous band the Heartbreakers. The band went by the name Road Turkey. Later, Petty played around town with another group called Mud Crutch before he met the Heartbreakers.

Griffith says he remembers some more of the concerts in his 33 years on campus. In 1970, he saw Janis Joplin play at a place on campus called the Rathskeller.

“This was before she was famous,” Griffith says. “There were maybe 200 people there. It was pretty much all they could fit in the small room.”

The Rathskeller was actually a student recreation center and cafeteria inside Johnson Hall, located where what is now a parking lot behind Dauer Hall.

The building burned down because of a grease fire in the cafeteria kitchen in 1987.

“I had expensive seats at the Stones show. They were something like $70,” he says. “I was still pretty far away, but they played all the songs I wanted to hear, so it was definitely worth it.”

After eight years, the set list for that Rolling Stones concert is still posted on the bulletin board next to Griffith’s office door.

Concerts and musical legends are not just for big cities. New musical groups will continue to appear, and as history has shown, they will continue to perform in Gainesville and at UF. As musical greatness continues to progress, time will only tell what is in store for the campus in the future. Sounds crazy, but we too will probably be sharing concert stories 33 years later with people our age.

Story by Jedd Ferris