A (Matthew) Good Show...

...But not great show.

So last night I saw Matt Good play for the first time EVAR at the Highline Ballroom. I wasn't really sure what to expect going in - I'm a pretty big fan, and I guess I can trace my infatuation back to late highschool (although I clearly remember seeing the video for "Apparitions" on MuchMusic soon after I moved back to CT from Canada. Not sure if I cared though). My band at the time practiced and performed (only once, at the Outback Teen Center) a lackluster rendition of "Strange Days" - which I liked, a lot. I really, really started listening to him the summer of 2004. White Light Rock'n'Roll Review had just come out, so excitement was high, and I was looking for something new. Matt Good Band provided, with very few low points, from the opening lines of "Alabama Motel Room" (Last of the Ghetto Astronauts) to the closing notes of "Sort of a Protest Song" (Audio Of Being). Avalanche, Matt's 2003 record, is in my mind one of the finest solo debuts from someone coming off of a successful band - equal at least, possibly superior to Chris Cornell's excellent Euphoria Morning. White Light, in all honesty, kind of went right over my head (with the notable exception of "Blue Skies Over Bad Lands"). I could devote an entire post to his latest album, Hospital Music, released last July. I'll just say that it's pretty much great.

So anyway, I didn't know what to expect. Adam, Keith, and Alex had all seen him a few times this past year on the "Nothing To Hide" acoustic tour (as well as a memorable night in someone's Vegas living room) and pretty much unanimously agreed that it was a little underwhelming. Great to see him, at long last, but definitely not what they were expecting. That's where I fall, too. Great to see, but not what I was expecting. Here's the set list, from Matt's site:

I’m A Window
Suburbia
99% Of Us Is Failure
Born Losers
Tripoli
Strange Days
Load Me Up
A Silent Army In The Trees
Black Helicopter
She’s In It For The Money
Avalanche
Apparitions
True Love Will Find You In The End

Encore

Champions Of Nothing
Metal Airplanes

Thinking back, I guess the only real issue I had with the show was the arrangements. As I mentioned earlier, it was acoustic, but he didn't seem to make much of an effort to adapt the songs to that format - mostly, it just seemed that he was playing the acoustic guitar part of that song. There were a lot of blanks where you definitely missed the presence of a band - maybe even just another guitar. The only downright cringeworthy part for me was the opening of "99% Of Us Is Failure" which was sung acapella. I didn't really like the end of "Avalanche." In "Load Me Up," he actually did offer a different arrangement, which Alex thought was one of the better songs he does acoustically - I didn't really like it, but I like the original version so damn much that it is probably just me being stubborn. If I were seeing him play in that small, casual Vegas setting, all this would have been fine - great, even - but for a public performance at a real venue, it doesn't really cut it. There were some mic issues also, but I'm not going to count those as strikes against the performance.

All this is not to say that there were no highlights. "Apparitions," "Strange Days," and "Champions Of Nothing" all lend themselves very well to acoustic performance without any finagling (did I spell that correctly?). "Black Helicopters" was excellent. His voice was in top form. I'm really happy I was able to see him play, and I want to see him again soon. With a band. Because that will be even better.

Also, I kind of hope that the eternally-connected Matt Good (or one of his buddies) does not find this post and respond to the criticisms (it happened to Adam!).