My MB20 night. I saw Matchbox 20 here at college on November 10, 1997. I had never been to any concert that wasn’t country. That’s right country. But, I bought MB20’s CD and fell in love with their music and style immediately. I was so excited to hear they were coming here to Radford University. We sat through their opening act and I thought I would go nuts. After they were over we had to wait another 30 minutes while they set up MB20’s stuff. Then the lights went down and the chords of “Busted” began. The people up front were pushing and shoving. They started to fight. Then Rob said “We only have one rule when you come to our shows, NO FIGHTING!” Then he said “I don’t care if someone shot your f&*&ing dog, don’t fight!” The crowd cheered. “It’s f&*&ing stupid!” Then he contined singing. My favorite part was when he introduced “Back 2 Good.” He said “Although this song is layered, it’s just about wanting to get laid!” The audience went crazy again. He introduced “Damn” by saying “This song is about when you get caught and you’re screwed.” I was just so impressed by his honesty and coolness. I never heard a singer be so blunt and honest about the lyrics. Our college is kinda of known for being a party school. Someone must of told MB20. Rob said “I know you guys can’t drink and we think that sucks.” Crowd went crazy once more. Rob continued “So we thank you for taking time away from drinking to come see us.” For encore they came out and sang “Hang” and “Long Day” acoustically. They came out with cigarettes hanging out of their mouths. It was funny because there is a big no smoking policy where they played. Dedmon Center’s top is air tight and smoke could pop it. I thought that was funny. They didn’t stay after the show to sign autographs. I wish they would have. But, I did get a t-shirt. I was on a concert high for weeks. I think I still am. I can’t really sum it up into words what the concert meant for me, but it changed my life. It really ticks me off when people trash MB20 and say they aren’t going to last. Because obviously they haven’t really listened to their CD or been to a concert. They kick butt! They are so down to earth and real. I love them!

bunches of thanks to Amy for this concert review!

Heres my concert story: My friends Liz, Lindsay and I arrived at the American Theatre 4 hours early to see matchbox20 because it was general admission and we wanted front row. It was extremly cold outside and I had 3 shirts on but it was worth it to see the guys. The concert was to start at 7:30 so since we got there at 3 it was gonna be a loooong wait, but I didnt care. We were second in line with only this weird overweight guy in his thirties sitting on a cooler filled with beer in front of us. He was a little scary but nice. He told us the guys had signed his cd moments before on the side of the building. We dashed over there, linked arms and sang the Mission:Impossible theme. As we were doing this we ran right by Kyle who was trying to get into his tour bus. I was stunned and Im sure he was frightened. I would be if three psycho blondes ran by me. My friend Liz who really digs mb20 now wasnt a huge fan then and kinda came along for the ride. She gasped and said “Was that one of them?!” I was like “Oh my god kyle just got into his tour bus!!!” We didnt know what to do so we just kinda loitered a couple a feet away from the bus under a sign that said “NO LOITERING” Real smart I know. Then we saw movement in the bus and Brian came out to smoke a cigerette. I was kinda afraid at first to approach him but I always heard people say how nice and friendly they all were so I swallowed my fear and walked up to him. He is incredibly nice and so goofy. Not goofy in a bad way, in a funny way. He was cold too and kept referring to Missouri as “Misery”. Since it was only a couple of days after Halloween we asked how theirs went. He said how they did a show in Texas. I then told him my friends Halloween costume was really cool and she had checked socks on up to her knees and he said “Checked socks? Like socks from Czechoslovakia?” And I was like “ummm no….” So he said “Oh like checks like the checks on the scoth tape packages.” And it took me a minute to get it then I was like “YEAH” There was also this lady who was a little older who kept insisiting she had the boys some banana bread but the people wouldnt let her in. I blurted out “Oh yeah Brian the cookie lady has your banana bread!” He gave me the funniest look. He kinda leaned his head back and raised an eyebrow. Then he was like “OH the cookie lady from Cleveland?” and i said i guess. Then Kyle came back out and I asked him for a hug. He said “Sure Ill keep you warm baby.” Even though he was only kidding (because god im only 15) I almost died. We talked to him for a little while but then they had to go to sound check. I asked where Rob, Paul, and Adam were and they said in getting ready for sound check. I tried to use all of my charm to get back stage passes but they declined. I felt a little dissapointed but Brian made up for it by giving me a hug. I got their autographs before they left. They are the absolute sweetest guys and I wish everyone is lucky enough to meet these guys. Finally after my body was so numb I couldnt feel it anymore they opened the doors. We suffered through the opening act and finally the boys came out. They started with “Busted” and it was sooo good. Kyle and Brian waved at us from the stage because we were front row and center. The new songs were absolutly amazing. I especially like d the one Kyle sang. I didn’t catch the name but i thought it was really good. He has a really good voice. I really liked when Rob and Kyle sang “Hang” together. I thought it was really cool because they both have such great voices and was really getting into what they were doing. Robs Elvis guitar was adorable too. Rob kept making jokes onstage and saying what some of the songs were about. Seeing them live is so intense. I think they sound even better (if possible) live. Everytime one of them would smile or walk out onto the stage farther the whole female population there would go nuts. This meant me getting squashed up against the boards even more but I was so into to it I didnt even notice. Rob has such an amazing voice. You know how some bands sound ok on their cd but live they sound really bad? Well this is definitly not the case for these boys. They sound even better. My one friend who wasnt a big fan at the beginning became totally obsessed afterwards. How can you not like a band that has an affect on someone like that after only one concert? I’ve been to many concerts and none of them can match up to that one. I was glad I got to meet Kyle and Brian because they are really never in many of the interviews. They are sweet guys and I hope some day I can meet Rob, Paul, and Adam.

Thanks to Jessica for this cool review…hope you get to meet the rest of the guys! 🙂

after i went to the concert, mb20 was, and still is, all i talk about. my sister kept telling me to shut up because mb20 was never going to amount to anything. boy was she wrong!!! well, now she is a mb20 fan also. for valentine’s day her boyfriend got her 2 tix to their concert on march 11. now we’re talking about someone who, 9 months ago, said mb20 sucked. i am just a bit jealous!! i do remember something kyle cook said to me at the concert. he sat down and said “hi, i’m kyle.” i just kinda sat there awestricken. then i asked for his autograph. he just smiled and asked for a pen and a piece of paper. well, i didn’t have a pen or piece of paper, so i asked him to sign my backpack. he went into the inside pocket of his leather jacket and took out a magic marker. he signed my bag and said “good thing i brought my sharpie.” i was like wow! kyle cook just talked to me!! he stayed out in the audience and watched beck perform. then he started to get mauled by fans and had to go backstage. he smiled on his way back there. that is how i met kyle cook. when i met rob he just said ” you don’t want your jeans signed too, do you?” i was like no, could you sign my bag? and he signed it. when they went on and performed they said they were only here to see beck play. i just wanted to see them. that is my experience with mb20. i think i will remember that day for the rest of my life. Thanks to Colleen for her awesome review!! 🙂

Let me start by saying that I adore matchbox 20. Every song of thiers is so full of meaning and a lot of people think it’s just some new song, it’s so much more. It’s a life story and they also think that it’s some other concert to add to the calender. They are wrong again. When i say they i mean public. For the longest time I was into rap/r&b, but then my dad got me into old rock, then i develpoed into the newer rock. My dad was taking me to school and i heared my first mb 20 song, push. At first i didn’t understand all the lyrics but then as I kept hearing it I got more better at what the sexy rob was sayin. 🙂 I was really into mb 20 and they were the first band i ever really liked, because they made a lot of sense and since I have had a lot , like 3, bad realationships, but now on a realtionship that is going very good, i could really relate to what they said. During my summer in 97 i went to indiana to visit my family. i was out with my cousin when he brought up a concert. the x-fest. he told me all the bands that were gonna be there and when he said mb 20 i was like in awe because i knew that my cousin would take me. i got my ticket and put it in a safe until the day of the x-fest came. i went and mb 20 was like the last band. before their performenec i bought a shirt that has matchbox 20 on in in red and white..like thier logo/name. i wore it through the performence and i cried emmensly. i have never felt music..only heard it. that’s why i think mb 20 is so unique. my fav song is busted beacause i’m the girl in to some heavy metal and that is quite a neat song for them to play. i know every song by heart and i have this scrapbook with tons of mb20 stuff, i never go any where with out it. at the end of the show my cousin whipped out 2 backstage passes to surprise me and i almost hugged him to death. i wnet backstage and meet the guys telling them how i felt about them, they thanked me and sighned my shirt, a pic, my ticket and i got a couple pics with em. they are really nice guys…..and rob is like drop dead gorgeous..( *purrrrr*) ;)ne wayz, on nov 15th, i’m seeing mb20 in concert for the 4th tim in hawaii where i now live. i saw them once here in 97, two times on the mainland, so just to let ya know one of thier nov concerts.

Thanks to sara for her perfect concert review!

February 3rd, 1998
Sunrise Musical, Sunrise, FL

It was a Tuesday night, my first Matchbox 20 concert. The concert started at 7:30, so my friends and I left my house at about 5:45(Sunrise Musical is 15 minutes from my house). We got there at 6:00, and found our seats. We were sitting on the second level, but the seats were still good because the place was small. After we got situated, we went downstairs and walked around for a bit, and I bought my t shirt. We got back to our seats at about 7:15. We were counting the minutes until Matchbox got on stage. We still had to wait for the opening band to do their thing, we thought it would be an eternity before the boys finally got on.

Cool for August was opening for them. All I can say is that they blew me away! I had never heard of them before, and they were awesome! Cool for August did their thing, and then we had a brief intermission before Matchbox got up. To make the time go by, my friends and I went downstairs and walked around some more. I bought CFAs CD, and we went back to our seats.

When we got back, we noticed that row of people in front of us all had backstage passes. I asked one of the men how he got them, and he said that they were friends of Adams family, and they pointed out to us that Adams dad was at the end of their row.

Finally at about 9:00 Matchbox started. The first song they did was Busted, I remember Rob was using some kind of special mic for it, and it sounded sooo good live! They were all wearing nice clothes, and they all looked soooo good! Before I knew it, the concert was over and people were starting to leave. My friends and I had planned to wait by the tour buses when the concert was over. We were hoping that we would get to meet them and get our CD covers signed, or just get a glimpse of them up close, but something else happened instead.

I went up to Adams dad, and introduced myself. My friends thought I was crazy and they were scared to say anything. Whatever! Anyway, I told Adams dad that the band was great, Adam was great, blah, blah. I asked him if he knew if the guys would be out by the buses later on because I wanted to meet them and get my CD cover signed. He said he didnt know. Then I asked his dad if I could give him my CD cover, and if he could maybe get it signed for me, and I would wait for him outside. He looked at me, then he looked at his wife, and he said, “Ill take you backstage with me.” I was like, oh my god!, I thought I was dreaming!

My friends and I followed Adams family and friends backstage, all these people were looking at us like how??? We waited in a room, and Adams dad came in and said that they were in a meeting. He told me to give him my CD cover and he would *try* to get my cover signed for me, but he couldnt guarantee it. About 5 minutes later he came out and said that they whole band was signing it for me. I was in 7th heaven. I would have liked to meet them myself, but Im not complaining. He went back into the room where the Matchsticks and my CD cover was. He came out a few minutes later and handed it to me. Each matchstick had written a cute little message to me. Then he showed us how to get out and avoid the mob scene. I thanked him about a million times and gave him a hug. Adams whole family was sooo nice! I guess I know where Adam gets it from. (Even though I never met Adam, I have heard that he is a sweetie.) That was the best night and concert of my life. I cant wait until October when I go to my next MB20 concert. Maybe Ill even meet them this time…

Well after months of waiting, the date is finally here. We saw MatchBox Twenty at the TD Waterhouse in Orlando FL on April 21st 2001. I got to tell you the seats sucked (not for lack of trying) but the music was totally awesome. LifeHouse and EverClear performed first before Matchbox Twenty and it was the best concert I have ever been to. Rob Thomas was saying that he sat toward the back when HE went to see Sting and Melissa Etheridge perform years ago and he knows how it feels to get bad seats. Ironic too, cause I was at that concert as well and at the time had great seats.

And can you believe this??? It started ON TIME!!! That is almost totally unheard of. Matchbox Twenty, Everclear and Lifehouse – I thank you for the best night I had in years!

Thanks to Diana for her awesome review!! 🙂

I went to the concert on March 20 at the Hammerstein Ballroom in NYC. Ohk, first thing’s first. I didn’t get to meet them but I *swear* I passed by Paul when I was walking over to the concert! I was walking down the street and I turned to my friend to say something and my words caught in my throat. Then my friend looked to her right and we both looked at eachother like, “OMG! It’s not! Is it?” And by the time we had gotten over the initial shock, we’d lost him. So here we are, running down the street like crazed lunatics, and we see him walking in the other direction! We might have followed him more, if we’d had the time, but we wanted to get there a little early. So, waiting outside was torture(the whole *day* was pure torture cos I was so excited! I was so impatient I’m surprised my friend hadn’t killed me by this time.) . And we waited about 30 minutes to get inside. Finally, we were inside, a few rows from the stage and we waited another 30 minutes before the opening act came on. Personally, I didn’t really like the opening guy (his name was David something?), which is probably because I was so incredibly excited to see the boys and just wanted them to come out immediately. The audience seemed to like him, though. So after the opening guy and yet *another* half hour wait, they turned the lights down and did this countdown thing before the boys came out and then they opened with “Busted”. They played the whole cd, “You and I and I”, “Tired”, “Mercy Mercy Me”, “Time After Time”, and another song Rob said was “brand, brand new”. It was the most *amazing* experience in the world!!!!! The crowd was really into it, singing almost *every song*! My throat hurt afterwords cos I was singing so much! And Kyle came out and sang “Hang” with Rob and it was beautiful!!!!!! I thought it was awesome when everyone sang along with “You and I and I”! I was in tears during “Hang”, “Back 2 Good”, “Kody”, “You and I and I”, and “Time After Time” because those songs mean *a lot* to me and hearing the boys play ’em live majorly deepened the meaning! A few times I made eye contact with Rob and Kyle and I was so happy! 🙂 Anyway, the whole concert was just incredible! They are so intense and so focused on their music *and* they’re hilarious! During Long Day this girl held this sign up to Kyle that said something like, “Kyle…I’d reach my hand into your pocket anytime!” and Rob made a big thing out of it! He walked over to Kyle and goes “Kyle, I’m gonna reach my hand into your pocket now baby! Cos you’re a hot sexy man!” (or something like that!) It was great! And during one song, Adam came over to our side of the stage and played! I can not explain in words what seeing them live meant to me! It gave me inspiration(hell, they always give me inspiration!) and it was a full-on emotional experience! I couldn’t believe they were only a few feet away from me! I couldn’t believe they were real! Cos you can see them on tv, hear them on the radio and their cd, read about them in ‘zines and on the Net but seeing them live *has* to be the most amazing thing! And when they laughed and fooled around on-stage, it’s like you realize how much work they put into their music and you realize that they’re human, too. They’re 100% real. And now I’m realizing I could have made this review shorter, by just putting one word(and a few hundred exclamation points:-): Amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!! If I forget everything else I’ve done in my youth, this is the one thing that’ll hold fast and true in my mind!

Thanks to Jen for her really great concert review!

Sometime in Janurary the X (that’s the radio station in Birmingham) said that Matchbox 20 was coming. I freaked out. I’ve been listening to them forever and had never been to a concert. So I called my dad and asked him if I could go, and he was like, yeah I guess. So we were going to get tickets but stuff came up and I didn’t get to the them. The next time I turned on the radio the DJ said they had sold out in 45 minutes! I was so mad! But I looked in the newspaper, and they were selling tickets in there. So I called the guy up and he said they were $50. I was sold. Me and my cousin got a ticket for each of us. Finally, on Friday, Feb. 13 (weird- that was my lucky day) at the concert! we got there about 30 minutes before Cool For August came on (who, are a really good band to see live too!) Anyway, we found one of my friends and sat with him. Cool for august came on, and they were great. Rob came out to sing “Fast Car” with Gordon and I freaked. I was like, ohmygod it’s HIM! When Cool For August they played some boring music- but they never set up for Matchbox 20! (or so I thought) Finally, the lights dimmed and the telephone noises started and the black curtain went *poof* and they started playing Busted! I started singing and dancing and stuff and I was going wild-I was so bundled up with emotion and everything was so cool. Finally after the show we were going to the car and I spotted tour buses! I told Misti, “Girl this could be our chance!” So come guy came walking up then and i said, “Hey! Do you know if this is the Matchbox 20 bus?” Well, it turns out it was Shane from CFA. It was so weird b/c I asked him, well you ask CFA to come out here? And he told me that I was already talking to one of them. I didn’t see him at the concert because I didn’t have the best seats in the world. So he talked with us for a few minutes, and then me and Misti waited at the stage door for everyone to come out. We got to meet everyone from CFA. Finally, MB20 came out. Kyle came out 1st, then Adam, then Paul and Brian. Adam just stood by me and Misti and was like, hey! Finally Rob came out. My mouth dropped because I think Rob is so awesome and he was only 5 feet away! So I went up to him and said, “Hey I’m julie! I paid $50 for a ticket to this show so I was kinda expecting a hug in return” He just looked at me, smiled, and said, “I’m not worth $50!” I told him yes he was! I had been listening to him forever. So he said, “Well come here $50 girl” and he gave me a hug and an autograph! Definatenley the best night of my life!

Thanks to Julie for her cute concert review!

My dad is kyle’s doctor and he surpirsed my dad and i with tickets that include the VIP deal and backstage!! It was great!! So we drove the Deer Creek Music Center. When we got there(2 1/2 hours early) we went to the VIP club to have a drink. By that time we were ready for the concert! So we went to our VIP box seats and sat there through semi-sonic and soul-aslum! ALRIGHT!! Now it was time to see my band! MATCHBOX 20! So we moved up to our other seats that were 6 rows from the front! I took my shirt off and ran towards the stage but security got me and Adam saw it happend and smiled and told the security to get his hands off me!!! I was HELL YEAH!!! Then he said hello while he was playing! I was going crazy! I decided to go back to my awesome seats. I was just going crazy through the whole thing and about when they were done I went up to the stage again and I was rocking. I was jumpping up and down and everything! SOme girl said she take all her clothes off if I let her have my backstage pass! I said HELL NO! So they were done! And I cried and was screaming encore encore! I lost my voice doing that also. ALright the concert was over. And we are going backstage. okay so we’re backstage and waiting for them to come out. Brian came out first and I talked to him for a long time! He asked me if I played any instruments I said “Yeah I play the cello, I”m not good at it though!” He asked if I played any sports I said “Yeah I play basketball, I’m good at that” Then he asked what position I play and I said center! Then we were done talking. Then Kyle came out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I yelled “My dad is your doctor” He said “OOOhh Really where is Dr. Stout?” I said “Over there but he was talking to Brian. So Kyle and I talked for a long time and he asked me if I wanted a coke and I said sure. So we talked and I was telling them that I was his biggest fan and he said thanks man! We were done talking. Then paul came out and he was limping I didn’t ask why though. We talked a long time too!!!! It was great! Rob was having illusinations (I don’t know how to spell that) so he didn’t come out. Adam didn’t come out either! Joey did and I told him that he was so cool! I had a great time and if anyone gets a chance to see Matchbox 20 live………..DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks to John for his concert review

In June of 1997 Matchbox 20 gave a free concert on the river in Cincinnati sponsored by the local radio station 107.1 channel z. The concert started at 6:00. But my friends and i got there at about 4:30. We happened to get there as matchbox was practicing. So we went by the stage and they stopped playing and started talking to us. They introduced themselves and everything. At that time the cd was just out so we only knew the songs by the numbers. The concert was at a pavilion right next to river. We started telling them to play for example song 5 we would yell play song 5. Then they would play it. So during the concert we were right near the stage so we all yelled play song 8 which we all know now is argue. So Rob says”we are next going to play song 8 for a new friends and he said our names to crowd. After the concert was over he told us from the stage that it was nice to meet us and keep trying to spread their music. i brought a lot of people to matchbox20

Thanks to jeremy for his concert review

first off, we got there 3 hours before the doors opened and there were at least 30 people in front of us. I was shocked to see that half the crowd were 12 year olds and their moms, or 50something couples..one in fact was making out right below me. Yuk…anyway they finally let us in at about 9:15, they had a couple t shirts to choose from, none had the tour dates..one, the one i got had the cover of the new album, 5 different sections of it, they also had a shirt that was white with “matchbox twenty” written in blue. Opening act Angie Aparo came out a little after 10, i thought he was very good, he even covered “new year’s day”..u2. Rob and crew came out 11:30, if you want their exact set list, there’s a review on atlantic-records.com that has it all. For those of you interested in attire, he was wearing a red 3/4 length shirt, which got completely covered in sweat by the hmmm, 4th song…They played 9 from the new one, 9 from the old one and a Who cover which i did not know. Angie Aparo came out with him the band to sing “stop”. Show was really good, good fans…one guy attempted to crowd surf and rob laughed..I want to elaborate but there’s no more i can say than it was a great show.. he didnt’ speak much though. Just said he was having a real good time, he cursed on occasion. I’m glad I went, can’t wait for the new CD. STill shocking how many old people were there, college-aged folks like me were surprisingly hard to come by. Oh and if anyone cares tix sold out in 10 minutes, i was lucky to grab ’em…

Thanks to matt for his great concert review

Hi all, I went to the show last night here in Boston at Avalon so I thought I’d tell you guys about it. Doors opened at 6pm but my friend Christine and I weren’t able to get in line until 5:15ish. Needless to say, there were already tons of people there. There were tons of limos around but it was hard to tell if it could be the matchsticks or not because the Red Sox stadium is right behind so it could have been the players. Anway, at 6pm they opened the doors so we went in and ran to the stage. We managed to get about four rows back, right in front of where Rob would be. The opening act, Angie Aparo, began his set at 7pm sharp. Before this I had never heard anything by him so I wasn’t sure what to expect. His songs all sounded similar but they weren’t bad. His song “Spaceship” has had some airplay so you might have heard it. Personally, I think that was the worst songs out of the five he played. Matt Serletic produced his cd. He played for exacly a half-an-hour and then it took them a little less than 45min to change the set and check all the mics and stuff. People were getting anxious waiting. Then out of one of the side doors appeared Marisol so I knew they must be coming soon. Sure enough they came and everyone screamed like hell. If you’re interested, Rob was wearing a black shirt, blue jeans, and pink power beads on his wrist. They opened with “Bent,” which I thought was great. It really got the crowd going as everyone sang along. Then they played “Argue,” “Girl Like That,” “Angry,” and “Black and White People.” I don’t remember the exact order of the rest but they played everything off YOSLY except “Damn,” “Shame,” and “Hang.” They played everything off MS except “The Burn,” “Bed of Lies,” and “You Won’t Be Mine.” Just a few comments on the songs…..at first I didn’t recognize “Busted” because they altered the intro a bit. It was acoustic-like but not like their regular acoustic version of the song. Then they played it like it is on the album. “B2G” didn’t sound as good as it does on the album because they didn’t have an orchestra to play the insturmental part. The highlights of the concert came when they did the hits off YOSLY like “3am,” “Push,” and “B2G.” Rob didn’t talk too much during the set. He made references to Boston since it always gets the hometown going. He said that Paul once had a Boston Terrier and Adam said “I’ve got two words for you….PEDRO MARTINEZ.” They ended with “Push” and then left the stage. About three minutes later they came back. Rob said he had to pee but I think he wanted to smoke. A keyboard was set up for him and then they played “Leave.” Kyle and Adam sat down and played guitar during this. Next Angie Aparo came back out and they did “Stop” together, which Rob and Paul wrote together. When I heard this cd I didn’t really like it but after seeing them do it I really like it. The beat of this reminds me of “Busted.” Then they covered a song by The Who and closed with “Long Day.” Rob added the “gone till November” verse to the song which was neat. So that was that, it was done at 10pm. The show was amazing and just fueled my obsession with this band. The only bad thing was that there were so many people around that I couldn’t even lift my arms up from the side of my body to applaud. I can’t wait to see them again. I’m going to Australia for a year and I hear they’ll be there in November so hopefully I’ll be able to see them overseas.

Thanks so much to Leighann for her awesome concert review!