Categories : Music Reviews, Rock + Pop.
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Rating: 3 / 5 Reviewer: David Coats |
In September 2007, the staff of Music-Critic.ca went to see Matt Good perform a solo acoustic show in Calgary. It proved to be arguably the best concert of the year in the city, the highlight being when Good played ‘Sort of a Protest Song,’ and some kid in front of us yelled up at him afterwards, “Thank you for playing that.†Massey Hall, while containing its share of high points, isn’t the same kind of revelation.
Massey has three weak links: (1) Hospital Music songs make up fully half the set, which, when performed with a full band, don’t sound as impacting as they do when Good’s on his own. Moreover, aside from ‘Champions of Nothing’ and the sorely-missing ‘Metal Airplanes,’ Hospital Music’s songs simply aren’t as impacting as earlier material in Good’s catalogue. (2) The rest of the set is made up largely of MGB classics which, though brilliant, lack urgency. Songs like ‘Load Me Up’ come across as though they’re being performed more out of obligation than because they represent where Good’s at (Good even describes ‘Hello Time Bomb’’s lyrics as “lameâ€). However, ‘Apparitions’ as played on lap steel is perfect, Matt burns through ‘Everything Is Automatic’ vocally in a way he never could have in 1997, and though nine years have passed, no one has found any cooler way to walk onstage than to the chant of “K-I-C-K-A-S-S / That’s the way we spell success!†And though some lyrics are oversung, give Good credit for having the guts to make an unedited live record – this is the real deal. (3) Playing with a full band takes something away from the unique relationship between Good, the fans, and his songs, which isn’t really highlighted here.
In a perfect world, Good would have made two live records: one in 2003 with Avalanche-and-prior material, and then one of solo acoustic material. Great artist, great songs – to paraphrase an old Good manifesto, he just got the timing wrong, is all.
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(3 votes, average: 3.67 out of 5)
