A few months ago somehow Albert, who was convinced I prefer
80’s pop music over anything, and I were talking about music. The conversation
ended up leading to Matt Costa somehow and Albert asking me if I knew he was
coming to Saint Louis. We looked it up and I was so very excited! I said I
wanted to go and Albert said he’d join me, but I wasn’t so sure it would
happen. A few weeks ago we walked to the Firebird to purchase our tickets. I
was worried it was too late and they would be sold out, but we walked away each
$15 shorter, and proudly holding a ticket for the concert in our hands.
I must add that years before this, when life wasn’t so busy,
and I used to get to spend a lot more time with my cousins, I was constantly
being shaped by my cousin Amy. If I remember correctly she is the person who
influenced me to improve my handwriting, paint my bedroom walls red, and cut
two random pieces of hair shorter than the rest and wear them down in my face
(well off to the side a little). I looked up to her and thought everything she
did was great, because she was (and still is! I just don’t get to see her as
often). This included music. Amy is the one I must thank for introducing me to
Jack Johnson, John Mayer, and Matt Costa- three of my very favorite artists.
So a few days ago Wednesday April 24, the day of the concert
finally arrived! We both had chem lab that afternoon, as well as our regular
MWF classes before that. It was a long chem lab that lasted the entire three
hours, but then we were free! Not only free from experiment #11, but from chem
lab entirely! It was our last one of the semester, a definite call for
celebration!
I went back to my dorm to shower and get ready to go to Matt
Costa! I showered and had time to curl a few pieces of hair and apply make-up,
both things that I am too lazy to do daily. I also slipped on one of my
favorite dresses, which I was determined to wear regardless of the chilly
weather, and my bright orange TOMs from North Carolina. When we were about to
leave and he saw me, Albert felt underdressed and asked if he should wear
jeans. This is a big deal, as I have literally only seen Albert in pants 3
times. Ever. (and once was just a few hours earlier for chem lab because we are
required to or won’t be allowed in to lab). I told him no way, that I just
wanted to take the chance to wear my dress and that his outfit choice was fine!
We left about 7:20ish and walked through SLU’s campus, then
through the campus of Harris Stowe, and were soon near the Firebird close to
downtown Saint Louis. As we walked I tried my best to capture the moonrise and
the radiant sunset. I did so, but was unable to really do justice to either.
When we got there around 7:45 we opened the door into the
darkness, and saw few people inside. We decided to wait around outside a little
while until more cars showed up and more people started going in. We showed our
tickets and ids to guys standing behind a counter at the door and received big,
dark permanent Xs drawn across our hands, spanning from our pinky knuckles to
the edge of the gap between our index fingers and thumbs. Not a lot was going
on, and it besides more people trickling in and heading to the bar, it stayed
this way until a little after 8:30. We knew our tickets said the doors opened
at 7:30 and the show started at 8:30, but we wrongly assumed that was when Matt
Costa would start to play.
First a local from named Sam Fickie played. We remained
where we had been standing, and ended up being in the front row about 5 feet
from the stage. Sam’s voice was different sometimes sweet and quiet and then
sometimes pretty loud and straining, but I really liked his songs. His lyrics
were cute and about a girl, which is cuteee and relatable. I wish I could remember
more, but I know that one line from one song was “we go together like polka and
dots” and for some reason I just thought that was real great. He also sang a
song called Saint Louis Misery that I could relate to pretty well currently
with lyrics saying, “Well then what if we just ran away, find the place where
east meets west and stay, and what if we are happy there, we can build a world
with nothing but tomorrow and each other to call our own, […] And I don’t
really care where we end up, just so long as its far far away from Saint Louis
misery.” The best though was when he said this is a cover dedicated to all the
guys here and he played Taylor Swift’s 22! Yay for that song!
Then the opening band that was
traveling with Matt Costa played some songs. The Blank Tapes, what a group. As they started to play, people came closer
and now we were in the front row about 2 feet away. On the Firebird’s website
the band was described as being, “the
moniker of Los Angeles & San Francisco based musician & artist, Matt
Adams, who has produced over 10 albums of 1960's psychedelic-surf-pop-folk-rock
on an old 8 track cassette tape recorder in various garages, basements, sheds
& bedrooms across the California Coast.” I’d say they lived up to this.
They two guys had long hair, as did the girl in the band. She was the drummer
and danced with her whole body as she rocked forward to keep the beat of the
drum. I was glad Albert liked their feel, but I was just ready for Matt Costa!
Matt Costa’s band set up and did sound checks on the instruments and
mics. Then a little while later they went off stage, and on walked a confused
but very cute Matt Costa! I was cheesing sooo big then, and the rest of the
night. Soon they were all on the same page and all on stage to open the concert
with Mr. Pitiful, a great song.
Albert and I managed to move forward with the
group and keep our spot in the front row! (close enough that towards the end when I got warm I took my northface off and laid it on the stage) It was so great! We were literally
right up at the stage’s edge. Whenever possible, Albert was so sweet and
switched me spots so that I had the better view. Matt and his band played many
newer songs that I had acquainted myself in the weeks leading up to the
concert, and also many familiar songs that I have been singing along with for
years. These included Astair, Witchcraft, Sunshine, Ophelia, and Behind the
Moon. I’m pretty sure that during/after performing Behind the Moon was when
people just got excited and started howling and wooping kind of, so that
brought Matt to talk about the full moon being the next night and also about
how they had played earlier at Vinyl Record store at the Loop and there they
met Raven Paw or Raven Wolf from Saint Louis, who was a warewolf and played
music. Then Danny, one of his guitarists, told Matt they should play the next
song for him, so Matt dedicated it to Raven Wolf or Paw (I can’t remember) and
said he really was a great guy.
Pretty quick into the concert, Matt Costa took
his tweed sport coat off (which he wore so well!) to reveal a green sweater
with birds on it. He told us it was getting hot up there, but also that he was
inspired to buy the sweater because of his song Clipped Wings, because the
birds on it were chickadees and they do not have wings to being with. Then he
proceeded to play the song for us. He also introduced his band, saying he was
from California and so were the rest of them, well besides Jay who played the
pedals. Someone asked where he was from and Matt said to guess. (I really like
when people let me guess things/guess when I ask them too). It was revealed
that he was from Seattle! Matt declared, “yes, who would have know that they
had such handsome pedal players in Seattle” and continued to refer to him as
Handsome Jay the rest of the show.
When Matt Costa played Miss Magnolia, which
is a great happy song to begin with, he stepped down off the stage still
strumming his guitar and alternating between the harmonica and singing. He
walked around a little while and stood in the middle of the crowd finishing the
song. It was so fun!
As they were getting ready to play another song one of his
guitarists had his phone out and was facetiming, showing the crowd to the
person on the other end. As Matt sat back down to the keyboard he noticed and
said, “Oh is that your lady?” It was so sweet! The guitarist set the phone
upwards using a towel while he played, then picked it up and waved goodbye at
the end. This occurred during the song Good Times. Also before playing it Matt
told us “I’ll teach you the chorus it’s pretty easy,” then turned his head back
around before starting to play on the keyboard and told us, “what I’m saying is
I need your help.” I didn’t only sing along to this song, but all of the ones I
knew as well. Albert, who is fairly new to his music, even sung along to some!
It was so cute when Matt was about to play Sweet Rose, and told us that we
could dance to this one, or shuffle a little bit. It doesn’t sound great as I
type it out, but coming from his mouth it was so cute!
My favorite was probably
a song I wasn’t even previously familiar with, Mobile Chateau. The story, and
the way he told it was just so cute and perfect. First he was very confusing,
telling us he was going to tell us the story, then telling us he would tell it
backwards, then debating wether or not he should do that. Ultimately he decided
to tell it a little backwards, and explained that this was because he had recently
told it and someone said they would rather him take them first to Long Beach,
California and then end in the south of France instead of vice versa. He
proceeded to tell us that he was in Long Beach, California (which excited a
girl in the front row who screamed with excitement saying that she was born
there. He pointed to Danny, one of his guitarists and said he gets excited when
Long Beach is brought up, then told how his drummer had family from there as
well, and “now we are all talking about where we are from, everyone loves to
talk about where they are from but enough small talk”) at his
new-mother-in-law’s house/apartment. He emphasized his “new-mother-in-law”
telling us that he was in her bedroom with the keyboard and when he’s around a
keyboard he just gets very excited and his foot starts tapping and he wants to
beat on the keys and play. As much as he enjoys it, his new-mother-in-law’s
neighbors do not, especially at 7 in the morning. So she received a call and he
had to create a song that was quiet, but he said just imagine what could have
come of the song if we never got that call. Then he took us back to two weeks
prior to that, which was what he was actually writing the song about and trying
to capture with the song. He said that he was in the south of France with his
wife on their honeymoon. And that they stayed in a chateau, which was half of
the title right there already. Then he said that his wife kept making mobiles that
hung in their room. And the night would come and the mobiles would move in
front of the window and the stars would move fast. Then he smiled and admitted
to us that two months before he hadn’t planned on marrying her, two months
before he hadn’t even planned on marrying her. But it all happened so fast
(just as quickly as the stars of the mobiles were), that it was hard to believe
it had indeed happened, and this song he wrote to captivate it all. The whole time he was telling their sweet story, he was strumming his guitar. Then once he finished speaking he started singing, never ceasing the strumming.
We were all
sad when the show was over, but all remained standing where we were and
continued cheering even after they had left the stage. As a crowd, we were all
pleased and filled with happiness when we saw the off-stage door swing back
open and were greeted by Matt Costa’s sweet face. He has an
old-proper-gentleman essence about him. I love it. He is very laid back and seems
so kind, full-hearted, and just happy. He was very captivating, and I have been
listening to his music more now than ever before, and also listen to commentary
and interviews with him because I just really like him and all that he is. When
he walked back on stage he opened his beer, took a sip, and said mmm that’s
some good stuff. Then a girl in the front row help up her glass and said
cheers, so he clanked his beer bottle with it. It was perfect and I think
really tells just what kind of a musician he is and how the concert itself was,
very laid back and intimate. He finished the show by playing an encore that
included Vienna, Cold December, and Lullaby. All older, but great songs. The
rest of the guys in the band came back and joined him as well for the last
song, though I have forgotten what it was.
I was filled with such a happy heart and fond of the music carrying
on in my soul as Albert and I made the walk back to school. It was the best
concert I have ever been to, even better than Jack Johnson who is my all-time
favorite singer.
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