Some singers sound pitch-perfect on record but fall flat in concert. Luckily for fans, Rob Thomas is not one of them.
The solo artist and Matchbox Twenty frontman packed the seats of Magness Arena last Tuesday, Oct. 27, with his Cradlesong Tour ’09, which brimmed with arena-ready rock anthems and a vocal performance that sounded just as good as on record.
As the snow began to blanket the DU campus, Thomas appropriately started his two-hour set with “Fire on the Mountain,” a cut from his 2009 sophomore album Cradlesong.
The pounding drumbeat and spot-on vocal within the five-minute performance got the audience’s energy going – more so than openers Carolina Liar or OneRepublic.
Thomas continued with “Give Me the Meltdown,” abound with funky guitar licks that would make even the Purple One green with envy.
Though his music is funkier than ever, Thomas has not forgotten the 90s rock past from his Matchbox days. The emotive tempo and questioning lyrics of a crumbling relationship in “Mockingbird” had fans on their feet.
A stripped-down rendition of Matchbox Twenty’s “Bent” backed by only Thomas’s acoustic guitar made fans remember why the singer was successful in the first place.
A “Real World ‘09” – perhaps an homage to a Matchbox hit of the same name – had fans shaking their hips and, especially for one woman in upper-level seating, go-go dancing to their hearts’ content.
The most interesting moments of the night, came from Thomas’ interaction with the audience.
He explained the origination of certain songs, like “Little Wonders,” which he wrote for his dog, and “Getting Late,” a happy little ditty about death and doing something right with the time you have.
The night also saw Thomas pay tribute to his musical influences. He performed Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark” and his own mega-hit “Smooth,” in which he collaborated with Carlos Santana, as if they came from his own catalogue.
But his most recent hit single, “Her Diamonds,” which draws parallels to the drumbeat of Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes,” established Thomas as the solo rock star that he is.
