Yep, that pretty much sums up the Matchbox 20 concert experience last week. First of all I HATE seeing shows at Madison Square Garden. I'm sure it's a dream come true for most bands to play the garden, but it truly sucks for the fans. Most of the time you can't even see the band (I had to sit BEHIND the stage when I saw The Police). It's come to the point that it takes ALOT for me to see a band there, unless I have good seats (which is close to nearly impossible). I really need to befriend an MSG employee to score some of those close seats only available to press, employees and VIPs. But for the MB20 show, I was able to get seats on the FLOOR. Even my seat on the floor acquired from a presale purchased the first minute they went on sale was probably further away than the worst spot at Irving Plaza. But I realize how lucky I was to not have to squint to see them. I was right next to the sound guys, actually, and during the MB20 set, I saw the guys from Mute Math (the 1st opener) standing in the sound area.
Alanis Morrissette was the 2nd opening act, so it was like seeing two concerts in one. She's was pretty good - I'd forgotten how many hits she has had. Though it kinda bothered me that she would just kind of run up and down the stage like she had not idea what to do with herself during the instrumentals. She played harmonica for two songs and guitar for one or two, but then looked a little bored when she was just singing. One of the cool things about sitting in the 'fan club' section is you get to meet other fans crazier than you are. I'm not really a crazy MB20 fan anymore (ok, yes, I've managed to spend two blogs talking about them, but I'm not one of those people who would spend a summer following them around on tour or anything. And I only joined the fan club to get the good MSG Garden seats.) I befriended the guy sitting next to me who had flown all the way from Guatemala to see them in concert. He had gone to grad school in Tennessee a few years ago and that's when he started listening to them. (I was trying to figure out if MB20 markets themselves in Guatemala.) Since I have been to Guatemala, he was so excited to talk to someone who knew his country. By the end of the night, I agree to send him a copy of the Tabitha's Secret Live Album that I have (the local Orlando band that Rob Thomas and Paul Doucette were in before they formed MB20 - I think they only sold that CD in Florida) and he agreed to email me pictures from his camera. When the lights went down and MB20 was on stage, this calm soft spoken architect became like a crazed teenager seeing the Beatles for the first time. Some of the coolest parts of the show:
1. It was Valentine's Day, which happened to also be Rob Thomas' Birthday. Towards the end of the show, Paul Doucette and Rob's wife surprised him with a huge cake and the whole MSG crowd sang to him. They also shot confetti out of cannons (I'm still finding confetti in my purse!)
2. The band also surprised him by playing "Streetcorner Symphony", which is one of the hits Rob had with his solo career. After the song was over, Rob was like, "So is this the song you guys were secretly learning behind my back?"
3. They played "Hang", which is my favorite song. This wasn't a hit , so I didn't expect them to play it at all. It's a duet between Kyle Cook and Rob Thomas.
Here's some of my pics from the show - my camera is pretty unreliable, but it's the best I could do:
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