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*Funny How it Comes to Pass*
Concert Reviews
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~Matchbox 20 concert experiences~
Well, i'm not sure if this will help you, cuz i don't have any cool stories about meeting the band or anything, but wednesday night (august 5th i believe) i went to the matchbox 20 (with semisonic and soul asylum) concert at merriweather post pavillion. it's about an hour from washington dc in maryland. it was awesome!!!!! i was so excited i still got seats because i live in syracuse, ny and i went down to visit family around DC and saw it in the paper!! we got lawn seats, which weren't great but it was still awesome to hear the music and just experience the whole thing. i went with my aunt and cousins and hopefully opened them up to new music. also the people sitting all around us were very cool (matchbox 20 fans are awesome!!!) and really nice and we talked the whole time we were waiting for the bands to play and stuff. it was an amazing experience.
- Jess (Hec202@aol.com)
LONG REVIEW: Atlanta, GA - Aug 2, 1998
Well I'll start at the beginning. From will call. I went to will call expecting to get 2 backstage passes for after the show from Chris (the lighting director). I gave them my ID and told them I was picking up passes for Kate Adams. They handed me a plain white envelope with one pass inside. I asked about the 2nd and they say I was only put down for one! That meant my sis was without a pass! Problem #1.
Well I figured I could go inside and talk to Chris and he'd straighten it all out. So I went in and that formed Problem #2. Chris wasn't at the lighting console. So I was searching the entire venue when I stopped to talk to one of my friends. While I was talking a man working came up to me and asked if he could see the envelope I was holding (the one the pass came in). So I showed it to him and that formed Problem #3. I'll cut this short, but he went on to drag me backstage and tell me how I stole the pass. It turns out that the drum tech, Tony Adams, had left a pass at will call for his wife-Katherine Adams so when I gave them my ID, they gave me her pass instead. So the man thought that I had gone to will call to pick up tickets and they gave me the pass and being the evil, devious teenager that I am (whatever) they took it anyway, knowing it wasn't mine. He was really rude! But then when Chris came he cleared everything up and brought us back to meet them!
So we went back into this room where a group of about 10 people were sitting who had won a meet and greet session with the band through a radio station. So my sis and I sit down and I am completely shaking! So they come in and we hung out and had them sign our programs. It was too cool! I didn't have my camera unfortunately because they made me leave my bag at the gate :(
The first guy I talked to was Adam. He came up and shook my hand and introduced himself. Then he signed my program "Kate!! Special K Rules! Love, Adam". Then he signed my sister's "Alison! Princess, Love! Hugs, Adam". Then he noticed my sister was wearing a shirt from one of the old tours that they don't make anymore so we explained to him that we got it last October and that this was our 3rd show. As we were saying this Brian walked up and they both went on about how cool that was. We then talked to Brian for a while about the show and he told us that "This show is just gonna kick all the other ones asses!". He signed my program "Kate- Very enthusiastic!! Brian Yale" because he couldn't get over how much energy I had and how excited I was to meet them. Then he signed my sister's (she's 14 but looks really young) "Alison- Date Me! -Brian Yale" with a little arrow pointing to his picture. Too cute :) He was very friendly and very talkative.
Next Kyle came up and Brian told him how this was our 3rd show so Kyle asked us if we were from the area since he used to live here in Atlanta. So we talked for a minute about where he used to live then he signed mine "Kate- How bout that face... uh? Kyle Cook" with an arrow pointing to the sillyest picture I've seen of him. He signed my sister's "Allison- Thanks -Kyle Cook"
Then we talked to Brian a bit more and he told us again how much this show was going to kick the other ones' asses.
Then we went over to the table where Paul was sitting and I handed him my program. As I did that he noticed my bracelets which are little springs and went on about how cool they were and asked where I got them, etc so he signed "Kate- You fashion mogul! Paul" (but you cant really read his signature...)(or Kyle's for that matter) and he signed my sister's "Allison- Hello My Dear -Paul"
We talked to Paul for a long time. First he showed us how he never looked the same in any of the pictures in the program and he laughed about how silly he thought he looked. We paged through the program while he critiqued all the pictures. We got to the last one where he was wearing a skirt and I told him I thought that looked cool and he said he loved wearing em, but they were hard to play in, but that he'd see if he brought one with him for that show. (he didn't have one though. he came onstage in a cowboy type shirt) Then he said this would be the last tour till after the new cd so I asked him when it would be. He said that they were taking a lot of time off and probably wouldn't start the new cd till next spring atleast. So I asked about the 10 Spot Cd and he said they wouldn't be releasing it to the public that instead they were gonna do a single for Back 2 Good with a lot of other songs on it like Tired and the acoustic version of Push and other stuff like that. Then he said that they would probably put You & I & I on a soundtrack but that they wanted to re-record it first. I said that I loved those songs and he was surprised I'd heard them so I told him about how I have concert bootlegs and he got this huge smile on his face and was like "We have bootlegs?! You can get those!? I didn't know that!" So he was very happy about that. I guess it made him feel important :) So I mentioned how I love the song Rest Stop and that they had to do it that night and he was like "Well that's up to Rob..." And the next thing I know he's shouting across the room "Rob! Rob! We have a request!!" So Rob looks over and shouts to us to find out what Paul's screaming about so I was like "You HAVE to play Rest Stop!" So he thinks about it for a min and then is like "Sure, I can do that for ya". But then he got pulled into someone's picture so I finished talking to Paul and let him finish signing other people's stuff (after all we'd been talking for about 10 min).
Then I headed over to Rob and we talked for a little bit about Angie playing (we could hear his set from where we were) and about how excited he was to be playing with Soul Asylum too. Then he signed my program "Kate- You're missing Angie. Thanx. Rob Thomas" with a little smilely face and my sister's "Hi Allison. Nice shirt! Rob Thomas" (he too noticed the "vintage" mb20 shirt). Then he started talking again about Rest Stop. He said he liked that song a lot so now that I asked for it he'd definitely play it. He also said that he was thinking about starting to play it a lot more often. Then another person came up to him so I looked over and was watching Adam sign something for someone so I said to my sis how cool it was to be there and Adam overheard so he leaned back onto me while he signed the rest of the things. So we just stood there leaning on eachother. Then I noticed that he drew a smile on someone else's thing so I said "Hey I didn't get a smile!" So he turned around and grabbed my program and was like "Oh no! We'll fix that!" and drew a face on mine too. But he told me that Rob was the real artist so he grabbed Rob and was like "Here, draw something, man" So Rob was like "...I dunno...I really only draw one thing..." As he was saying this he was coloring in the "20" on my program. So I told him it was ok, to draw it anyway, so he started drawing this little guy, laughing the whole time. So he finished and he was trying to figure out who it looked like so I said it looked a bit like Paul. So he drew an arrow and wrote Paul and started to hand it to me. But that wasn't enough for him! He snatched it back and added a bit to it so that it said "Paul is a kook"
Then Brian walked by again on his way to the door (they were calling the guys to leave) and he came up to me and told me again that this show was gonna kick all the other ones' asses and Rob was like "Hell Yeah!"
Then the guys all had to leave, so we all stood back in the room for a little bit just almost in awe of what just happened. They were really cool, friendly guys :)
We finally left the room and went back to our seats and listened to Soul Asylum's set which was great.
Then came matchbox 20. The setlist went like this:
Argue, Girl Like That, Damn, Shame, Hang, Tired, Kody, 3am, the cover song (sorry I cant remember the name!! But it was good!), Busted, Push, Back 2 Good
Then for the encore Rob came out all alone with his guitar and did Rest Stop! He started by saying what he likes to say before the encore-That it's the part of the show where he gets to do whatever the hell he wants to-and that tonight he was going to do this song be cause he promised someone he'd play it (me!)
Then he went on to tell the story about the song-That if you listen to it, every word is true and that you will think he is a pitiful bastard
(for those of you who don't know, it is about how this girl dumped him by pulling over and kicking him out of her car in the middle of the highway)
So he played it and it was beautiful!!!!!
Then the rest of the guys came out and they played You & I & I (the best I've heard it yet)(btw, Joey was playing a guitar instead of his keyboards in this one) followed by Long Day. But before he did the little part in the middle where he talks, he sang a little bit of that song about Fame (it may be called Fame, but Im not sure. Whatever it was, it sounded good!) then he did his talking bit where he introduced Joey and Joey's son who was standing in the wings. What a cute kid :) Then he finished the song with the extra verse.
It was such a great show!!
I was a bit dissapointed though that they didn't do the intro to 3am, but it wasn't their fault. Chastain Park Ampitheater has this rule that shows can't go over 11pm (it's in a residential area) and as it was they went till 5 after. But it was still fabulous!!!! I had the time of my life!
-Kate (Talkie25@aol.com)
HEY! I went to the August 7th concert at the PNC bank arts center..it was awesome...eventhough i didnt have the best seats....They opened with "argue" Which I thought was weird cause i thought "Busted" was the opening song.....they played all the songs on YOSLY. Plus: "Dear Joan", "Tired", and, I think it was called Stop.....oh yeah...and "Nothing Compares to you" It was so great...Rob looked as hot as ever....and in the middle of the concert he kissed this little girl from the audience..he looked so adorable....later..
-Meliงงa (MISSY7917@aol.com)
I saw the band in concert for the 3rd time August 7 in Holmdel, NJ with Semisonic and Soul Asylum opening, (both were really good). But Matchbox 20 came on stage and sounded amazing, they opened with "Argue" and performed a cover of the song "Nothing Compares To You," the set lasted about one hour and 20 minutes and they were awesome. I was really happy to see them again and I hope they come back soon. Now, I'm really excited for some new material from the band, I read in an interview with Paul that they will be back in the studio in April. So they'll probably have a new album in about a year.
-Marissa626@aol.com
I went to see the guys on August 11th at the Oakdale Theatre in Wallingford, Connecticut. It was a great show as always!! They did not open up with "Busted" though. The opened with "Argue" and they did Nothing Compares to You which was wicked cool!! Rob stopped after playing a couple songs and Rob called Brian "Pookie" and told us about how he was born 10 minutes away from where the concert was. Rob did a solo and sang "Soul Sick" and it was awesome. Before he began he told everyone not to yell in the middle of his singing cause they would fuck him up. But, the words were so meaningful, I almost cried. And they went on and played "You and I and I" and "Tired". Semisonic and Soul Asylum did a good job also. The lead singer of Soul Asylum fell and knocked some stuff over. It was funny!! The guys put on an awesome show as usual and Rob really got the crowd going. It was great!!
-Jamie4420@aol.com
This is a review of the August 12th show at Darien Lake Theme Park:
First of all, I have to write about the most exciting part of the day. Me and my friend Jenn were walking around going on rides and stuff before the concert when who walked by, but Rob, Adam, and Paul and their chicks. I ripped the flesh off Jenny's arm when I realized who it was and we immediatly turned around and started following them. We followed for about 5 minutes trying to think of something to say to them without being stupid, until it was almost too late and I just said "Rob...?" He turned around and said "Hey, what's up baby?" I was so excited! I was borderline gushing when I said "I feel like a huge asshole for stopping you, but I'm going to the show tonight and I just wanted to say hi". He just laughed and he's like "Oh you are? Well I hope you have fun, and make sure to scream nice and loud." He had nothing to worry about, seriously. After that, Jenn and I went running away giggling like little school girls. If any of them turned around we would have looked like complete fools. You'd think I would be less retarded around him since I've now met him 5 times! But I guess not.
The concert was probably the best one (out of the 6 that I've seen) yet! The crowd was really into it and singing along and everything. The highlight of the concert was the first song of the encore. Rob's exact words are "I swore I'd never play this song again, but I am, so here it goes," and the sing was "Time After Time"! I was so happy because I thought I'd never hear him play it again! It was fabulous as always. He also covered Sinead O'Conner's "Nothing Compares To You", and did my favorite song, "Tired", and "You and I and I" along with every album song.
I also have to add on that the set was very nice...almost Greek looking. I don't know about you, but I'd throw a toga party with Rob! Thanks for reading!
- Jessie (AMHoney3@aol.com)
I drove from Charlotte NC to NJ to see Matchbox 20 on August 7th. I arrived at 4pm. At first they weren't going to let me into the parking lot, but when I explained I drove 600 miles and needed to meet my friend at the ticket booth, they let me in. I ended up with the most awesome parking spot. It was extremely sunny, but we set up an awesome mini-tailgate right there. We had a security van there and heard when one of the MB20 moms arrived and needed to see the head of security. We saw the kids running around with HUGE concert t-shirts and found out some guy with a backpack VERY afraid of adults was selling them (oh well!) We listened to soundcheck all afternoon and were got very psyched for the show! Some parents with kids and young teenagers, and young adults. The line started forming around 4:30 in front of the entrance. We unfortunately didn't get into it until later. I could barely see Rob by the time I got in! Semi-sonic was good, explaining their songs as they went along! Soul Asylum ended up having to borrow one of their guitars later. Then, of course, the boys came! They sounded great! Rob looked much less nervous than he was on MTV, and luckily (especially for those of us squinting on the lawn) those cameras set on the side picked up when he sang facing Paul! They did Tired and You and I and I, and I was the only one around me who seemed to know them! In the encore they did Dear Joan and a great job on Nothing Compares 2 U - my friend had seen Sinead do it at the same place and said Rob did a better job - a mighty hefty compliment considering she hadn't heard of MB20 before arriving except from me! An awesome time was had by all, except for the group on the lawn complaining someone took her seat (hello - that's why it's a lawn - there's no assigned seats) and the poor teen who asked security if there was a problem and by now by probably doesn't remember being taken by security!
-Brandy2dog@aol.com
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*Outside it's Stopped Raining*
Poems
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~Expression through words~
I'm driving down the same road I ride everyday,
and listening to your song.
It's a song about your pain,
and I can't say that I've experienced anything that bad.
I don't have a sob story about how this song changed my life.
I just like the damn song.
All I have now is an excuse to escape reality
and wonder what it's like to be you.
Wonder what it's like to have so many people adoring you,
and wonder if it's getting old.
What's it like to have websites devoted to glamorizing you,
and adoring your eyes,
and your nose,
and your lips,
and knowing exactly when you cry,
and laugh,
and breathe.
What it's like to open up a teenybopper magazine
and see it plastered with your face.
"Is this a good way to live a life?"
I wonder to myself.
Is this what I would want if I were you?
But, I'm just me,
and you're just you.
This is my life
and that's yours.
And it's just a damn song!
-AMHoney3@aol.com
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*Keep This Hat of Broken Dreams*
Dreams
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~Your MB20 dreams. No matter how bizarre...~
I've actually had 2 dreams relating to MB20... this first one is about Rob: I dreamt once MB20 was on Leno, and after Leno introduced them, they came out to do their number, and Rob was wearing the leather jacket from the Push video, black jeans, and no shoes, and he started to unzip his jacket, and he then said to the audience "should I take it off!?" of course the audience said yes, but then they just did their song...
This next dream is REALLY strange, this one also includes Paul McCartney:
I was in NY and my friend Fotini, me and my friend kristy were eating in this little resteraunt, with a green table cloth....and Fotini asks "hey are you guys going to the Beatle Fest today?" and I go umm sure! let's go! so we walk like 5 blocks to this hotel where it's at and we walk in, get some name tags and really nifty beatle buttons and we walk in this hall where like all the people are and everyone's just yacking...and there's beatle pictures on the wall, and in one corner ahdn is on a tv, ad in another corner some people are playing finish the line, etc. Anyway..so we're there just yacking, and playing
like ALL day and night...until at last it's just us 3 in the room and we're just sitting there
making scarey faces at eachother when Paul McCartney walks in, guitar slung over shoulder, and says "am I late!?" and we're like NOOOOO come in! so, Fotini, me, kristy, and paul McC' are sitting on the floor late at night singing beatle songs, and like now we're being totally crazy cause we're tired...so we're all just bouncing everywhere....'m doing kartwheels, fotini's trying to stand on her head, kristy's running circles around the room, and Paul McC's jumping up and down and screaming nd in the middle of all this excitement, in comes mb20 with their equipment and Rob says "who the hell are you guys? we have a gig here in an hour" and the rest of the band is just setting up and like
I'm REALLY tired... like drunken tired, so I'm like I don't care what people think or what I do...so I RUN over to rob and jump on his back and say "heigh ho silver" let's go! giddyup!" so then fotini runs over to Macca and jumps on his back and says "yeeeehhhaaaaa! giddy up pauly boy!" and Kristy is STILL running circles around the room...so Kyle get's this string, and throws it over kristy's waste, and holds on like straps to a horse, and says 'yaaahooo! ride em cow kyle!" so now, rob's running around with me on his back, Paul's runing around with Fotini on his back, and kristy's riding around with kyle on her back. Then everyone get's tired...and now we're all laying on the floor, and macca goes to rob "hey love the earrings! lemme try em out!" so then the next thing we knew, Rob was piercing Paul's ears, I was painting Pauls nails, Fotini was fixing Paul's hair, and kristy was making the paul from mb20 into Pauline the waitress, so then pauline is in his waitress outfit (from the real world video) and macca is now like rob's twin...so then fotini gets this brilliant idea to shave kristy's head....but adam says 'naaah got a better idea" and starts dying kristy's hair pink to match pauline's hair...and so Pualine is playing drums now, the rob and macca twins are singing songs together, fotini is splashing the walls with
nailpolish, I'm tying rob and paul's shoe laces together...and the rest of the band is running around the room...and I wake up!
- Christie (christie@dynasty.net)
I had a dream a few nights ago that I was on my way to see MB20 here in AZ (I must be psyched about this show if I'm already dreaming about it). On my way to Desert Sky (where they are playing), I got pulled over by a cop cos apparently I had a body hanging out of my trunk. I tried to make a quick getaway from him, and somehow ended up in an old victorian stairwell with a bunch of goths and punks....they wanted me to roadtrip with their band. Normally, I woulda said yes, but I *really* wanted to get to the MB20 show, so I tried to get away from them too, only they started chasing me, and they finally caught up with me and pinned me down. They asked me why I would not come with them, and I told them I was already late for MB20 and they were only delaying me longer, and to get out of my way. Well, it must have worked, cos I finally made it to the MB20 show. As I'm making my way down deserted row by deserted row to my seat (also, at this point in time, Desert Sky is beginning to look *a lot* like my old 8th grade auditorium)....I realise they are already well into Long Day. I had missed the *entire* show! Then Adam gets up to the mic and says 'Hey! I hope you guys enjoyed this show! It's the last one we'll ever do in Arizona!' I just sat down and started crying, I mean, flat out bawling like a baby.....
At this point I wake up. I had been thrashing about in my bed, throwing a temper tantrum in my sleep! I started yelling 'It was a dream! Thank God, I dreamt the whole thing!', to which my dad decided I was nuts cos he had no idea what I was yelling about.....I actually have tons of MB20 related dreams, I just don't remember any of them.....though I am suddenly remembering one where Paul was a cop???? Odd........
- Kimberly (Ravana@aol.com)
For the past week, I've been having dreams about MB20 every night! What's strange about that is that I barely ever have dreams about them. Well anyways, here are the ones I most clearly remember:
Dream 1:
I was at a hotel with a ton of other girls. We were standing in line outside one of the hotel rooms. It turned out that MB20 was in the room and we were in line to be chosen to meet them for 1 hour. I got chosen! So I went into the room. I sat on the floor next to Rob and Paul. Adam was on a chair and Kyle was on a couch. At first, I was sooo terrified. After
all, I was meeting *Matchbox 20*! Then we started talking and laughing. I would make a joke or something and Rob would laugh and poke me or lay his head on me, like he's dying from laughter. Then he'd say something funny and I'd do the same. Then I sat next to Adam on the chair. Adam looked like this boy that goes to my school named Alan Pomeroy, though! It was so weird! Well I sat next to him and he laid his head on my shoulder. My shirt was off (but I had a bra on) when the hour was up! My sister Ashley herded the boys out of the room so I could put my shirt on (which didn't make any sense since they were in the room with me not wearing a shirt for the last 15 minutes of the hour). All the guys left, except for Rob. He *kinda* left. He stood outside of the doorway, kinda peeking his head in, with this strange smile on his face. Ashley started to take him
away. Then I said "Rob" and he looked up like "yes?" and looked reallyexcited. I motioned for him to come back into the room and he did. Now I didn't have a shirt OR bra on! I was holding the shirt and bra in front of me, so you couldn't see anything.. But anyways, he came in and Iput my arms around him and started hugging him. He did the same, and I
dropped my shirt and bra! While we hugged, we whispered stuff to each other. I don't know what it was.. Then we started kissing and that was the end.
(yes, I do have a crush on Rob, so that's probably why I had that dream, LOL)
Dream 2:
I was at a playground. I was training a pony named Rebel there. I had the halter on it and I was trying to teach it to walk on command. Then the playground turned into a horse barn. This lady came up to me and said "your stable is going to be sooo successful! it's the only stable around for miles and miles!" and I said "well I don't know about that. I only have a
few people on staff". I looked down at this piece of paper and it said "staff roster" on the top. Underneath that were job titles, like trainer, groom, rider, etc. Under some of the titles were the names "Rob Thomas", "Rob Thomas (in voice)" and "Paul Doucette". I guess the ones that said "(in voice)" meant that Rob would be singing.. I have no idea why anyone
would sing at a horse barn but my dreams are always weird. Anyways, I showed my staff list to the lady and she said "Rob said he couldn't take a job here. he has lots of concerts to do". I got upset and the lady put her arm around me and said "he has a career. you have to remember that" so I nodded like "yeah, I guess" and that was the end.
(Rob Thomas: horse trainer! LOL!)
Dream 3:
I was at school, except my school looked a LOT better than it does now. It had skylights, giant hallways, etc. Well I was flying up and down some stairs. Literally flying! The MB20 boys were standing there and watching me fly around. Then Rob started flying with me and that was the end. (yeah, it's short, oh well)
- Amber (winn1@spectra.net)
You see, I have just started some major exams at school and about two days ago I had a dream that I was doing my music exam (where I have to perform a song live) and I had chosen to do Hang. I was going to play the guitar as well, but had no idea how to play the darn thing when Rob and Adam came in with a bible showing me all the autographs they had collected in their bible! so then we ended up having this big competition as to who had the better autographs in their bibles! wierd eh???!!!
-Amy (poohpookie@hotmail.com)
I had a dream dealing w/the band (or Rob rather *sheepish grin*). It was just last nite so it's still fresh in my mind. It was at school, and I was walking down the hall, and there was Rob walking down the opposite side of the hall, going the opposite way, w/2 of my friends! So i ran up to them and kind of stuttered "You...your....umm....rob.." and he said yep. And I said, ohmigod! And started shaking violentley and then i said can you sign something for me? And he said sure! and so i reached down in my backpack and got a pen and some paper, and then he signed it...then I asked him if he had an e-mail address and he said yeah, and i just smiled like "can you give it to me?" and he said "nooo...b/c you know whats gonna happen if i do...." and then he started talking to my friends again, and they were like "So we're still on for tonite?" and he said "yeah, hey megan, you wanna come?" And i said Yeah! (even though I didn't know where I was going, but Rob was going to be there, so uhh..duh) and then he said "c'mon girls!" and then the 3 of them left...and I didn't get Rob's phone # so then I didn't know where he was going to be.....(hey, this was a dream, so i didn't think about catching up to them or just asking my two friends where they were going to go...) And then I woke up. The dream started out great, but ended up kinda sucky..... oh well =)
-AlwyzLafin@aol.com