November 1997

Matchbox 20’s exuberance over performing in front of a packed house in New York City was clear on Thursday, November 13th, at the Manhattan Center. The band plowed into the well-crafted brand of pop rock with boundless and somewhat nervous energy. At one point in the evening, lead singer Rob Thomas pointed out that “the last time we played in New York City, this front row was all that came to see us.”

Matchbox 20 has garnered quite a following since then. In fact, the sea of bodies, on Thursday night, extended well beyond the perimeter of the stage to the back walls of the large auditorium. Thomas’s polished and prolific songwriting and the group’s nonstop touring schedule has added up to mass sales for the Orlando, Florida-based quintet (over 3 million CDs and counting...). In fact, Matchbox 20’s rapid ascension to stardom has sparked the ire of many rock & roll critics.

The main barb being tossed in the general direction of Thomas and company is that Matchbox 20 is just one of many innocuous pop products being churned out from the big guns of today’s corporate rock industry. The bands, according to this school of bashers, skyrocket to the summit of the charts with a radio-friendly tune (such as Matchbox’s hit song “Push”), and then sputter down like a dying comet with the release of a second, less vibrant, album.

Thomas himself is well aware of this phenomenon, however, he appears not to be losing a tremendous amount of sleep over it. “If your second album doesn’t do as well as your first, so what?” he asks. “There’s nothing you can do about that except to keep doing what you do. You can’t worry about that because it will have an effect on your music.”

It’s pretty hard to argue against the point that Matchbox 20 may not be the most innovative and original band to come along in the past three decades. Does this mean, however, that the band should be discounted entirely? The Manhattan Center performance has me thinking otherwise. Matchbox 20 is comprised of top-notch musicians: Kyle Cook’s and Adam Gaynor’s guitar playing blends miraculously; Rob Thomas’s forceful voice and prodigious songwriting are equally as impressive; and the stage show in general is vibrant and well-paced (although I could have done without some of the stage lighting which burned a couple of holes in my retinas).

Furthermore, I think the hyper-analytical dissection of pop acts can be overwrought. After all, the Everly Brothers and Chuck Berry begat the Beatles, the Beatles begat Oasis, etc. No one has ever been completely original since the first caveman decided to bang on a rock with a stick. It’s a matter of degrees. Nonetheless, for whatever reason, there is no shortage of artists out there that suck. Perhaps they have absolutely nothing new to offer or are offensive in one way or another. The thing is, I can’t justifiably lump Matchbox 20 in either of these categories.

Leaving few in the crowd displeased, Matchbox 20 performed their big numbers, “3 AM” (debuted earlier in the day on the David Letterman Show), “Push” and their first hit single “Long Day,” which closed the evening following a torch ballad performed solo by Thomas.

The band is on a roll whether certain critics like it or not. Will their shooting star turn into a dying nova? Who knows. Sad hard truth is most bands’ do. Such is the fickle nature of the pop-rock business. For now, I’ll boldly state that Matchbox 20 is definitely worth a look and listen. Case closed.