06/18/23
Starlight Theatre, Kansas City, MO
It was a beautiful night for a sold-out “Slow Dream” concert in the park.
No real wrestling matches took place, but there has been fun banter back and forth between Rob Thomas and Matt Nathanson during the tour about who will win the night’s wrestling match. You can see the silly videos on Matt and Rob’s Instagram pages.
It has been three long years for fans to attend tonight’s show, and the support act has changed along the way. The original show date was September 6, 2020. Covid would shut down the music industry and keep artists from touring, spending intimate nights with their fans. They say the third time’s a charm, but in this case, the fourth time was the charm.
Indie, pop, and rock artist Matt Nathanson (Spotify) opened the night with “Giants” from his 2015 Show Me Your Fangs album. Matt was full of jokes and even jokingly heckled a few audience members in the front rows. Matt even broke out playing “Dust in the Wind” by Kansas, followed by AC/DC’s “Highway To Hell,” he did a stellar job singing while the audience handled the chorus. From there, he broke into the taste of strawberry bubblegum with “Faster.”
Matt’s got the moves, rhythm, and an impressive vocal range that’s not to be underestimated. To start closing for the night, Matt sang a medley of 80’s smash hits and decided to grab a mic and walk out in aisle ways of the lower terrace seats and sing “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” and conducted the audience to shout “Dance.” Matt finished with “Come on Get Higher” from his 2007 album Some Mad Hope to close the set.
Matchbox Twenty (Spotify) began their 2-hour set with “Friends” from their new album Where The Light Goes. The stage design bears a half-snare drumhead that projects swirling ambient lights and chasing lights around the rim. The beat and brass sounds get fans dancing, and Rob works the stage side-to-side dancing.
Halfway through the set, Rob and Kyle sat on stools to play an acoustic version of “If You’re Gone.” Gone was the audience’s silence because they joined in on the vocals. Rob even gave the magnifico hand jester and sent it to the stars.
The lighting design throughout the night is phenomenal and produces illusions during different songs. During “Mad Season,” the video wall lit up with a surrealist-style backdrop that gave a Salvador Dali aesthetic vibe. People had sunflower heads and faces, bird bodies replacing a female torso, seashell conchs with a female eye, and flying arms and hands. Other flying objects were in the live art display to capture your attention.
The encore ended the night with three of Matchbox Twenty’s top hits. Two of which have earned them Grammy nominations. There is something about hearing “3 A.M.” in an open theater at night and the audience singing along. It gets all up in your emotions. Grammy-nominated “Unwell” and “Push” still reign as fan favorites. “Bright Lights” closed the night.
