 |
| Matt Costa, a man of many instruments. |
I like him because he's a romantic poet, a writer who discovered a guitar and married the two to produce music that's truly artistic.
His new album is different from his priors, it has a groovy 60s feel with interesting instruments, mournful crooning and the whole production is a sharp departure from his usual uppy, catchy melodies.
We're waiting on line outside the venue and right away it's evident that we're surrounded by hard core Matt Costa fans. Who else would have known about this small, unadvertised concert?
 |
| First Unitarian. Sooo pretty! |
The show was at the First Unitarian Church near Rittenhouse Square, one of Philadelphia's oldest parks, tracing it's birth all the way back to the 17th century. It was a gorgeous night, and the streets were tight, lined with ancient oaks trees dropping yellow leaves that shuffled around in the November chill along worn cobblestones.
As we're waiting for the doors to open, BClarke starts making friends with strangers right away, asking them what they thought of Costa's new album and trading music suggestions and trying to remember their names.
The line starts moving and we're walking in and as soon as we enter the basement, there's a lanky Matt Costa wearing a red flannel jacket and talking to some fans... three feet away from us.
I grabbed Brian by the arm and whisper, "Is that Matt Costa?" as we stare awkwardly at him.
"I think it is," he answered and we froze, still staring.
 |
| I didn't even know he had a new cd! |
Matt Costa starts walking away to the back stage area and we're still both still and staring.
When he's gone Brian says, "We probably should have said hi."
"I think I need to go throw up on the coats."
The first band to perform is called Everest. They were alright but it's not until they're done that we discover the church has a BYOB policy so we head off in search of some beer. Word of the policy starts spreading and we stalk some fellow attendees toward a beer store 2 blocks away.
 |
| We were this close, the whole time. |
They reminded me of a madiache band, the way they walked through the crowd. The venue was so small that it almost felt like a microphone was unnecessary.
Everyone in there was so close to the stage that you would have been able to hear everything just fine even without sound equipment.
So the band made its way on stage and the entry became the perfect opening for what was to be the most intimate, incredible concert I've ever seen in my life.
The set list was awesome, mixing some of his new stuff from Mobile Chateau, along with classic favorites like Astair, Sunshine, Behind the Moon and Mr. Pitiful.
"Did you ever think we'd ever be this close to Matt Costa?" Brian asked me.
"No never," I answered, and it was true. He doesn't tour all that often, and when he does, it's usually not in the tri-state area.
Matt Costa juggled instruments throughout the songs, blowing on the harmonica around his neck, as he worked his acoustic guitar and belting out lyrics all at the same time. Stage hands tossed him a trumpet for one song, he hopped over to the piano for a few songs and shook maracas, a tambourine and shell bracelets throughout. He kept jumping down from the stage to rock out in a crowd of us.
There was finally a face to go along with the hauntingly beautiful female voice accompanying him on his new album. It was his wife. "I was wondering who the girl was on his new album," Brian said.
It was evident that the entire audience was familiar with his music, at one point when he was performing Sunshine, every audience member sang along and the voices filled the basement and the experience was just incredible.
Hands down the best concert ever.