It’s been far too long since Matthew Good has strapped on his acoustic guitar and toured the across this great country.
Joining Matthew Good on this solo acoustic tour was Toronto based singer-songwriter, Posey; best known for her winning an episode of CTV’s The Launch. Oddly, she didn’t perform Soldier of Love at the concert.
The songstress, enthralling voice captivated the audience as it was placed front and centre of her set. Her set was stripped down to just her and her piano player creating a truly intimate act.
Between songs the Posey revealed that this not only her first Canadian tour, but that this was her first time on the west coast of Canada. Sharing her love of riding the ferry several times over the last few days and the great food she’d enjoyed while in the city.
Over the past decade Matthew Good has consistently chosen some of the best up and coming Canadian indie musicians to tour with him. From Scott Helman to The Paper Lions to Mother Mother, and now we can add Poesy to that list. Let’s hope she makes it back to Victoria soon with a full band.
“Well, that’s not what I expected” was overheard as the audience spilled out of the sold out auditorium into the lobby. Leaving us to conclude there there are definitely two types of people who go to an acoustic Matthew Good concert.
The first are the die hard fans who celebrate Matthew Good’s entire discography. They are here to sing along to b-sides, deep cuts, and hear his gin and tonic fuelled stories.
The second are looking for a hit parade of radio singles and yell song requests like “Rico” all evening. A song that Matt notoriously hates, even going on record several times saying he wish he’d never written it.
In all fairness there is a third type of person at a Matthew Good concert, and those are the friends or significant others that have been dragged there by a die hard. We’ve all been this person for someone and their weird musical taste. It’s a true testament to those we love.
Ahead of the Victoria concert we were assured that his concert would have radio fodder that made him a staple of the Canadian rock scene since the mid 1990s. Songs like Born Losers, Apparitions, Load Me Up, and Strange Days were all confirmed to be played on previous nights of the tour through social media posts of set lists. Those following along with the tour were surprised to see he’d be playing songs like Fearless and Change of Season for the first time in nearly 20 years.
Halfway through Matt’s set, he put down his guitar, the lights went dark, and he belted out a haunting a cappella performance of 99% of us is Failure. His voice goosebump inducing filled the still room. It’s moments like this that just don’t happen when he plays with the full band.
Further deep cuts and fan favourites like Fated, So Long Mrs. Smith, Fine Art of Falling Apart, While We Were Hunting Rabbits, and Tripoli all made appearances.
Having seen Matthew Good perform dozens of times over the past twenty years it is fair to say that his acoustic performances when we see his most authentic self. Matt’s affable yet aloof personality shines brightly as he jokes and shares stories from his career in the music industry, views on the current political climate, family, and everything in between. Let’s just say if he put out a podcast of just his stage banter we’d hit subscribe.
