Matchbox Twenty

(Just to record a memorable night... 2008-04-13)

I woke up Sunday morning, very tired from work the previous night. Didn't feel like doing anything, I got about 11 assignments waiting, but I just wanted to be lazy for the day. Then I remembered that I got a concert to attend that night - a big one: Matchbox 20, I already paid for this about 6 months ago where it sold out so fast. But how come I didn't feel like going? In fact I was having a stomach ache. My friend came, then my brother, then my sister -- all four of us, sort of ready to go to the concert. This wasn't exactly my first time, but for a big one like this, this is a first time. So when we went to the venue, I just realized how inexperienced we were.
The parking was a nightmare. I've never seen so many cars trying to find a park. The ticket says 7:45pm start, it was already 7:30, I was stressing on where to find a park. Eventually found a park near the railroad track -- a good 15 minute walk to the venue. I only wore a T-shirt and it was freaking cold. But the thought of the concert and how warm it's going to be inside kept me going.
Adelaide Entertainment Centre, already inside, how wrong I was, it was still cold and they had the air-conditioning going and our seats were near to the fan. Luckily, my attention was diverted to other things: the place, how big it was and how many seats there were, 11,000 seat capacity and all sold out. At $130 each, that's a lot of money. The stage was impressive, a blue-purple glow with the drum set, guitars, wireless mic, keyboard, and all the roadies and audio tech busily working. People were just coming in same as us and there were still a lot of seats unattended. We came on time, then 10 minutes later, it started.
The opening band was Thirsty Merc, an Australian band. They're warming things up for the main event. They started with "The Hard Way" I think. At first the audience reception was moderate. For me, I haven't really heard their songs except for one. As they went from one song to another, I was slowly absorbing the place or the place was slowly absorbing me: massive speakers hanging from the ceiling, audio tech with their high-tech machines that adjust the sound of the instruments, the lights that changes colour and brightness. Then when Thirsty Merc sang "20 Good Reasons", a slow rock love song, everyone started singing with them. There was no denying that this band is good. Then they played "In the Summertime", some people stood up and just rocked to the music. It was about 40 minutes that they performed and I didn't even noticed the time that passed so fast. Their finale was "Someday, Someday" -- my favourite song from this band. Everyone was just singing like a choir to the song. As an opener, this band did their job well. Then the lights were dimmed and the roadies cleared up the stage then set it up for the main event.
I thought it was going to be a smooth transition from one band to another. But no, it was a good 20 minutes wait. This time the setup was bigger: a grand piano on the right side of the stage, then a keyboard beside it. On the middle - the drums, on the left are two more keyboards, one is big that makes those synthetic sounds. Then mic stands, pedals on the floor for guitar distortion and special effects. Then there are these silhouettes we saw coming from backstage. The crowd got excited, this is it!
The opening was spectacular! It was still dark but then a voice saying "Hello, hello, hello...", then a blast of drums beating to the song "How Far We've Come". In the album version, the opening drumbeat is short, but in here, they just kept playing it. A spotlight suddenly focused on the right stage extension featuring the guitarist of the band (Paul Doucette) now adding some strumming to the beat. Then the spotlight switched to the left stage featuring the lead guitarist (Kyle Cook). They were like magicians that suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The audience went wild. A curtain fell down to reveal a huge TV screen as background of the stage showing abstract images.Then a soft light highlighted the whole stage. Here we can now see the drummer (Ryan McMillan), the main keyboard player and other instruments (Matt Beck), the bass player (Brian Yale) and then Rob Thomas taking the microphone singing that song that became no. 1. The atmosphere was totally different from before. This one's just so full of energy and everyone was singing along to the song. The seats are now all filled and this was like magic too because it was as if these people appeared out of nowhere.
When the first song finished to the applause and cheers of everyone, this was followed quickly by a slower song "Back 2 Good". I don't really know this song but it made me stare into space especially with its refrain "...everyone here knows everyone is thinking about somebody else..." I was staring into space thinking about, well yeah, someone else. This song was then followed by "Disease". By this stage, Rob Thomas took off his long sleeved shirt and just wore a plain gray T-shirt which is starting to soak with sweat. It made me realize how hard it is to be on the centre spot to have everyone's attention directed at you. The photographers on the floor were busy taking shots while everyone else have their cameras and phones trying to record what's going on at the stage. Being my first time, I was thinking: "So this is how a concert is, there's not even an introduction, you just sing right away to the crowd."
Again, I was wrong. At the end of the song, Rob gave his introduction speech. "Hello Adelaide! It is so nice to be here. Thank you for sharing this moment with us. For the next 2 hours, let's just forget all those shit happening outside in the world. Look, I know you've already paid for all your tickets, I'm not even going to try to sell something to you. I just ask that for these two hours, we listen to really good music!"
I forgot the sequence of the songs they played but each of them are good. Some highlights are when Rob gave some comments for a song before he starts singing. "The next song is for the couples in the audience especially to the married people. If you're married, you can relate to this one, it's called "I'll Believe You When"". A funny one is when he said, "The next song is a love song about someone you love to hate, you know what I mean when there are just some people you hate but can't help love them. So when we sing this song, just think of this someone in your head." I was confused as everyone else wondering what song this is. I was expecting a slow ballad love song but then the guitar was playing a catchy upbeat music and then the band went "Pararara-pap-pap-pa, pararara-pap-pa!..." They played "All Your Reasons", currently their latest single release and I was saying, so this is what the song is all about.
Rob then said, "For the next session, we're going to play some touchy-feely songs. Cos I know you like touchy-feely. And I like touchy-feely... it makes the guys creep out of their seats." The band played songs which are indeed touchy-feely such as "The Difference", "Soul". There are times when they play an intro you've never heard before then it turned out to be a song that is very well known eg when they've played "If You're Gone", much to the delight of the crowd. These are the times that if you have a lighter with you, you just light it up and wave it in the air but things like this are not allowed. Rob introduced his guitarist (Paul Doucette) saying "Paul used to be our drummer at the start but then he switched to guitars. This is the song that he wrote..." Rob went to the grand piano and started playing the intro of "Could I Be You".
Rob then said, "Okay, enough of touchy-feely..." and played upbeat songs and other variety such as "So Sad So Lonely", "Real World", "3 am" and "Bent". Then he said, "This is one of the earliest songs that we did. Thank you for all of you who stuck with us since the start." And I thought he's going to sing "Push" but the guitar strumming was different. Rob then started singing "It's sitting by the overcoat, the second shelf, the note she wrote..." and then stopped. He said, "Wait a minute, that doesn't sound right..." He turned to one of the band member, "Can you tune your guitar?" Then a brief commotion on the stage adjusting their instruments and on the big screen are big words that said "Ooops! They just messed up..." much to the amusement of the crowd. After a nice guitar strumming, Rob then said "Yeah, that sounds alright. Ladies and gentlemen please welcome the newest member of our band Matt Beck. He plays the guitar, the keyboard, the mandolin and pretty much everything else really..." and the crowd applauded. I was thinking, wow, how cool it would be to be a part of the band, but you must be really really good. Then they resumed playing "Long Day" which is one of my favourite songs from the band cos it has a nice acoustic intro then it goes hard rock in the refrain and by this stage everyone was already shouting "It's been a long day always, ain't that right..." and the hands and fists are just in the air all united in the song. There were many people who were already on their feet giving themselves to the song. When it finished, there was a big applause and the mood was just hyper. Rob's shirt was already black, soaking wet.
Then without warning, perhaps as an attempt to cool down the already heated crowd, Matchbox 20 played an eerie intro, a keyboard playing some 'out-of-this-world' tune and I recognized it: "Hand Me Down". The intro was long, much much longer than in their recorded version. This made the people sit down again and settled down. This was already the start of "tripping session" where your mind just sort of fly in space and you feel like floating guided by the music. The other memorable song was "Unwell" and I just can't help singing along to the song just like everyone else. I really like this sort of tripping music. Then Rob went back to the grand piano again and played an unknown song. When he started with the words "She got out of town...", everyone just applauded. It's "Bright Lights" another really good song from them where everyone chorused to the words "Baby, baby, baby, when all your love is gone... Maybe, maybe, maybe....." This song is one of the highlight of the concert because the band extended the ending of the song, something I have never heard from them before and the crowd couldn't do anything but just listen. Then it further extended to just plain instrumental. By this stage, Rob went away from the stage and drank some water. It's now the band members spot showcasing their talent in their instruments. Paul went to the centre, stopped his guitar and started clapping his hands to the beat of the instrumental music. He encouraged everyone to join in by clapping their hands and timing the clap to the beat of the music. I joined in, everyone joined in. About two minutes of clapping, my hands were starting to hurt as I've never clapped this hard before. But when I realized what was going on, the pain was forgotten, I just kept clapping. Everyone, just like a very big orchestra with 11000 members, became part of the instrumental. And the experience was good. It went on for about 8 minutes then the lights went out and the band left the stage.
It was really dark with only a hint of a blue glow guiding the stairs of the stage and the mobile phones of people in the crowd. I was thinking is the concert over? People were shouting "Encore!" and kept on clapping their hands to the beat as before during the instrumental. I never stopped clapping. Most people continued clapping now as a chant for the band to come back. Then about 6 minutes later, there was this sort of thunder, or maybe some of the crowd stomping their feet on the ground. The lights came back on the stage again. The band's back much to the delight of the audience! Rob Thomas had already changed to new jeans and T-shirt. He thanked the band Thirsty Merc for touring with them and described them as one of the finest Australian bands they've toured with. Then they played a song not of their own. Rob said "When we played this at other states, we never got this right. But somehow tonight, I have a feeling that we will get this right. I can almost guarantee you." A catchy drum beat then a catchy guitar riff, the band started playing "I Need You Tonight" by INXS. With Rob Thomas's voice, they played a very good rendition of the song and most people were already dancing to the beat.
All good things must come to an end and Rob signalled the finish of the concert. "Thank you for all of you who came here tonight. You could've spent your money and time on something else yet you're here tonight. And time is something more precious cos once you spent it, you will never get it back. Thank you for giving us a job..." I noticed the audience, a big mixture of ages but mostly young people, some as really young as 12 or 13, then the 20-something, the thirty-something, up to older people in their 50s. My sister couldn't help noticing this bald, fat guy who went to the aisle of the stairs by himself and started emoting to the songs like crazy where everyone else on his section were seated properly. There's this chick 4 rows in front of us who was just brave enough to let herself go to the music. But when the band played the very song that launched them to what they are now: "Push" -- their ending song, everybody just stood up. No more hesitations now or constraints of what other people may think. No more inhibitions by any other thoughts. And singing along to the chorus was ecstatic. I was singing to the top of my voice as loud as I can, just like what everyone else was doing. "I wanna push you around, well, I will, I will..." This moment was just unreal. It is like a path to a force much greater than us has just been opened and everyone connected to it. People of all ages became one and whatever else is happening at other parts of the world, the war, the problems in life, etc. that's just forgotten, cos there's just this moment where everyone in that room was united by this song. The feeling was so high, and so good, and perhaps the best word to describe the experience is 'spiritual'. All the best that you could ever be was brought out in that moment, where the world was so beautiful, you could just make friends with everyone, the outlook so clear, all the pain forgotten, everything forgiven. The song ended with the applause of everyone and the band members hand by their shoulders took a bow on the stage.
So this is why people are willing to pay this much for this sort of event because the experience is really good. Matchbox 20 is an awesome band who mastered their craft to give people this sort of experience. And will I do this again? Hell yeah! :-D