Concert Review: Matt Costa with The Threes and Nines

Tuesday the 19th of October I was so lucky to find myself standing in front of the stage at Matt Costa‘s Vancouver date in the Venue right smack downtown on Granville St. Matt Costa is one of my favorite musicians, so I am immediately biased, I must warn you, but the show was good. Turned out it was even one of the guitarist’s birthday!

The show opened with a band called the Threes and Nines. The singer/guitarist was clearly a lyricist taking pride in being a songwriter, and enjoyed it the whole time. The band was definitely a hard working band, with guts to leave everything and face the life of no money to play for crowds all across North America. They had some great songs that had some great feel to them, and the band was tighter than the glue holding my shoes together!

Matt Costa opened by walking through the crowd, washboard, mandolin in toe, guitar and harmonica in hand. It was a great intro, most people didn’t understand what was going on. I love when the artists interact with the crowd like that. I was actually quite surprised at how small the venue was that he was playing in. Last time I saw him he had packed a much larger venue, but I know that some artists  crave a smaller venue to do just that; interact with the crowd.

His set, however, I felt started off somewhat slow. Something was off, the band was rattled for some reason or another, so I felt that it wasn’t the Matt Costa experience that I was expecting. However, as the show continued on, I found that Matt started to really get into it. He sat down for a few songs and played just him and an accompanying instrument, guitar for two songs and banjo for another. After this, I think he felt more at ease. I think the crowd was waiting for Astair.. and they got it!

He finished the show in fine fashion. Pumping out Mr. Pitiful on that piano of his was exciting. I was standing nearly 8 ft away from him. I like this Matt Costa character. I suggest you check him out.

The show was great, I enjoyed it. The crowd was very nice. I am beginning to really enjoy that venue, Venue. Did any of you go to the show? I’d love to hear how you’re enjoying the rest of his tour.