When you think of a singer-songwriter, you probably think of a soft spoken man, stereotypically from the south, armed with an acoustic guitar and whole lot of heart break.
Well, Matt Nathanson is a singer-songwriter full of heart ache, but he is definitely not from the south and he is not soft spoken by any means.
This 38 year old, originally from Boston, Massachusetts, now calls San Francisco home and is set to release his 7th full length Modern Love on June 21st via Vanguard Records. It is almost hard to believe that this talented musician has had nearly two decades of releases and yet has practically gone unnoticed in the music world.
I say ‘practically unnoticed’ because for Matt Nathanson fans, a loyal following in a class all their own, he is a superstar. Just ask the hundreds of fans who crashed the ticketing site for Jammin Java in Vienna, VA within minutes of receiving a street team email about a secret show.
Or how about he die-hard fans lined up outside the venue by noon for an 8PM set? Or how about the young woman who drove from Pennsylvania all the way down to Virginia just to see her favorite singer-songwriter.
So, what makes Matt Nathanson so special? To answer this, we stood in line for four hours outside of a small café in Northing Virginia to experience this secret performance.
As doors opened, a diverse crowd eagerly made their way to the back of venue, toward the small scale stage, lined in back with a black curtain. Men and women, young and old, and of all fashion styles quickly filled the room to capacity for this sold out event.
An anxious room waited as the clock ticked past 8:10PM and a bearded man, resembling Don Juan finally appeared, along with another man, who could be a long lost Foreman (Switchfoot) brother or Beatle?
Setting his 6-string guitar over his shoulder, Nathanson opening remarks are, “it’s great to fucking be here, like seriously, it’s really fucking great to be here.” With two proud F-bombs fire away within the first 60 seconds of being on stage, we realize this is not going to be any ordinary show from any ordinary singer-songwriter.
Nathanson explains his eagerness to use colorful language throughout the evening, citing that being on tour with pop-country act Sugarland has forced him to “tone down” and be a little more “reserved” on stage. The crowd cheers, and a “fuck yeah” comes from the very back of the room.
Ready to unleash his pent up vulgarity, Nathanson immediately dives into a story of masturbation, only to realize a young audience member standing merely feet in front of him.
“Oh—fr—ick, there is a very little person… right… there… do we have any other little people here? Under the age of 16? 15? 14?…. 13? How old are you?”
“12!” the little girl shouts.
“Do your parents know you’re here?”
“Yeah!”
“We said she could come, so long as she doesn’t repeat anything you say,” chimes in the 12 year old’s mother.
“Oh, okay, so long as we’ve cleared this up…. Well… this next song is about wanting to be really, really close to someone [pause, looks at the girl in the crowd] this is not a metaphor by any means,” declares Nathanson.
The hour and a half set featured Nathanson’s radio hit “Come On Get Higher”off of his 2007 release, Some Mad Hope, and new songs, “Faster” “Modern Love,” “Room At the End of the World,” “Kept,” and “Mercy” which will appear on Modern Love. In addition, the audience was treated to an “Anna Begins” by the Counting Crows, as well as “I Remember You” by Skid Row, and “The Boxer” by Simon and Garfunkel.
Normally at a show, when a band takes breaks between songs to chat about lame stories or promote merchandise, it’s a concert killer. This is not the case for a Matt Nathanson performance; in fact, you will probably think you got ripped off he doesn’t tell you the most ridiculous story you’ve ever heard.
Yes, at least spent 10 minutes were spent discussing hockey—insulting Philadelphia, which transitioned into a story of wresting, and the WWE, which Nathanson was still convinced was the WWF.
“No, it’s now the WWE,” corrected guitarist, Aaron Tapp, from the stage.
“Since when?” asked Nathanson.
“Since they pissed off the giant panda,” remarked Tapp.
“The giant panda? W…W… ohhhhhhhhhhhhh. Really? Did they take them to court and everything?”
“I think so.”
“Better question, did the panda testify?”
“Yeah… nom, nom [pretends to chew on bamboo]” acted Tapp.
Before ending the night with “Little Victories,” a song he stated he would use as part of his inspiration for a graduation commencement speech in the near future, Nathanson surprised fans with “Amazing Again” off of Still Waiting For Spring (1999).
Struggling to recall the words to a song not usually included in his set list, Nathanson looked to the audience to help him through, and sure enough they guided him along, singing every word, as loud as they could, proving that Matt Nathanson fans truly are a breed of their own.
If there is one thing we learned at this secret show, it is that a Matt Nathanson concert, cannot be classified as a show, a concert, or even a performance, it is truly an experience.
You can experience Matt Nathanson for yourself this summer, for dates visit www.mattnathanson.com. Pick up Modern Love on June 21, and see him perform on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on June 22nd.
