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MATT NATHANSON SETLIST Boston Accent STEPHEN KELLOGG SETLIST
MATT NATHANSON Tour Dates MAR 13 Washington's Fort Collins, CO Read More
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Colin Firth’s and the cast of Buffy’s plucked eyebrows, Johnny Depp’s extreme level of handsomeness, and Don Henley’s “weird Hobbit ears” …!
Just a few of the topics of between-song conversations as Massachusetts singer-songwriter Matt Nathanson played to a joyful and appreciative crowd at the Madrid Theatre in midtown Kansas City.
The evening began with another verbose and talented singer-songwriter, Connecticut’s Stephen Kellogg, out in support of his latest full-length, Keep It Up, Kid, released late last year. Kellogg started his forty-five-minute set with “Milwaukee” a song originally composed with his former band, The Sixers, then moved on to a trio of tracks from his 2018 release, Objects in the Mirror, peppering in lighthearted stories about coaching pickleball, his four kids, and his wife jokingly inquiring about how soon he’d be back on the road again.
“It Goes Fast” was a touching song about the passage of time, “Love of my Life” was dedicated to anyone in the crowd on a date, and 2011’s “My Favorite Place” was a fan’s request about that location where you feel the most perfectly safe.
The new album’s “To the Ones That Need It Most” found the audience howling on Kellogg’s cue and another fan request, 2004’s “See You Later, See You Soon” ended up being the perfect closing number.
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Matt Nathanson is winding down the tour of his latest album (and one of his most personal), Boston Accent, celebrating things with this last leg of shows and a recent Lexington EP, bringing his arsenal of emotionally open folk-rock songs, and next-door charm and humor, into his hundred-minute headlining set.
The title track of the new record opened things, and with it, Nathanson opened himself up right away to the crowd, musically telling of his upbringing with he and his two band mates (Adam Popick and Aaron Tap) all “lit like angels by the Citgo sign” from an illuminated logo of that classic gas station brand in the back right of the stage set up.
After “Headphones”, Nathanson got candid about swearing in front of his pre-teen daughter and attempted a rough Springsteen-like “Happy Birthday: when a crowd member shouted it was their special day. Nathanson would reveal that doctors had put him on vocal rest when not on stage, and that he was forced to communicate through typing in texts to be read aloud (in variable pitches) by a ridiculous phone App.
The crowd did much of the singing on 2011’s “Run” and before launching into a Harry Styles cover from his new EP, revealed the one thing that he and his daughter had been connecting with- reruns of 21 Jump Street (and how good-looking Johnny Depp was in those episodes).
Nathanson’s printed setlists serve only as a general guide, and what he would actually sing would deviate as the crowd’s collective vibe would morph into driving how the show would progress.
“Kill the Lights” was err, killed, and after the crowd sing-along of “Used to Be”, Nathanson mentioned it being the 20th anniversary of his album, Beneath These Fireworks, and in a somewhat associated way, described how more actors in those early 2000’s, (notably Colin Firth in Love, Actually and the entire cast of Buffy the Vampire Slayer S1) seemed to noticeably pluck their eyebrows, along with how some of the music of the day sounded.
An impromptu “Car Crash” led into Nathanson into teaching the crowd the full lyrics to Prince’s “Starfish and Coffee” from the seminal Sign O’ the Times album. It’s been said that the music from your late teen years is the music that will stay with you for the rest of your life, and Nathanson proudly wears those late ‘80s influences on his sleeve, with his audience (many of a similar age) more than happy to help sing along with.
A Don Henley cover led into a hilarious comment or two about his ears (“they’re like Steven Tyler’s feet… but ears!”) and his love for Prince was repeated, ending his own “Faster” with a segue into the Purple One’s “Kiss”.
“Giants” was saved for later in the set, and while most artists wouldn’t tinker with their biggest charting hit, Nathanson was unafraid to segue a “Grease” movie song onto the back end of his “Come On Get Higher”.
The newer “Blush” was revealed to be a sequel to that radio hit- not one borne from continued desperation, but a come-to-terms love song about human connectivity and living in, and for, that unique moment that will never repeat itself again.
Sensing the crowd was still in the singing mood, an INXS cover kept spirits high, and the night would end on a positive note with his own “Suspended” and the audience singing to its chorus, “Sunshine, I’m beginning to like this.”
Stating this as a high compliment, Kansas City treats Matt Nathanson like one of their own- an old familiar friend that visits to sing some great songs, tell a few stories, and drop some familiar pop culture references while helping show everybody a good time, with a Boston accent or not.
(Click on any image to enlarge and see in full)|
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