Matt, why don’t you like me?
Matthew Good. What can I say? I think the guy is a great songwriter and a great musician. I like his music. BUT. I just saw him at the Odeon with around 700 other people, and walked away with somewhat mixed emotions. Great music, but absolutely no connection with the audience. No talking; it almost felt like disdain. The lighting even reflected it: double spotlight on Matt, but I couldn’t even see any of the facial features of any of his 5-piece band.
I still like the music though, so it was a really weird dynamic.
The Spades opened for him. They are a power trio from Peterborough Ontario and did a fabulous job. The drummer has his snare drum tuned about as low as it will go, and paired with two bass toms, he laid a powerful backbeat for the other guys. Good vocals, good guitar, and a solid bass line rounded it all out. A double “marching band” drum piece, that the bassist described to me as a “good break,” pulled the crowd right in. Good work, The Spades.
Matt Good, you know music, but take some notes from The Spades on stage presence. Oh, and drop the attitude.
Update: Upon reflection, this show was not “One of the Strangest Shows I’ve Seen” – I’ve seen some pretty strange stuff and this wasn’t one of them. Instead there was just a really weird range of emotions going on.
I’ve decided to save the old title for something that really deserves it.
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Well, I tend to agree…I don’t think that Matthew Good even said hello to the crowd but he did play 2 extra sets of songs for us…maybe it’s his way of showing his appreciation to the crowd (and call me old fashioned…but a good old Hello Saskatoon would have made my night…!) During the show I started comparing him to Hedley of all people! I am not a big fan of Hedley himself but I guess the attitude comes with being in the position he is at such an early age but man his show is great..he involved the crowd and even better, he wore a skin tight superman suit that won us over! So to Matthew Good…I still have your Cd’s and still love your songs and song writing skills but interact with the crowd man!
He became Matthew Mediocre years ago. One day he played the Regina and stormed off after calling the crowd a bunch of “prairie hicks” when someone threw a shoe on-stage. Even if that happens and you’re knocked cold (he wasn’t) you don’t blame the whole crowd and act like a sissy quiff about it. He’s a debutante who wants to be a diva, but he’s boring and can’t pull it off. There are plenty of acts with as much or more talent who actually like being on stage, so it’s a mystery to me why anyone would ever put up with twice.
Will look out for The Spades. All hail the power trio.
Cheers,
-Eli.