GIG REVIEW: Matchbox Twenty
- Posted on May 6, 2008 10:35 AM
- 0 comments
Matchbox Twenty
Wembley Arena 01/05/08
Review by Laura Yates
Thursday 1st May saw the multi-platinum act Matchbox Twenty grace the Wembley Arena stage with much audience anticipation. After hitting the music scene more than a decade ago, this performance marked a significant point in their global greatest hits tour.
Opening with the recent single ‘How Far We’ve Come’ was an appropriate choice, creating high-energy immediate impact. Rob Thomas has now returned full-time to the band that enabled him to fulfil his ambitions as a high profile solo artist, and this UK leg of their world tour proved that Matchbox Twenty are more of a band unit than ever before.
The concert was divided into sections whereby the band performed a selection of their ballad orientated material, in between the huge hits that originally made them a household name. Despite the touching ballads such as ‘Hang’ encouraging the crowd to watch intently, it was the louder up-tempo songs such as ‘Long Day’ which really created a huge buzz and electric atmosphere and was probably the highlight of the evening. It was these upbeat numbers that really appealed to the fans in the audience and reflected the band’s feel-good attitude towards music.
A particular highlight was when lead guitarist Kyle Cook portrayed great showmanship and skill as a musician with a guitar solo on ‘Bright Lights’. Captivating the audience, he proved that it is not always the lead singer who can take the limelight. The performance was enhanced with a fantastic use of creative lighting and imagery, featuring a backdrop with images and album covers relating the band and their history.
Rob Thomas has probably one of the most distinctive voices within the rock-pop genre and his performance was consistently pitch perfect, powerful and depicted passion and emotion throughout. At some points however, his vocal somewhat overshadowed the remaining band members. Maintaining huge amounts of energy, Rob Thomas is certainly a fantastic front man and has a great ability to capture an audience. Despite this, the band as a unit, have fantastic chemistry and appear like normal guys who just want to play good music. I personally feel that Match boxTwenty are slightly reminiscent of the Eagles which is also reflected in their song writing.
After returning for their encore following a ‘beer and pee break’, there was one song in particular that the audience were eagerly awaiting. Ending with the huge hit, high energy ‘Push’ was without doubt, the perfect number to end the concert with, depicting exactly what Matchbox Twenty are all about. It seemed a shame despite drawing in a huge crowd filled with dedicated fans, the band failed to fill the Arena and would perhaps be more suited to a slightly smaller venue.
In conclusion, a great concert whereby Matchbox Twenty promised to provide us with 2 hours of music and celebrate life which they certainly fulfilled. Delivering all the classics such as 3am and Bent in true Matchbox Twenty style, I left the concert uplifted and simply enjoyed great music enhanced by a fantastic performance.
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