That being said, thirteen years is an awful long time for fans in Medicine Hat to wait to see Matthew Good in concert.
I was one of a very, very fortunate few Medicine Hat natives who had the opportunity to see the original lineup of the Matthew Good Band in a University Pub in Lethbridge. That was January 1998, before the single Apparitions propelled Matt and his bandmates into Canadian super-stardom. Myself and a close friend parked ourselves front and center for the Matthew Good Band; a show which was as breathtaking as it was unforgettable. The rest of the sell-out crowd, oblivious
to the stage, unaware that Canada's next superstar was playing his heart out, felt their time would be better spent guzzling down jugs of cheap beer, while waiting for the main attraction, Wide Mouth Mason.
Even so, since that very day, I have been a rabid fan of Matthew Good's music, and I have waited very patiently for him to come my way. Ten years is a very long time.
But not as long as many of the fans in attendance at the Medicine Hat College Theatre had to wait. Matthew Good finally made his first public appearance in Medicine Hat to a near sell-out crowd last night. Myself and a half-dozen of my closest friends parked ourselves in the "best mix position" which was directly in front of the Front-of-House Engineer. Given the acoustic nature of the College Theatre, and the fact that there are slightly less than five-hundred seats, it can be argued that there isn't such a thing as a bad seat in the College Theater, we were nonetheless very happy with the sightlines.The excitement should have been evident to Mr. Good, as the crowd was visibly restless and agitated. It took a good four or five songs for the crowd to settle down and fully appreciate the intimate nature of Matt's acoustic performance. There were times that Matt appeared visibly confused, as a number of his fans were trying to speak to him at once.
Matthew Good delivered passionate acoustic renditions of many of his hits throughout his career, though the focus of his performance centered around his latest album, Hospital Music, penned while Matt tried to cope with a bout of mental illness. Absent from his performance, was not one song from Last of the Ghetto Astronauts was performed. Having recorded over one hundred songs in his his career, it is understandable that an artist can't play everything.
In between songs, Matt took time to banter with the crowd, singing impromptu songs, and cracking jokes, while sipping red wine, much to the amusement of those in attendance.
Below is a (nearly) comprehensive list of songs Matt performed last night, though, not in any particular order:
Girl Wedged Under The Front of A Firebird / Champions of Nothing - Opening number
Avalanche
A Long Way Down
Metal Airplanes
99% of Us is Failure
Born Losers
Black Helicopter
I Am Not Safer Than A Bank
I'm A Window
She's In It For The Money
Empty Road
Sort of A Protest Song
Strange Days
Load Me Up
Surburbia
Apparitions
Bright End of Nowhere - Encore
Pledge of Allegiance - Encore
Opening for Matt Good was "NLX" a.k.a. Natasha Alexandra, a native of Hamilton, Ontario, now residing in New York. Adhering to the acoustic nature of the concert, she performed on a digital piano, singing her brand of "songs about vengeance". The most memorable moment of her performance, and most appreciated by the crowd, was her haunting rendition of Depeche Mode's Walking in My Shoes.
On behalf of everyone in the crowd last night, I want to personally thank Matt for finally coming to Medicine Hat. We sincerely hope you come back again on your next tour.
