You cool indie people who listen to your Cat Power, Of Montreal, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah are probably snickering right now at my love for such 90's pop rock music. And I don't really care! Matchbox 20 makes me happy and brings me back to a great time in my life when my days consisted of roadtrips to Atlanta during the summer to see a music festival, drinking in our dorm/apt whilst playing strip poker/twister, hanging out at Islands of Adventure, and the occasional studying. Oh, and catching some live MB20 at the local Orlando venue. (Little known fact, before they were signed, MB20 was called "Tabitha's Secret". Yep, I have that demo... I'm such a music nerd) I think MB20 was pretty huge at every college/high school in 1997, but they were especially popular in their hometown of Orlando. It seemed like on any given day, while walking through the dorms, I'd hear someone blasting a song from "Yourself or Someone Like You". It was either that or Sister Hazel's "All For You" (also a Florida band). And to this day, so many of the songs remind me of my college friends. For my first semester final project in my American Sign Language Class, I even signed the lyrics to "Hang", the last song on their first album. To this day, if I hear that song, I HAVE to sign - it's a sickness really. My friend Jen and I used to make fun of the video "Push". It's the one when Rob Thomas is chained to a wall or something and he's wearing this shiny black shirt (unbuttoned) and leather pants. We would joke about the things we would do to him if he was chained to us...
My ex-boyfriend once told me years after we broke up that the song "Bright Lights" reminds him of me (the lyrics are eerily similar to our relationship -it's about a girl who breaks up with her boyfriend and moves to NYC, and yes I did keep a picture of him in my apartment in the city)... To this day, I think of him when I hear that song. Check it out, it's really a great song, and see, Rob Thomas CAN play an instrument! He's not just a pretty face...
My friends and I even spotted the MB20 guitarist Kyle in a local bar in Orlando once. I was certain it was him, my boyfriend and half of my friends were convinced it wasn't. I told my friends I was going to the bathroom, but instead I went up to Kyle (I told him that there was a $100 bet over his true identity.) A few minutes later, Kyle went over to where my friends were sitting, greeted them with "Hello my friends" and put his arms around them. He said yes in fact he was kyle and had a drink with us. (Hey, I actually never got my $100 from that night...)
So, my Valentine's Day/Birthday Eve is going to be spent with Rob, Kyle, Brian and Paul and I couldn't be happier. I actually snagged a seat on the Floor (14th Row!) Stay tuned for pictures and a review of the show.
For your viewing entertainment, enjoy my favorite MB20 video (Our buddy Kyle is the guy towards the end playing the Banjo).
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