Matchbox Twenty. Photo / Supplied
OPINION
I have, legitimately, never heard a crowd as loud as last night.
I’ve been going to concerts since I was 17 — more than two decades — and I cannot think of an occasion where a crowd sang its absolute heart out like it did at Wolfbrook Arena last night.
It started with the Goo Goo Dolls.
Name. Iris. Vocal chords stretched, voices soaring.
And then Matchbox Twenty. SWOON.
Long Day. 3am. Unwell. Push — the crescendo was unreal, vibrating through every one of the almost-9000 fans.
There are some bands whose music has a permanent place in the innermost fibres of your soul.
Songs that, after hearing only an opening chord or lyric, catapault you back through time to long-passed moments and memories and the deepest-seated feelings.
Between them, the Goo Goo Dolls and Matchbox Twenty have a cache of tracks that do that for me.
In the mid-90s as I navigated my teenage years, music fed my poor “tortured” soul.
Grunge definitely had my heart (decades later there are still Nirvana and Silverchair posters rolled up in the depths of the wardrobe in my childhood bedroom) but somewhere along the way, something softer infiltrated my CD collection.
In 1995, the Goo Goo Dolls released what would be their breakthrough single — Name.
In 1996, Matchbox Twenty released their first album Yourself or Someone Like You, prefaced by the single Long Day.
Both bands became — and stayed — among my favourites, staying in the CD rack throughout my uni years, then the iPod and eventually added to the favourites list on Spotify.
The powerful yet fragile vocals of Rob Thomas and John Rzeznik, the gritty and often-relatable lyrics delving deeply into heartbreak, humiliation, loss, loneliness, anger, addiction, love, adultery, depression, conflict and yearning.
It was rock but not hard, it was grunge but not dark — my parents were probably stoked to have something more melodic seeping through my bedroom walls instead of the usual bleak and black noise.
And last night, after years of thrashing the tracks of Matchbox Twenty and Goo Goo Dolls, I got to see both of them perform, one after the other in my hometown.
It’s a thrill to see one of your old faves in the flesh but to see two - myself and thousands of others in that crowd were like over-excited kids at Christmas.
The bands are in New Zealand for two shows only as part of Matchbox Twenty’s Slow Dream tour, which boasted 50-plus dates across the US.
The main act has sold more than 40 million records worldwide — not including Rob Thomas’ success as a solo artist — and the numbers keep rising after the release of their first album in 11 years, Where The Light Goes.
Note to OG fans here — the new album is the perfect mix of big feelings, upbeat and catchy power choruses that get you right in the heartbeat.
Matchbox Twenty have not been to Aotearoa since 2008 — and never to Christchurch — so it was only right they sweetened their visit by bringing the Goo Goo Dolls along for the ride.
(They play the Bowl of Brooklands in Taranaki on Saturday and there’s still tickets left and you MUST go!)
For more than three hours last night we were entertained, we were wooed we were absolutely spoiled as the bands played hours of their oldest and greatest hits with a good mix of the newer material.
I’m not one for spoiling set lists but the Goo Goo Dolls started strong with Dizzy and built their way to Iris which was, honestly, a lifetime highlight.
In between they took us on a nostalgic journey — founding members Rzeznik and bassist/vocalist Robby Takac’s energy and love of performing their music patently clear.
Black Balloon. Slide. Here Is Gone. Run All Night. Broadway.
One of their deepest lyrics, arguably is: “Scars are souvenirs you never lose — the past is never far.”
And the Goo Goo Dolls made us feel that last night — their music hitting us right in the depths of our feels more than 20 years after we first fell in love with them.
I would have gone home a happy gal if the night was over when their set finished. But there was more — much, much more to come.
Matchbox Twenty took the stage at 8.52pm — and held us in their grasp until 11pm.
It was EVERYTHING.
They opened with something new, launched into How Far We’ve Come, straight to Real World and then took us on an emotional tour of their catalogue.
Thomas is a genuine showman and the crowd hung off every word.
His profuse apology for the band never visiting Christchurch in the past, his promise that the band’s set would make up for that, and a further vow to return.
He was engaging, charming and captivating and his seemingly endless energy was matched by the rest of the band throughout the show.
Their collective charisma forced 99 per cent of us on our feet and had us singing ourselves hoarse, dripping with sweat as we danced along.
The playlist was dreamy — the brilliant new songs Wild Dogs (Running in a Slow Dream), Don’t Get Me Wrong, Where The Light Goes.
Old favourites: Mad Season, Bent, Long Day.
A stunning pared-back rendition of If You’re Gone.
And then the “finale” Rebels from the new album with lyrics that old fans like me felt to the core.
“When you lose yourself in a photograph, and the room gets heavy, cos you can’t go back to sixteen.”
“We’re all rebels when we’re young.”
But wait — quelle surprise — there was more. MUCH more.
Matchbox Twenty delivered the best encore I have ever seen at a concert. Thomas had told the crowd it was coming, that they’d pretend to leave the stage, that we’d chant and stomp and scream for more, that they would come back and sing a little more for us.
When he burst back on to the stage — wearing an All Blacks jersey with Thomas 14 emblazoned on the back — and launched into 3AM, the crowd noise that I didn’t think could get any louder literally doubled.
From there our already-full hearts beat through mega-hits Unwell and Push before what we thought was the real finale.
And then, there was still more.
One last track, dedicated to the crew that move the band between venues, set up their stage, protect their gear and get them in front of maniacal crowds like us.
It was glorious. It was loud. It was bloody majestical.
A cover of Simple Minds’ Don’t You Forget About Me.
To Rob, Bryan, Kyle and their Kiwi drummer — a lad from Auckland on his first tour with the band after Paul Doucette couldn’t make the tour — we definitely won’t forget you. Not a chance.
And we cannot wait to see you again.
Let’s see how far you’ll come…..
Matchbox Twenty, Goo Goo Dolls and Christchurch artist Pickle Darling are heading to New Plymouth for a second final concert on Saturday, March 2. Tickets are still available via Ticketek.
Anna Leask is a Christchurch-based reporter who covers national crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2008 and has worked as a journalist for 18 years. She writes, hosts and produces the award-winning podcast A Moment In Crime, released monthly on nzherald.co.nz. And, she sometimes writes concert reviews...
Old Saint Nick is no stranger to the big screen.