Concert Round-up: Adele, Matt Nathanson, The Script

Posted by: popculturedrandoms on: June 1, 2011

• In: Concert | Music
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I do my best to go see as many concerts/shows as I can in a year, and it usually all depends on who actually comes to Toronto and whether or not I have someone to go with. I love going to concerts because to me, there is nothing like the experience of going to hear live music (Just to show how serious I am about concerts, I actually wrote a research paper in university on the topic.) Now I usually don’t review concerts because 1) I’ve never been completely let down by any show I’ve been to; and 2) that means my reviews usually come down to the words ‘Awesome,’ ‘Amazing,’ and ‘Soooo Good!’ But in the past 2 weeks, I was lucky enough to go see 3 different concerts, and to change things up around here, I thought I’d share my experiences/thoughts on those shows.

1.) Adele – May 18th @ Air Canada Centre

Let me start off by saying that Air Canada Centre is actually my venue of choice in Toronto. I know it’s not as intimate as seeing an artist at a club show, but I’d like to be able to see the artist or band. Being short at a club show is just such a huge disadvantage, between having tall people and other people hoisting their camera up to get a good shot in front of you. Now that being said, Adele was initially supposed to play the Kool Haus, a much smaller venue in comparison, but due to overwhelming demand for tickets, they moved the show to ACC. There was a lot of ridiculousness going on in concerns of transferring the General Admission tickets to actual seats, and obviously that got resolved in advance of the actual show date.

I gotta say, if you ever get a chance to go see Adele, GO! I was just in complete awe of how incredible a vocalist she is. I mean you already should know from hearing her songs, but to hear her live was just mind-blowing. The music industry these days is just so full of music that is overproduced (and yes, I’ll admit Britney Spears is among that group, even though I love her). But to hear Adele sing “Someone Like You” with just piano accompaniment, and KILL IT, you can’t help but have so much respect for her.

2.) Matt Nathanson – May 24th @ The Garrison

I’ll admit, Matt Nathanson is one of those artists who’s music I have but don’t really listen to all that often. When my friend asked if I wanted to go, I figured why not (plus tickets were cheap). But like so many other artists I’ve seen over the years, after seeing him perform live, I have a brand new appreciation for him and his music. Matt Nathanson’s been on tour opening for Sugarland, and then he’s been doing some solo gigs in between leading up to the release of his next album “Modern Love” (out June 21st).

This was the epitome of a club show. The Garrison is most definitely a small club, which I had never been to before. There was no opening act, and Matt came with only his guitarist Aaron Tap, not a full band. It was such a small show, I honestly can’t wait to see him come around again with the full band. I was really impressed. Not to mention, one of the things I love most at concerts is when the musicians banter/talk to the audience in between songs, like telling stories about how some songs got created and then just pure random stuff. I’ve got Matt on one of my Twitter lists, so I already had an idea of his humour, but seeing him live and just telling stories/saying total random stuff, it was hilarious! For me, I gotta say that Matt’s up there on the list of best banter-ers with Adam Levine and Michael Buble.

3.) The Script – May 31st @ Kool Haus

I have to start this off by saying how awesome it was that I got to see The Script with Safetysuit being their opening act. It was just so perfect because I sort of discovered/heard about them around the same time on VH1, with their Top 20 Countdown and their “You Oughta Know” artist series a few years back. I’ve listened to The Script A LOT more than I have Safetysuit since then, but there’s no doubt that I absolutely fell in love with Safetysuit’s song “Stay.” I mean it’s just such a good song. Now having seen them in concert, I really have to go back and listen to Safetysuit some more – such talented guys.

What I said before about being short at a club show totally applies here. Not to mention that the show was completely sold out, so everyone was packed in like sardines AND it was ridiculously hot. Besides all that, the one thing that I didn’t like about the show was the hour wait between Safetysuit and The Script. I mean other music was played over the speakers to keep us entertained, but still. The wait certainly created some interesting moments (to me and my sociology ways.) Audience sing-along to “Just the Way You Are,” “Love the Way You Lie,” and “Price Tag.” Keane’s “Everybody’s Changing” playing and these 2 girls in front of me asked each other if it was Maroon 5…I was more annoyed really by that. Obviously I love Maroon 5 and I love this song by Keane, but it doesn’t even sound Maroon 5-ish. How do you get M5 from Keane, really?! (Sorry, tangent.) Also, the wait was made better and made worse by them playing “SexyBack.” I got excited because it’s Justin (obviously) but it only reminded me of the fact that JT only made us wait 15 minutes max between the opening act and him during the FutureSex/LoveShow tour.

Anyways, my tirelessness from that long wait aside, once The Script finally hit the stage, the show was so much fun. There was just so much energy, but then heat exhaustion kicked in and everyone was losing energy towards the end. With all the production that they put in, from the lighting (which was fantastic for a club show) and the backdrop, I honestly think they could’ve and should’ve played an arena. Next time they come back to Toronto, I fully expect them to play ACC or if it’s the summer, the Molson Amphitheatre.

2 weeks, 3 concerts, 3 different experiences, but all incredibly awesome in their own ways. I’ve got a 1.5 week break before I see the Glee Live! tour (when that crazy cast is going to be doing 4 shows in 2 days), with LXD opening! A night of some great music (covers) and AMAZING dancing…Can’t Wait!

Tags: Adele, Air Canada Centre, Kool Haus, Matt Nathanson, Safetysuit, The Garrison, The Script