Is anybody alive out there?

[crthiel]

Damn right to the person who wrote the long post calling out his BS!  I live close to the Pittsburgh venue.  I ALWAYS had a sneaking suspicion this show wouldn't go on.  Even booking Pittsburgh was so very weird.  I found out about the show originally because of an app called bandsintown that alerts me when artists I follow come near me although I check Matt's site enough and the subreddit that I would have eventually found out.  

He played a very small venue several years ago in Pittsburgh called Club Cafe 2012 and it was solo acoustic.  Decent crowd for the place.  50-70 people maybe.  He also played Mr. Smalls 2010 which is MUCH bigger with his full band.  The place was comically empty.  Maybe the same 50 people that went to Club Cafe a couple years later! Club Cafe made a little more sense because solo acoustic has to be cheap to do.  

I saw him that same tour in 2010 in Buffalo and it was packed and full of energy.  Possibly his best show I'd ever seen.  You could tell the small, low energy crowd in Pittsburgh impacted him.  It was a very tonally different show. He acted like he couldn't wait to get out of there but he still played the show like a pro.  Overall, a far cry from the Beehive in Pittsburgh with MGB in 2001 which was raucous and just FUN.

I was SHOCKED he even tried Pittsburgh again so when he canceled, I just assumed very low sales. After all, it'd been 13 years since he came and his music sales/popularity had only tapered since then. I assumed if I went, it'd basically be a private show.  He canceled FIVE days before the show and cited Trump which I still suspect is just bullshit. FIVE DAYS BEFORE!!!!  The subreddit which had turned on him for the most part due to his shady behavior with him posting under psuedonyms like he was a fan and his terrible new Patreon and social messages all came flocking back: "Good ole Matt is back!!!!"  You couldn't even act disappointed he canceled or you got showered with downvotes.  So his ploy worked a little bit I guess.  He got to have his little protest and get out of some shows that would put him in the red.

Matt is a shell of what he once was.  His new music is a pretty wild departure which is fine if he wants to try something new but the fact it was recorded years ago tells you he just doesn't have the appetite for it and is just doing these tours to scrape together whatever cash he can.

I'm basically over him at this point.

Edited August 22, 2025 by crthiel

[foats]

Hey Charlie,

 

I was also at the Mr. Smalls and Club Cafe shows. I don't know that there were 50 at the Club Cafe. I was sitting 3 ft from him and it was the closest I'l ever get to an artist I like.  I was also up front at the Mr. Smalls full band show.  I also had a feeling something would happen to cancel the shows as again 0 advertising was done. Hell, I have over 15,000 LinkedIn followers and would have gotten the word out there and sold more tickets than his merch team did. If this is the doing/decisions of his label then they are failing him in a big way. 

 

Also Charlie and anyone in Pittsburgh,  go see  Ballyhoo! play at the Thunderbird in September.  They put on an amazing show

[Jessafur]

On 8/3/2025 at 8:01 PM, sharon said:

They have a terrible merchandise team too. On February 2nd, Patreon said VIP ticket holders would be getting an email in the next week to get details on when the limited cassette tape, from May 2024, would be shipped. Their customs broker said they would in fact be getting them. They were expected to arrive in Toronto the next week. Still nothing to this day. If you say you're going to do something, DO IT!!!  Pathetic.

I won't lie, I forgot that was even a thing that was meant to exist. Maybe the plan was to wait until everyone forgot?

[GuitarmanMCS]

On 8/22/2025 at 3:38 PM, crthiel said:

Damn right to the person who wrote the long post calling out his BS!  I live close to the Pittsburgh venue.  I ALWAYS had a sneaking suspicion this show wouldn't go on.  Even booking Pittsburgh was so very weird.  I found out about the show originally because of an app called bandsintown that alerts me when artists I follow come near me although I check Matt's site enough and the subreddit that I would have eventually found out.  

He played a very small venue several years ago in Pittsburgh called Club Cafe 2012 and it was solo acoustic.  Decent crowd for the place.  50-70 people maybe.  He also played Mr. Smalls 2010 which is MUCH bigger with his full band.  The place was comically empty.  Maybe the same 50 people that went to Club Cafe a couple years later! Club Cafe made a little more sense because solo acoustic has to be cheap to do.  

I saw him that same tour in 2010 in Buffalo and it was packed and full of energy.  Possibly his best show I'd ever seen.  You could tell the small, low energy crowd in Pittsburgh impacted him.  It was a very tonally different show. He acted like he couldn't wait to get out of there but he still played the show like a pro.  Overall, a far cry from the Beehive in Pittsburgh with MGB in 2001 which was raucous and just FUN.

I was SHOCKED he even tried Pittsburgh again so when he canceled, I just assumed very low sales. After all, it'd been 13 years since he came and his music sales/popularity had only tapered since then. I assumed if I went, it'd basically be a private show.  He canceled FIVE days before the show and cited Trump which I still suspect is just bullshit. FIVE DAYS BEFORE!!!!  The subreddit which had turned on him for the most part due to his shady behavior with him posting under psuedonyms like he was a fan and his terrible new Patreon and social messages all came flocking back: "Good ole Matt is back!!!!"  You couldn't even act disappointed he canceled or you got showered with downvotes.  So his ploy worked a little bit I guess.  He got to have his little protest and get out of some shows that would put him in the red.

Matt is a shell of what he once was.  His new music is a pretty wild departure which is fine if he wants to try something new but the fact it was recorded years ago tells you he just doesn't have the appetite for it and is just doing these tours to scrape together whatever cash he can.

I'm basically over him at this point.

That would be me. It is difficult. I don’t know the man personally. I’ve met him three times. He was nice the three times I met him. But it was brief encounters. He owes me nothing, I’m thankful for those regardless. I Became a fan when I was 12 or 13 in middle school and turned on some of my friends to Beautiful Midnight. I will always cherish his music as it has been such a major part of my life.

I feel the same way about an American artist many Canadians may or may not know who is Ryan Adams. From 1995-2018 the man released so much good music it can make your head spin. Matt Good is the same way. I probably even like Matt’s music more. Another true musical and lyrical genius that Canadians may or may not know is Mark Kozelek. He is the brain child behind the Red House Painters and Sun Kil Moon. If you don’t know him, look him up and stream everything from 1990 to 2013. It’s some of the best music that went under the radar you will ever hear. His story is kinda similar to these two. Lyrically and musically amazing but for some messed up reason liked to frustrate and belittle fans. I’ve seen him tons of times live and now he can hardly get booked out of a room larger than 200 people in NYC or Toronto.

I saw Ryan a month ago and he was a shell of what he was ten years ago. It was heartbreaking actually to see someone so damn talented intentionally destroy their own career by making it a physical chore to be a fan. You’d think artists who despite their cultural impact the music has on our lives would wise up. They’re not curing cancer. They’re not removing a potentially fatal blood clot. They sing and write music. In the current world economy you’d think, or at least I would, selling some tickets in a country I never wanted to make it big in and never promoted in would be a weird epiphany of “Wow I impacted people to use their minimal disposable income to come see me and my band, that’s really amazing”. Nope. Not here. Not with Ryan Adams either.

Ten to Fifteen years ago as a fan I probably would have been so devastated I would have booked a hotel and caught a gig slightly north of the border. I’m not the same person anymore. It sounds like many of you are the same. $300 total for tickets, tolls and a hotel and other expenses can be spent in so many other ways and yield far larger and better results. Especially by artists going through the motions and shitting on fans.
 

If Matt Good releases a new album (is it ever going to happen? Will it be Chinese democracy 2 at this point) will I buy it? Perhaps. I’d most definitely stream it. In fact it will probably be good maybe even great. But as far as going out of my way, I’m done. As an American fan, my thoughts are irrelevant. But I’ll spend my little disposable income I have towards live music of artists who care. I don’t have the time and effort to care much anymore. 
 

Like I said previously. You can love or hate Trump. He’s a flawed person. As am I. I do not agree with him on every issue. I didn’t agree with Trudeau on really much of anything. But had I been in a band and booked some shows in Hamilton, London and Toronto and had some poor ticket sales, I’d like to think I’d have the balls to say I was canceling because the real reasons: ticket sales. It was painfully obvious. 
 

I am glad so many of you agree and can see through this. Now seriously, go stream some Mark Kozelek. Go listen to April and Ghosts of the Great Highway. He’s another seriously flawed musician but man you are missing some absolutely stellar music. You’ll thank me. And no I am not Mark Kozelek.  

Edited September 1, 2025 by GuitarmanMCS

[crthiel]

You got the nail on the head in supporting artists that treat their fans well. 

I just bought a deluxe vinyl package from Local H. Certainly don't need another vinyl but I like Scott Lucas and the effort he puts in. 

I won't travel to Buffalo or St. Catherines anymore to see Matt. It's not because he canceled the Pittsburgh show and I'm salty. It's just everything over the past few years and I'm even aligned with him politically.

Posing as a fan on the subreddit was just wild. I suspect (but don't know)that the sexual allegations stuff was mostly him being a "rock star" and he never hid the fact he could be a colossal asshole. I don't know what happened behind closed doors but I know no charges were filed so I've basically moved on from that part but it still taints everything. 

His music meant a lot to me. It still does! But the artist behind the music has definitely fallen out of favor with me throughout the years. 

 

[foats]

I just don't get it, whoever the new label is really isn't doing Matt any favors.  We would hear a new song every week or 2 and now nothing, no album date, no big news on his official site (last I checked).  You shouldn't need to pay an artist to get this basic information, especially when the majority of his have been here supporting him for decades.   I will stand by the fact that had his shows been promoted better in the States he would have sold more tickets.  0 radio play, 0 advertisements,  what do they expect to happen?  I will however say, that the Crafthouse gets a lot of patrons that show up day of show to have dinner/drinks and see the concerts,  so he could have had a decent crowd.  It's just a shame how things have unfolded. 

[beerman37]

Agreed. He just makes being a fan so difficult anymore. It shouldnt be a chore to ask for a good album (the new EP isnt winning me over), a concert where you dont catch him in a bitchy mood where he may or may not walk off early, enjoying someoen who goes out of his way to sabotage his career, do weird things like the reddit crap, etc

Edited October 4, 2025 by beerman37

[Sly Botts]

I had bought a ticket to see him play in Sault Ste. Marie in 2020. Covid happened and he had to cancel it (fair enough). Then he decided to tour again in 2024 and I bought a Ticket for that. It was going to be on my Birthday, which was cool.  I made sure to do shift changes at work (I'm a Medical professional) and arrange it so I could be at the show (2.5 hour drive from my home) and he cancelled that one and rebooked it a month or 2 later.  I either couldn't get a refund or didn't even bother.  I had enough, I wasn't going to re-arrange my schedule again. I have a life, family, etc;.  The last show I went to of his was his Beautiful Midnight 2017 tour (Which was good!) in Sarnia, about an hour from my in-laws.

Most of his fans are in their 40's/50's at this point. They have lives.  If he's going to book shows he needs to stick to them because at this age they have to make arrangements to see him play.  If he wants to tour and make money with what he has left, he's going to have to consider this.  Obviously the guy has personal issues, I don't fail him for it, I'm grateful for all the entertainment he's provided over the years, but its a different world now and his fans are older.