Matchbox 20 singer Rob Thomas, doubling sometimes as a solo artist (in this case the later), played a sold out show this past Saturday night at the Seneca Niagara Casino in Niagara Falls, NY. The show was a little bit of everything. Thomas provided insight, inspiration and comic relief as he delivered a memorable night of music in his two hour plus set. Thomas came off as quirky but yet funny at times. In between Thomas’ songs, he gave a prelude to how the song came about with almost a storyteller type of vibe. He did this between constant shouting and shrieking from the female attendees in the crowd. The heartthrob of the ’90s stayed on focus with his two piece backup band.
Thomas stayed true to form as he delivered predominately from his solo material. In fact, he commented that the fans can expect new material early next year. He gave the fans a taste of what to expect as he played two of the new songs “I Think We Feel Good Together” and “Heaven Help Me.” The later is about Thomas not being able to party like he used to.
Thomas stated that he thought he was a big rock star selling 20 million records and when he met Mick Jagger to work on Mick’s solo album, Jagger thought it was “cute.” Thomas went on to say he saved the message Mick left for him on his answering machine (before cell phones) and played it for his friends for years. He also commented that Lionel Richie was a big inspiration and actually got to tell him in person how his music got him laid a lot. Richie remarked “me too!” He called “Streetcorner Symphony” his ode to Richie.
His love of writing songs and talking about relationships pretty much dominated the talk from Thomas. That’s when he wasn’t playing an acoustic guitar, singing or tickling the ivories behind the piano. Thomas kept the covers to a minimum, but did include the Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup song made famous by Elvis Presley in “That’s All Right.”
Thomas did what he set out to do and that was to make a connection with the crowd by sharing his songs and the stories that accompanied them. Personally, I thought that due to the audience members not being able to control themselves (as stated above), he should have kept the chatter in between songs to a minimum. This made it more distracting to focus on what the night was about, the music!
Setlist:
Mockingbird
Falling to Pieces
Sunday Morning, New York Blue
Her Diamonds
Getting Late/That’s All Right (Arthur Crudup covers)
Disease (Matchbox 20 song)
Ever the Same
Streetcorner Symphony
You Won’t Be Mine (Matchbox 20 song)
Lonely No More
3A.M. (Matchbox 20 song)
Someday
Bent (Matchbox 20 song)
I Think We Feel Good Together (new song)
Heaven Help Me (new song)
Jane Says (Jane’s Addiction cover)
Unwell (Matchbox 20 song)
Little Wonders
This is How a Heart Breaks
867-5309/Jenny (Tommy Tutone cover)
Smooth (Santana cover)
Bright Lights (Matchbox 20 song)
We would like to thank Tony Astran from the Seneca Niagara Casino for helping with the credentials to review the show.
