The Music Beat: Celebrating 20 years of music at John Paul Jones Arena

One night, 20 years ago, Julie Caruccio’s high school friend helped launch the University of Virginia’s John Paul Jones Arena.

Caruccio, UVA’s assistant vice president for strategic initiatives, grew up with Stefan Lessard, the bassist and a founding member of the Dave Matthews Band.

Grammy-winning country musician Brad Paisley performs at JPJ in September 2006. (Contributed photo)

“I was among the first Dave Matthews fans,” Caruccio, a double Hoo, said. “It was tons and tons of fun.”

Years earlier, Caruccio saw the band play weekly at smaller, now-shuttered venues like Trax in Charlottesville and the Flood Zone in Richmond. But the new John Paul Jones Arena, with a concert capacity of roughly 15,000 people, was a different thing altogether.

Carrie Underwood co-headlines a tour with Keith Underwood in 2008. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)

On Sept. 22, 2006, Matthews, a former Charlottesville bartender, and his band performed JPJ’s first concert. Demand was so high that servers in Charlottesville reportedly buckled under the pressure of so many fans trying to snag tickets.

Dave Matthews plays the first show at JPJ. He’s come back several times since. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)

JPJ was built with the support of Paul Tudor Jones, a 1976 graduate who donated $35 million to replace University Hall. Named after the donor’s father, John Paul Jones Arena is the largest arena in Virginia.

While best known for housing the University’s basketball teams, JPJ was quickly recognized as a high-caliber concert venue. In 2006, Pollstar Magazine named it a best new major concert venue, and Sports Illustrated called it the best new basketball arena in 2009. Paul McCartney, The Eagles, The Dead, Bruce Springsteen and Lady Gaga have all taken the stage at JPJ. (The Concert Archives website lists 289 concerts at the arena over the past two decades.)

The members of Fall Out Boy pose with UVA basketball jerseys. (Contributed photos)

Taylor Swift, perhaps the biggest name in entertainment today, has performed at JPJ three times – first opening for George Strait, then headlining on her own Fearless and Red tours.

In recent years, JPJ has hosted acts like Kane Brown, Chris Stapleton, Tyler Childers and Sabrina Carpenter.

George Strait plays JPJ in 2008. His opener was Taylor Swift. (University Communications photo)

University Communications senior photographer Matt Riley shot concert photos at JPJ for about 18 years while working for UVA Athletics. He’s taken pictures of the Dave Matthews Band, Carrie Underwood and the Chainsmokers, among other musicians. He photographed Taylor Swift on her first headlining tour.

Jelly Roll sings his hit, “I Am Not Okay,” in front of a sold-out arena. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)

“When I look at those pictures now, she just looks like a kid. She has the number 13 written on the back of her hand,” Riley said, referring to Swift’s well-known favorite number. “Looking back, shooting that concert when she was so early in her career, and now she has this global status, it’s awe-inspiring.”

Keith Urban performs on the middle stage at JPJ. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)

One perk of having an office in JPJ, Riley said, was hearing free previews of the night’s concert as artists ran through sound checks. Some would only play a song or two or make a joke out of it, singing in a silly voice, but when Kelsea Ballerini performed in March 2023, she sang acoustic versions of her whole set while clad in sweatpants. Riley sneaked up to the nosebleeds to listen to her.

“It was one of those ‘pinch me’ moments, because it was a totally empty arena,” Riley said.

Kelsea Ballerini performs as Kenny Chesney’s opener in March 2023. (Contributed photo)

Josie Kaye Drumheller, who graduated from UVA in May with an architecture degree, says one of her earliest memories is of attending the Charlottesville stop of Taylor Swift’s Fearless tour. Her family kept the physical tickets she and her mom received from the box office.

Shaboozey, a Virginia native best known for “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”, opens for Jelly Roll in 2024. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)

Drumheller is from Charlottesville and still lives in town, working as a photographer. She attends a couple of concerts at JPJ every year, and even snagged tickets for Sabrina Carpenter’s sold-out show in 2024.

“My friend and I waited outside JPJ for hours. We were those crazy people,” she said.

She and her friend were among the lucky few to get extra tickets.

“Our section was way off to the side, and it was mostly other people who had been waiting outside for tickets. People had come from Virginia Beach and D.C. to try to see her,” Drumheller said.

Drumheller and Riley were both on the floor taking photos of country musician Jelly Roll’s 2024 sold-out show, Drumheller having applied for photo permissions from LiveNation and Riley as a University Communications photographer. Riley wasn’t a fan of the musician when he entered the arena. He left singing Jelly Roll’s praises.

Sabrina Carpenter stops at JPJ on her Short n’ Sweet tour. (Contributed photo)

“He started singing ‘I Am Not Okay,’ and the whole arena was singing it back to him,” Riley said. “You could see people’s faces and how important that song was to them. That’s the cool thing about music, and the cool thing about JPJ, is that it brings people together.”

Taylor Swift gives her second performance at JPJ, this time on her Fearless tour. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)