Scene - Blogs - CONCERT REVIEW PHOTOS Matchbox Twenty at the Hard Rock

CONCERT REVIEW & PHOTOS: Matchbox Twenty at the Hard Rock
Published: 1/30/2013 11:20 AM
Last Modified: 1/30/2013 11:28 AM

PLUS!

READ THE INTERVIEW! >> Matchbox Twenty's Rob Thomas talks about Tulsa tour stop, Super Bowl.

By Jennifer Chancellor
World Scene Writer

Tuesday night’s sold-out Matchbox Twenty concert kicked off a string of sold-out American dates in spectacular style. Frontman Rob Thomas and his band spent five days rehearsing and readying not only a tour but a Sunday Super Bowl pre-show performance, he said in a pre-show interview.

Matchbox Twenty has its full stage setup out for this voyage, filling the stage with intricate rigging, expansive lighting and staging and a mini-arena setting swaddled in intimacy. This tour also formally introduces Tulsa drummer Stacy Jones to the band’s six-piece touring lineup.

Songs included “Parade,” “Bent,” the blues-tinged, near-bouncy, power pop twists of “Disease” and “She’s So Mean” and “How Far We’ve Come” -- songs from the group’s canon and the first all-new album in 10 years, “North.”

Thomas is an accomplished vocalist with his band, as a solo artist and with an array of notable musicians, including Santana and Willie Nelson and Tom Petty. To name a few.

His vocal acuity skillfully throttled a three-guitar onslaught, weighted with moments of pendulous bass drum and percussion. The audience bounced in time. For a tour kick-off, this night was tight, elaborate and polished. Heck, it was for any show, anywhere.

“We kick off this tour tonight on ‘Tulsa Time,’” Thomas said. “I promise you, we will give you the best tonight you could possibly have.”

The audience sang every word, held every beat of the band’s hit “3 A.M.” Thomas’ vocals tumbled effortlessly into his cordless mic, a hand raised to the sky, reeling back the 1990s with a smile on his lips as he followed with “Real World.”

New tune “Overjoyed” found Thomas in the spotlight, beseeching fans with a single guitar to support him as the love song swelled to fill the theater, it’s overall production as elaborately and thoughtfully staged as any venue ten times its size.

The near two-hour concert also included “Girl Like That,” “All Your Reasons,” “I Will,” “Unwell,” “So Sad So Lonely,” “English Town,” “The Way,” “Bright Lights,” “Sleeping at the Wheel,” “Put Your Hands Up,” “Back to Good,” “You’re So Real” and “Push.” An interlude of Jane’s Addiction’s classic “Jane Says” split the band’s rocker “Long Day.” Another, later break in “Radio” squeezed in a few unexpected bars of Rod Stweart’s “Stay With Me.”

This is not your parents’ casino show. Not. Even. Close. This, folks, may be the set stage for a roaring reemergence into our musical lexicon. Welcome back, gentlemen.

The band also plays a sold-out concet Friday at WinStar Casino in Thackerville before heading off to a pre-game concert for the Super Bowl.

Opening act and season 11 “American Idol” champ Phillip Phillips charmed the capacity crowd with an amiable, upbeat acoustic set that featured acoustic guitars, cello, hand percussion and pristine harmonies.

NFL Super Bowl XLVII

Rob Thomas proves that tailgating can be as fun as Sunday’s Super Bowl game itself, when his band Matchbox Twenty joins bands including OneRepublic at the preparty.

Both perform as part of the pregame show, and segments will be aired on “Super Bowl Today,” 1-5:25 p.m. on the CBS network.

Beyonce will perform during halftime, with likely guests including Jay-Z and a reunited Destiny’s Child. Alicia Keys will sing the pre-game National Anthem.

American Football Conference champ the Baltimore Ravens and National Football Conference champ the San Francisco 49ers kick off 5:30 p.m. Sunday in New Orleans. The game will be broadcast live on the CBS Network.

Reader Comments

Show: Newest First

Learn About Our Comment Policy

To post comments on tulsaworld.com, you must be an active Tulsa World print or digital subscriber and signed into your account.

To sign in to your account, go to tulsaworld.com/signin.
To activate your print subscription for unlimited digital access and to post comments, go to tulsaworld.com/activate.
To purchase a subscription, go to tulsaworld.com/subscribe.

Barrelhouse Beat

Barrelhouse: A colloquialism describing the low saloons at the turn of the century (19th) that served whiskey straight out of the barrel. It's also a reference to the type of music played in those venues. Ex: Barrelhouse music.

Beat: The time or timing. Ex: The band played with a solid beat. Also used as a term describing a reporters specific area of expertise. Ex: The music beat.

About me: I'm Okie born and raised, and have lived all over the state: Oklahoma City, Enid, Moore, Norman, Edmond and Tulsa. I am a music geek, writer, graphic designer and amateur photographer and videographer who's followed the Tulsa and regional music scene since I moved to Green Country more than 10 years ago. I've been enmeshed in Tulsa's varied and vibrant musical night life, what some of us affectionately call a modernized throwback to the Barrelhouse scene, since that time. I fell in love with it. I fell hard.

Subscribe to this blog

Archive

Past Articles By Jennifer Chancellor

2/17/2013		Tulsan Johnny Polygon a rapper who delights in hometown crowd
2/15/2013		The Who brings nostalgia, ingenuity to BOK Center
2/15/2013		Lady Gaga tour is canceled
2/15/2013		Audio Adrenaline concert moves to April 7
2/14/2013		The Who brings 'other' rock opera to Tulsa's BOK Center
2/14/2013		Okies nominated for several top ACM awards
2/14/2013		Epic moments of rock 'n' roll history in Tulsa
2/14/2013		The Who talks about 'Quadrophenia' rock opera ahead of BOK show Thursday
2/14/2013		Shawnee songstress Samantha Crain to play Tulsa CD release show Friday
2/14/2013		Rick Springfield to play River Spirit Event Center on Saturday
2/14/2013		Local music roundup: Vaudvillian sideshows? Nerd nights? Live music? Parties? Yes, yes, yes and yes.
2/14/2013		Eli Young band coming to Brady Theater for first time

Jennifer Chancellor's Blog Archive:

2/2013	1/2013	12/2012	11/2012	10/2012	9/2012
8/2012	7/2012	6/2012	5/2012	4/2012	3/2012
2/2012	1/2012	12/2011	11/2011	10/2011	9/2011
8/2011	7/2011	6/2011	5/2011	4/2011	3/2011
2/2011	1/2011	12/2010	11/2010	10/2010	9/2010
8/2010	7/2010	6/2010	5/2010	4/2010	3/2010
2/2010	1/2010	12/2009	11/2009	10/2009	9/2009
8/2009	7/2009	6/2009	5/2009	4/2009	3/2009
2/2009	1/2009	12/2008	11/2008	10/2008	9/2008
8/2008	7/2008	6/2008	5/2008	4/2008	3/2008
2/2008	1/2008	12/2007	11/2007	10/2007	9/2007

Jennifer Chancellor
BarrelhouseBeat

Join the conversation

Your bookmark will appear on your Profile page. Please give it a title, and short description so that visitors to your page will understand where the bookmark leads.
Bookmark Title :

Bookmark Text :