The Last Venue Standing

I love the Orpheum. Looking forward to tonights show. Congrats on professional achievement.

Congrats on such a wonderful professional achievement, you must be very excited for tonight.
Everything sounds so much better in a theatre!
Hope you have a great show (and a great birthday on sunday)

I was first at the Orpheum in the audience in 2006 to see a band and WOW, you could see how many people were almost forgetting who they were there to see because the Orpheum itself is just breathtaking.

I hope they keep it up and running! It truly is amazing!

I hope you update after the show.

I’m super excited, my first time to see you in concert and at the Orpheum!

Hey Matt…that’s cool – well done sweetheart! You sound as though you are looking forward to it very much. To all you lucky people going tonight – have fun…wish I was there. And take/post lots of pix.
xx

Bravo to you!
And what better way to achive that milestone than basking in the energy of a home crowd.

Matt. I’m stoked that your playing with your band. I hope it’s loud!! I’ve seen you at all those venues too, and the best one was the last one you had at the Commodore. Man that show rocked. Looking forward too another great show!! I’ll be the guy with the MGB Rugby club kappa on screamin my head off. All the best Matt… N:)

I’ve only ever seen your acoustic shows and, as a fan from the start, I’m looking forward to this show like you wouldn’t believe…knowing that it’s a milestone for you makes it that much sweeter.

FTR - my ex just brought an old set of drums over for the kids (the brother in law was in a local punk band “back in the day”)…when I got home from work just now I had to sit down and bang out my version of Weapon, just to burn off the excess energy. It sounded more like London Bridge but, hey, I’m, excited…at least the kids found it amusing (in a “she’s a lunatic” kind of way).

Anyhow, hope you enjoy yourself too.

(Let’s do this thing proud fellow MG fans and show respect for one another by behaving like adults. Rock on)

Hey Matt,
I’m Deb’s daughter.
We’re going to your show tonight and I just wanted to let you know I have never been more excited for a concert, and for a 17 year old I’ve been to my fare share of concerts. Actually, I’ve been to a lot of people’s fare share of concerts.
But on the before-hand-excitement scale, your show is in the lead (by far).

Linds

“The most memorable, without exception, was playing with The Who for two nights at GM Place in 1996. That is an experience that, in my career, will never be surpassed.”

Do you think you can do this again sometime? I like the idea of having a heart attack over the idea of combining two ticket stubs into one. And not to be too picky or anything, but can you make it at the JLC in London? It’s easier for me to get to and it was the perfect venue for the headliners.

And if you really, really want to kill me, can you make sure it’s a double bill tour featuring them along side Sir Paul? I’d show up in ghost form if I have to, but I would definitely die a happy, happy woman.

(Pete Townshend = more talent in pinky fingernail than the entire list of Billboard’s top 40 list from the past 15 years. And that is a fact.)

Congrats on the milestone. :)

I’ve never been to the Orpheum either, so I’m looking forward to it. And congrats on the milestone :)

Though you should probably add Thunderbird Stadium to that list… and that ice rink up by Centennial. I mean, they seemed like major venues back in the day when I saw you play them!

[quote comment="56832"]I’ll be there with bells on. Ever play the Cobalt?[/quote]

Oh but he’s played in Cobalt Ontario! That was a nice small venue.

There’s no place like home. Enjoy! Hope your family will be there also.

Go get ‘em, Matt! I just Googled the Orpheum, and wow, does that place look like a dream. I hope you post pictures from tonight’s show. You plus that magnificent theatre will surely equal awesome.

Also, congratulations on your achievement of playing all the major Vancouver venues. Rock on!

Enjoy the view.
:)

Hmm, I keep thinking of Rod’s desire to buy every ticket for himself. I have to go back and find that again. Oh, and I’d really be interested to find out how you got hooked up to do two shows with The Who? I see how that would be near impossible to surpass as a ‘best moment’ sort of thing.

Just got back from the show and wanted to say thank-you.

Stephen

It was a pleasure hearing you play tonight at the Orpheum. Definetely a historical landmark that still carries great acoustcs. Some friends of mine are actually getting married in December at the Orpheum in the foyer. I didn’t know it was possible to do that but am pleasantly surprised. lol, don’t forget, you’ve played mountaintops too (Coors Light Party on the Peak at Grouse). I’ll cross my fingers that one day you’ll perform with the VSO.

I saw you live for the 7th time tonight Matt, and as always, left with a huge smile on my face and feeling so satisfied. You can do no wrong. Seeing you at The Orpheum too, was certainly something special. Thanks for putting on a fantastic show and for being such an inspiration.

The show was great Matt.. was quite interesting and entertaining to see the acoustic performance in the winter at the Banff show and tonight’s full band show, and how they compared/contrasted. Both fantastic, hard to choose a favorite!

You were great, very talented band you got there, lighting, acoustics (love the orpheum), and crew were great :)

audience was pretty good, one very large man seated near my had such bad body odor we had to put scented oil under our noses to try to block it, and yeah there were some very excited dancing girls that blocked the view of probably a dozen people for a few songs there. Pretty good as far as crowds go these days actually :)

I know that some rabid fans will throw a shit storm for this comment but here goes nothing..

This was, indeed a good show. Good, not great. The only reason I say this is in comparison to the half a dozen time i’ve seen you perform since the MGB days until now. I strongly believe that although they are great songs, Champions and Blue Skies Over Bad Lands simply didn’t belong in that set list. It simply didn’t feel right. Now I do understand that your band only knows a limited amount of songs, but getting in 2 “deep themed” 8 minute songs really kills a mood. I’m surprised you didn’t play a 30-minute version of Dazed and Confused while you were at it.

Secondly, this was my first time at The Orpheum and it is quite the scene. Beautiful building, great sound but the seats…fuck man you don’t sit at concerts! I payed my respects to those behind me and sat through the whole thing but this isn’t an Opera. I often made references to the Montreal concert I saw in 2001 during your Avalanche tour and although the set still held it’s plethora of deep-felt political songs…we stood up for the whole thing. No seats to kill our backs and if the annoying blond chick in front of us wouldn’t shut up on how she doesn’t understand or like Avalanche then we can just throw her to the back. That being said, seating venues are appropriate for your acoustic tour.

Finally, this is the first concert i’ve seen, and i’ve seen many, where the performer closes with…a cover? Very risky and left many people confused. It would have felt less awkward if your “second encore” was just yourself coming back and finish the night off with True Love Will Find You In The End.

Like I said, I still thought it was a good concert. I just felt this wasn’t your best. Now I await the amass of children who cannot take a critic and will gladly take their hate comments.

2 encores!! Made my night shine with the glory of rock

While Patrick up there was dissapointed with Blue Skies over Bad lands, I was thrilled. I could launch into a tirade of reasons why the song fit into the rest of the set, but as Matt said last night, “people who can’t play music write about it”…..so I’m going to just appreciate the SWEET ASS show he put on last night and applaude him and the crew for all they did last night.

THANK YOU!

Um, True Love Will Find You In The End is also a cover…

Blue Skies being on this tour kicked my ass in all the best ways. To each his own…

Well, I have to be one of what I’m sure will be the the first of several to completely disagree with you (patrick) - and here’s why.

First of all, I have to say that this rated up there as one of the best concerts I’ve been to - and that says a lot, as I’ve been to several over the past 30 years (including Led Zeppelin, The Who, Fleetwood Mac, etc.). I am, shall we say, a well “seasoned” fan who’s waited 15 years to see Matt perform with a band. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing his acoustic show (twice), but had long awaited a rock show. And I left feeling completely satisfied.

Of course there are those who like to stand, drink, rock out and scream through an entire show - but that doesn’t fit for everyone….for someone like me, that just doesn’t work anymore. Having a teenager means that I often accompany her to shows like that and, quite frankly, they often become rowdy and, in some cases, dangerous. I find that rather than focusing on the show, I’m having to watch my family’s backs and am in protection mode. We’ve been stepped on, soaked in alcohol, kicked and nearly trampled. I’m done with that crap. So, for me, I found that being seated really contributed to having a more pleasurable experience….I “rocked it down” in my seat (as did others around me). I enjoyed the comfort of a seat much more than being squished in a mob of sweaty bodies being flung everywhere.

This show catered to everyone as far as I’m concerned - while my daughter and her young friend reported having the best time ever (downstairs), I had a great view and sang along with the songs upstairs, all the while knowing that they were safe and that I could just relax and focus on the show. It’s not often that you get a show that 17 year olds love as much as 50 year olds? That’s something special right there.

The mixture of songs was incredible as far as I’m concerned - a nice balance. Remember, you were but one person in the audience and, while some of the stuff wasn’t your cup of tea (live), for others (my family and I) it completely worked. Although I’ve been a huge fan of Matt’s music since the first time I heard Symbolistic White Walls on the radio many moons ago, he has new stuff - his music has evolved and I’ve embraced that. It’s important to stay fresh and mix things up.

The songs you’ve referred to were actually my favorites of the night. While I love the steady, rocking tunes that come blasting out at you from the start, I’m a person who enjoys the longer songs that build intensity as they go along even more. I feel that they fit perfectly into a show like this because they allow a bit of a “cool down” and then build back into something extremely powerful by their conclusion. They draw us in and, for me, leave me breathless by the end. It’s about the overall experience, not just the head banging “yeah, yeah, yeah” moments…there’s something wonderful in going from a song that moves you to tears to one that has you singing out loud in celebration. I’m completely convinced that Matt IS a true professional who delivers the music exactly as we want to hear it. Stellar. The songs were done to perfection.

I can’t say how shortchanged I would’ve felt without the songs you’ve mentioned. Again, maybe it’s because I’m older that I appreciate the longer songs that take me on a journey of peaks and valleys as well as the ones that can be belted out by the audience. If the show were to only be comprised of the latter, I’d have left somewhat disappointed. It’s an experience for me, not just a sing along.

Don’t get me wrong - I love to rock it out as much as the next person, but some of Matt’s music has helped me through the most difficult times in my life and these are the songs that I really want to hear…they’ve become part of me and I leave the show having felt “connected” through an emotional experience as well as just hearing some music I love. 99% moved me to tears and Champions gave me goosebumps. BSOBL always does. I was totally impressed by both Matt’s energy AND his ability to shift gears and deliver some heart wrenching, intimate moments. This show kicked serious ass in both departments.

The only negative thing I have to say about this show are that some (a very small number) of the fans are donkeys. During a song like “She’s In It For The Money”, I just can’t wrap my head around the “WOOOOOOOOOOO”, unless of course you’ve just checked your 6/49 ticket to see you’ve matched all 6. A WTF moment for sure. If you know anything about the song, you’ll listen attentively as Matt pours his heart into it. Anything less is disrespectful (in my view). Attention hounds, who can’t stand a moment of silence without hearing their own voice. Shut up and listen…you’re missing a lot.

And then there’s the guy who’d obviously pumped himself full of alcohol and then decided that he should saunter down to the bottom of the balcony stairs and plant himself there for the duration. Standing. He was on a cell phone for every song, mostly holding it up going “wooo” and was oblivious to the fact that there were people who paid for the seats behind him. They were much more patient than I would’ve been and, as amusing as he was - he was annoying as shit.. After the ushers politely asked him to return to his seat, security came and gave him a nudge. A douchebag who’d lost his hot chick for sure (maybe that explains all the phone calls?).

So, to these people, I ask why? WHY?

Anyhow, for the most part, the people were fantastic…I love Matt Good fans because they’re quickly becoming friends. Decent, down to earth people. Thanks, t, for providing a seat for me (I laughed because, just like the PJ concert - I gave up my “good” seat to my kid’s friends, only to find that my last minute grab was probably one of the best seats in the house). Much love to you girl. You rock. But I already knew that.

And Jennifer - you’re more beautiful in person. If that’s possible.

I just don’t “get” complaining about this show. At all. Enough from me.

I was asked by a friend after the show what my favorite song was and I said Girl in the War! It was a nice surprise at the end!

Thank you soooo much for such an amazing show. The venue was incredible and the performance was better than great; I thoroughly enjoyed myself. You are such a beautiful, talented artist. Thanks again!

Without a doubt last night was the most amazing Matt Good concert I have ever been too. I couldn’t have asked for anything better than what was given. Matt and the boys were phenomenal from start to finish. My depest appreciation to Matt for remionding me why I love him so.