adam_777

He did play Empty Road during acoustic show in Vancouver back in April at the Rio, but yeah, hasn't been aired much. I really enjoy that song acoustic.

I think what the issue is, is that essentially there are two different mindsets in the crowd. You have diehard fans, who usually want to hear old rarities and new songs and still enjoy the regulars and you have casual fans, who show up cause they heard "Matthew Good Band" is coming and they want to have some fun at a show and dance to some old tunes from the 90's. It's legitimately possible that some of those people haven't heard a new song by Matt since "In a World Called Catastrophe" so when they go to a show, and like 9 of the first 11 songs they've never even heard of, because they are on an album that's a month old, I think it's a bit of a shocker to them. I'm glad Matt pays dues to his new material, because of the many artists I listen to with careers with over 10 years of longevity, Matt is one of the only ones continually producing quality music every album, where I could literally find a new favourite song, 20 years after first hearing the artist. That's not to say I don't understand where the more casual fan may be coming from, But I'm glad Matt frequently chooses to cater to himself, and in essence the majority of the people here on this board.

yeah Lesser men is the only song from Vancouver -> Chaotic not to be played live, and like you said, odd because it was a single. Matt mentioned before that Anti-Pop was only created as a forced attempt at commercializing a song after the record company felt Audio of Being had few discernible radio hits, I guess they expected Beautiful Midnight 2: After the Dawn

I've always enjoyed the new material taking prominence and yeah, Stu has done a great job of converting all of that soundscape into one man and one instrument. I look forward to if you guys can get some of those alternates in there, But really digging how the new stuff translates live. It's easy to complain about not getting favourite songs in the mix, I come out to 3-6 shows every tour, and I love the shows and love the variety you are able to infuse, Sure I wish it could be more, But I'm glad there is some. Many bands, with much bigger fanbases and budgets have a set 16 songs, they play it every night and nothing changes, not even the order of the songs, I come out to as many shows as I do because I love the music, no matter what is played, and there's always that "you never know" factor in their as well.

Matt was ribbing with the crowd about not standing and not clapping along. Some girl up front yelled out "at least we came" I'm not positive, But I think that peeved Matt a bit, his response to it was pretty funny though he said "yeah, that's the same thing I said when I saw the Police on the Synchronicity tour, I told Sting 'At least I fucking came'"

Curtster, Looks like you got all the songs...if I remember correctly Moment and Cloudbusting were switched from your order, and he definitely left the stage to Harridan so switch that with Weapon. Other than that looks bang on. I completely agree with you on Harridan and Girls in Black live, they are my two least favourite on the album, But live were definite standouts. Cloudbusting surprised me too, really had not idea if this would be done without Holly, But it's a more uptempo rocking version and as you said done well, glad to see it in the set. I was surprised at the amount of new material played, I loved it being a fan of the album and getting to hear those songs aired live for the first time for me was a highlight. I do think it lost some of the crowd though. You could feel that about half the room was into the new stuff, and then the other half would get excited for the hits, But in a set with 10 new songs played, if you were just there for the hits, and weren't familiar with the new material you probably were lost. No complaints for me on it though, just something I noticed looking around the venue.

Just a heads up, Matt doesn't mean CHampions will only be played in soundchecks, it means because its a relatively easy song to play/learn, the band can pick it up in soundchecks as the tour progresses to be performed live during the show.

That's amazing news. A full band Advertising is a wishlist item for sure, and always loved Blue Skies live. Too bad Non Populus won't get the odd airing, it's a great song, although it has been played at most shows over the last couple of tours.

Yeah, For HM you'er basically Born Losers, and maybe an acoustic Metal Airplanes or 99% and Vancouver is essentially just Last Parade based on last couple of tours. One thing I've always liked about going to Matt's tours is if you go to the tour supporting the album and have the chance to see a few shows you'll almost certainly hear the vast majority, if not all of the new album live. I really appreciate that he devotes time to the new material as it makes every show fresh. Although once that tour is done, it seems with the new albums that you're pretty limited to what you'll hear on subsequent tours. I was fortunate to be able to hear all of Vancouver and Arrows live, and all, But In a Place of Lesser Men from Lights. Looking forward to hearing how the new album translates live.

I've always wondered if bands and artists over the last 30 years had been subjected to the 45 minute time limit vinyl typically provides, if release would be more concise, have a clearer direction and a more unified theme. Some of my favourite albums of all time are also some of the shortest. Speaking of Shine on your Crazy Diamond, it always amazed me that when limited to a shorter time frame, certain bands were not afraid to experiment with individual songs that would on occasion take up to a full side of a record. It's amazing to me that as album lengths increased the long term experimentation decreased, obvious proof that the album was dead...sad truth is most people will not bother with a song that takes 4 minutes to hit vocals, the music listening public is a play and dispose mentality...I know people who will only listen through the first chorus, then skip the track. Unbelievable! I think every fan has an ideal of a perfect experience with their favourite artist. For some its maybe more on the unrealistic side, like a concert in their backyard...Others might just want to express to the artist how their music makes them feel, or hear their favourite song. Many of the diehards here benefit from having some form of interaction with their favourite artist in the form of something more tangible than getting retweeted. Matt drops in to offer insight into the recording process, the touring plans and gives us a healthy dose of the realities of the music business, as it was and as it currently is. I think for the most part that creates a fair amount of respect around here and people realize that maybe some of their biggest wishlist items might just not be doable. On the other hand, there have been several instances when Matt has done things that have totally blown our minds. For me personally I had a list of favourite songs that I would have loved to hear live. Most were rarer songs in the live repertoire, some hadn't been played in over a decade. I've been to hundreds of concerts in my life, and usually my wishlist of rarities is just that a wish list. Because Matt tunes in here once in awhile though, he does sometimes manage to squeeze some of these songs frequently asked for by fans into the setlist. Two of the songs I most wanted to hear were Running For Home and A Boy and His Machine Gun, both of which I was fortunate enough to hear over the last few years and honestly I doubt either would have been the case if it wasn't for Matt stopping by here to read this forum. It's something I am immensely grateful for and it keeps me coming out 4-5 times every tour because I feel respected as a fan, something rare in any form of entertainment. I've never had an issue with the dreaded demoitis. I've always appreciated having what essentially is like an outtake of a song. It gives me two, sometimes more versions of a song to listen to, I can always choose to listen to my favourite version if I dislike one or the other, for that freedom of choice we are really spoiled if we bitch about it because its something that quite frankly you don't usually get from a band...Led Zeppelin just issued a whole catalog of releases based on demos...nearly 50 years after their first album was released! I'd say be thankful you have an insight into that process. Also how many rarity songs have we gotten from that process that never made it onto albums? A song like Dusk alone is worthwhile to me. And then we get things like Live Road, to offer again another take this time on some of our favourite songs, this time in a live setting. I mean as fans we really do get alot, and astonishingly most of it is coming at us, absolutely free of charge. Truth is we're somewhat spoiled as fans because of our interactions with the artist, But I think most people are just trying to suggest what they personally feel is the path the music should take...it's intriguing to be able to engage Matt in this way and get his honest feedback about why something works and why it doesn't. As fans we naturally tend to be unrealistic because we have no responsibilities to the lifestyle of the artist...we want our own ideals without necessarily considering the logistical strain they might leave on the artist. As a fan, I'll keep my head in the clouds, But I respect Matt for coming by to explain reasons why I had best also keep my feet on the ground. I never thought I'd ever have those albums I love like Beautiful Midnight in vinyl, it never seemed like something even remotely possible to me, But here we are and it sounds like it will happen at some point in the future, and its just one more thing that makes me thankful to be a fan. The concept of a concert playing an entire album, I personally love the idea, I think most here would, whether it's something the casual fan would be interested in, well that's not for me to say, I'm well past the point of understanding the needs of a casual fan. One concept that always appealed to me was the idea of a crowd funded show.Figure out the logistics and expenses that play into a fan club style show, small venue, rehearsal time to learn some fan voted songs everything else involved and then do a kickstarter style campaign for a few major cities. If there isn't enough interest the campaign won't raise the money and the show won't happen...if there is enough interest the show happens and those who donated a predetermined minimum amount get a ticket or something like that. Also, Matt, one thing that confuses me somewhat is over the past few years I've followed your posts where you discuss the expenses of touring and rehearsing and all the other things that go into touring with a full band. It's surprising to me, that you haven't toured Canada acoustically since 2007. From what I've seen your acoustic audience is in the same vicinity as your full band audience and obviously your expenses are considerably less. I've seen a few times where you've mentioned particularly enjoying solo tours and tentative plans to launch them, But nothing has come from it. The Vancouver Secret show of 2012 is still the best show I've ever seen and I'd love to see more concerts in that vein some day.

isn't it on the DVD of the collectors In a Coma as a bonus feature?

yeah agree totally badass. Did Matt ever say if the Ep's would be released as well or is it strictly a LP release of the back catalog?

Yeah, you needed to press apply promo code to get the box to input a quantity for regular fan sale, hope it didn't bite ya in the ass too bad. grabbed some decent seats, pretty excited about the VIP deal. Last time it was more value obviously in the sense that for $120 you got Arrows on Vinyl a poster and a ticket, so to me all that is worth in the neighbourhood of $100, so you were basically paying $20 for a M&G. This time though it's alot more unique, going to a soundcheck, getting a Q&A and a private acoustic set, definitely made that appealing for me. Also like the idea of it being before the show, after the show VIP's, the artist is usually half dead and worn out from performing, especially if its the second or third night in a row.

Really cool to hear as an artist you sometimes go back and look at older stuff like that to see what can be done to it. Some of the Demos left off I understand why they were and I'm not infatuated with, but others are some of my favourite songs, things like Dusk, Can't get shot in the back and All Together would all probably be in my favourite 10 MG/MGB songs. Having them on an album would be awesome, hearing them live even better!

also happens to be a list of some of my all time favourite MG songs.

Ive seen you over twenty times. Which is probably nothing compared to many here. Ive seen acoustic, full band and festival shows. Ive seen some where things were clearly clicking, somewhere the sound sucked and the mix was too low on some instruments. I can honestly say though ive never left a Matt Good show disappointed or feeling like there was something else I would have rather done with my night. A big part of that is I feel there is a spontaneous quality at your shows that I dont see often. You opened a show with a song being played live for a second time only followed by another song not played for fifteen years and never acoustically. All this at the first acoustic show you've played in awhile. That shit takes balls. I love that no matter how many shows ive been to or how many setlust ive seen alot of the time I have no idea what the hell is about to happen. Maybe your about to play the best version of a favourite song of mine. Maybe your about to pull a girl outta the crowd to hold lyrics for Running From Home so you dont fuck them up. Only to find there's a typo in the printed lyrics. Maybe your about to finally answer a guy screaming for weapon all night and show why it doesn't work acoustically while we attempt to sing along. I think its interesting your laying out what is essentially and explanation and apology. But you'll never owe me one. As long as you show up and try to do what you do ill be entertained. So keep on keeping on. See ya tonight!

yeah I dunno what the deal is with the fans sometimes, I was at a show in Seattle a couple years back and the crowd was so rude and not into the show at all, most of them had their back to the stage and talked loudly throughout the entire set. Matt even mentioned it the next night in Portland how rude the crowd was in Seattle, but how awesome the crowd was in Portland, so he played I think 25-30 mins longer in Portland to thank the fans for giving a shit.

Damn awesome setlist, some real hardcore rarities in there, I've been hoping to hear a Boy and His Machine Gun since I went to my first show back in '08. Huge thanks to Girl for recording that one! I had hoped Matt might Live Road these shows, but he hasn't mentioned it, and he seems dissapointed in this show anyways, although listening to this recording through the first few numbers it seems pretty good so far! Anyways I can't wait for Thursday now!

No Way! I'm going to Vancouver and I would completely collapse on the floor if he did A Boy and His Machine Gun!

It makes sense from an economic standpoint why the 20 minute songs wouldn't make alot of sense in a studio environment, clearly alot of us here really did like that song though, if its something you enjoyed doing have you ever considered the Led Zeppelin approach? Being restricted to 40 minutes of vinyl often they would have songs like Dazed and Confused and No Quarter that were about 6 minutes on a record but expanded anywhere from 15-45 minutes live. I'm guessing that one wouldn't go over to well with the people that love bitching about setlists, but if its something you really enjoy and find easy to do perhaps thats the way to do it? I htink of a song like Avalanche which is so beautiful in its current form, but it does make me wonder what it could be like stretched out and allowed to breathe a little more in a live setting.

http://keepvid.com/ post youtube link into address bar on this site, it will give you which option to save it as.

you can save off youtube in HD, it looks pretty good playing on the big screen. I've been hoping eventually we'll see one shot and released by Matt from one of his shows. Usually a longer and more varied setlist than the festival shows and better control over crowd and sound. But I'm not sure if it'd be financially viable, maybe run a kickstarter campaign like Neil Young did with Pono, get the market to fund the project, you gauge demand without the risks of the unknown market desire for your product.

Really enjoyed both of the songs for what they are, looking forward to how they develop further in the studio. After a few listens I think I prefer Tiger, but by a slim margin, both are hitting the nail on the head for me. As a side question Matt, are you considering Live Roading the two upcoming acoustic shows? I loved the last round of live road, but understand the difficulties of mixing it with a live band, but would really love to have a board recording of an acoustic show to listen to at home! If you do you should leave the banter in, sometimes that really makes the concerts whether it be insights into songs, continually chiding Lance or hilarious fan interaction. Anyways thanks for sharing the demos!

Some while back Matt mentioned doing Live Road of entire acoustic shows while he was thinking of doing a Canadian Acoustic tour in the fall. Obviously those plans didn't pan out, but he mentioned it being a real possibility because of the ease of mixing such a show because of their only being a couple of things mic'd. I'm hoping he is still willing to do this for the couple acoustic shows in Calgary and Vancouver. That would be a real treat!

hasn't Matt played Born Losers at every show since like 2008? I feel its the only song in the set I ever get bored with, I understand that songs like Apparitions have this same distinction, but Apparations to me is a song I just never seem to tire of hearing, Born Losers was one of my favourite songs, but I go to alot of shows 4-5 each tour so when I hear it kick in, usually around 4th spot in the setlist I'm now finding myself wishing it would switch up once in awhile. I do still like the song, and I think it should still be played, but I don't feel it deserves the every single show status it has gained, I feel I may be in the minority there.