|
matchbox 20
A Concert Review |
|
 |
 |
| Rob Thomas |
About half a year. Yep, it's taken about half a year for matchbox 20
to go from being an opening act, to playing a lot of the radio
shows, to headlining a small club tour, to being the headliner and
packing them in at the medium sized venues around the country. I
remember the first time I saw them, opening for Jackopierce. I
remember the second time I saw them, doing a pretty cool interview
and finding out a lot about the boys. I remember the third time I
saw them, they were headlining a small club in Chicago. I remember
the fourth time I saw them, as part of the Q101 block party. And I
now have a fifth experience, seeing them have a big ol' stage to run
around on at The Riviera in Chicago. What's next, someplace like
Soldier Field? Oh wait, they were on the bill with the Rolling
Stones, so I guess now they have a mega-stage site under their belt,
too. My, how some things have changed, but some things haven't - I
still like matchbox 20, still think they have a chance to make it
through the town of "A Couple of One Hit Wonderland," and
really look forward to them getting back in the studio for, hmm, I
would call it "Yourself or Someone Like You, Too." In any
case, their show at The Riviera was as much fun as any of the other
times I've encountered Rob, Adam, Brian, Kyle, and Paul.
 |
| Kyle Cook |
So, I arrive at The Riviera in Chicago, really looking forward to
seeing how matchbox 20 would handle themselves as a headliner. I
already liked the band, had seen them enough to have an idea, but my
curiosity was getting the best of me. As I was waiting, and just
kind of hanging out and people watching, some things struck me.
First off, matchbox 20 attracts a pretty decent female crowd, in
quite a large age group. Sorry, I'm a heterosexual male, single, and
I notice these things, and am grateful for those wristbands to
signify if you are of age for an alcoholic beverage, or if I might
be heading for a jail term. Anyway, I digress. Well, with the female
crowd, you also had mothers and fathers bringing their daughters and
sons, and some of those mothers and fathers were even hanging out on
the floor section, right up front, and dare I say, I saw some of
them singing along. In the back, by the bar, tended to hang out the
older crowd, the working stiff dudes, dressed nicely in their
collared shirts, with their girlfriends on their arm. Interesting.
Another thing that struck me was feeling kind of, well, let me
put it this way - all of you new fans really missed out when the
band was lesser known and you could have seen them in a little pub
called Schuba's. As I studied their stage set-up, I realized that
Schuba's was, well, about the size of The Riviera stage. Yep, you
could have been close enough to the boys to have them sweat on you,
but no more. "Yourself or Someone Like You" has hit the
top-ten in the Billboard charts, has sold over a million copies, and
now matchbox 20 is up on the big stage while you're sitting in the
rafters. So, I have the dubious distinction of now being able to say
"I knew them when…," even though when was only six
months ago.
 |
| Adam Gaynor |
Well, matchbox 20 still only has one CD out, so I didn't expect this
show to really last too long, and I wasn't wrong. Twelve songs on
their CD, and they played them all, much like the other times I have
seen them, but this was different from those other times - this time
they had a real light show, this time they had wireless guitars,
this time Adam had short hair, and this time they played a couple
three or four new songs (I lost count), instead of one.
Opening with "Busted," I already had a peek at the set
list so the surprises of the old material weren't there - I was
eagerly looking forward to the unreleased songs, the ones I hadn't
heard before, and I wasn't disappointed. It was about nine songs
into the show when I was treated to "Tired," one of those
songs where you should be driving down a long highway with the song
at full volume hoping a cop isn't over the next hill. Excellent
guitar work by Kyle, and I was bouncing around with everyone else.
Then some keyboards kicked in, and it was sing-a-long time for
"3 am", where instead of "It's 3 am I must be
lonely" could have been changed to "It's 3 am and
everyone's dancin'," because the place was rockin'. Into
"You & I & I" and "Push," and I knew it
was encore time.
 |
| Brian Yale |
Out comes Rob, all by his lonesome, doing his own song, then the
band comes back and it's time for, hmm, well I'll call it
"Happy" with Kyle handling the lead vocals. Then comes a
rousing version of "Long Day" and it was time to head
home. As much as "Yourself or Someone Like You" has opened
up this band to the public, their new material shows a promise that
this band has what it takes to make it further than their first CD.
Personally, though, I hope it comes soon before the always fickle
American fans start looking for matchbox 20's replacement.
There are some other show observations I noticed this time that
have been missed from previous shows. First off, it was a very
decent light show for the limitations that The Riviera can give. The
moving spots, the fog (or maybe just cigarette smoke), and the light
highlights really enhanced the song images of the band. Then there
was the chance for Brian, Adam, and Kyle to be wireless (poor Paul -
stuck pounding away behind his drum kit!). The three of them were
bouncing all over the Riviera stage like kids loose on a playground,
rushing back to their respective microphones and locations when the
time came. And then there was Rob.
From the first show to this one, Rob has always had displayed
great intensity up on stage, but he still seems a little shy as the
front man. He hides a lot behind his microphone stand, and only
occasionally makes his way out to the front of the crowd. I know a
lot of what he sings is personal, but a lot of times he seems to be
singing to himself rather than the multitude of fans. He has gotten
better at working the crowd than the other times I have seem him,
but his guitarists seem to be taking the charge. I guess it's just a
thought, and in terms of live bands I would like to see Rob singing
more to his audience rather than himself. Just me, maybe, but I
won't hold it against him.
From the first time I saw matchbox 20 I have always been
impressed with their energy, their passion, and their talent as a
band. A lot of the hip reviewers bash them, complaining of their
lyrics, their guitar-rock sound, their appeal to the younger public.
These are the same reviewers that said the electronica groups would
be selling all of the records in 1997. They were wrong, and I would
just like to go on my soap box and say in my first review I wrote
"Although if they keep things up I doubt they'll be the opening
band much longer," and my CD review states "A very cool
band, a very cool CD, and here's hoping you like them too." I
guess many of you do.
It's TWO BIG THUMBS UP for matchbox 20 for their headlining show
at The Riviera. I guess all I can really say is as cool as it was to
see them being able to run around on a bigger stage, I at least had
the chance to see them when they were relative nobody's. My gain,
your loss!
And that's it for this one, I'm The Dude on the Right!! L8R!! |
