Friday night, Matchbox Twenty continues its trek of sold-out U.S. tour dates with a stop at WinStar Casino in Thackerville. If you miss that, well, there's always the Super Bowl.
As in, Rob Thomas and his band will be performing there, too.
The band spent most of the week in Green Country readying its live show before a string of sold-out American dates. The tour kicked off with a Tuesday show at The Joint inside the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa.
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 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, Willie Nelson and Tom Petty.
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 "3 A.M." Thomas' vocals tumbled effortlessly into his 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, its overall production as elaborately and thoughtfully staged as any venue 10 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." This is not your parents' casino show. Not. Even. Close.
This, folks, may set the stage for a roaring reemergence into our musical lexicon. Welcome back, gentlemen.
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," from 1 to 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.
Original Print Headline: Matchbox 20 to stop at WinStar, as well as Super Bowl
MATCHBOX TWENTY WITH PHILLIP PHILLIPS
When: Doors 7:30 p.m., showtime 8:30 p.m. Friday
Where: WinStar World Casino, 777 Casino Ave., Thackerville
Tickets: SOLD OUT
