Dave Matthews had to depend on the kindness of strangers to get to his band's own show Saturday night at Hersheypark Stadium in Hershey, Penn.
Matthews was bicycling to the show when his bike broke down on the side of the road. Emily Kraus, a DMB fan since she was nine, was driving to the show (and running late) and saw a man stranded at the roadside.
Little did she know it was Matthews.
"I did not have a cell phone on the bicycle. So I thought, 'Sh*t," Mattews said, according to CNN. "And then a nice lady named Emily rode up in a red car with a bicycle rack on it and gave me a ride on to the gig."
Kraus' parents had recently given her the bike rack and she was able to help out her idol. She and her boyfriend talked to Matthews about the tour and his daughter's summer camp during the ride.
"We didn't know how to make conversation with him," Kraus said with a laugh.
In gratitude, Matthews invited Kraus and her boyfriend to dinner and gave them backstage passes and front row seats to the show. He even talked about the situation during the concert and mentioned her by name.
Kraus went on the CBS 21 News Facebook page on Sunday and recounted the story:
"My cheeks still hurt from smiling, giggling and laughing all night long...this will always be remembered."
She woke up Sunday morning unsure if the whole experience was a dream. But then she saw that Matthews had signed her tickets with "Thanks for the ride."
"OK, yeah, that really happened yesterday," Kraus said. "It was surreal, we couldn't believe it."
