Matt Nathanson

The Troubadour is such a cool little intimate venue full of history that makes it more than an iconic venue. I'm usually busy seeing huge stadium bands and it's always nice when a smaller act brings me back to a venue like the Troubadour. My third time at this venue and the second time seeing Matt Nathanson. Matt Nathanson is a singer songwriter who ensnares his fans with a poetic genius. After hammering out album after album over the past couple of decades, Matt Nathanson has a recognizable following. If you're unfamiliar with him, go check it out. I had never been familiar with Matt until my girlfriend introduced me to him. He's actually what I call a department store artist, because he had a relatively chart happy hit in the early thousands that you'll be likely to hear over the speakers of a JC Penny or Target. 
I think his diehard fans like his celebrity prowess just fine and I agree. I have a similar relationship with some favorite artists of mine. I'm glad they aren't too big. Smaller bands are fun in an intimate sort of way. Scorpions will Rock Me Like a Hurricane, and David Bowie will take me on a Moonage Daydream, but I'll either have a nosebleed or I'll be broke. I'll gladly take my small shows like The Adicts, Blue October, and Matt Nathanson. 

This show was fun because It was the first thing we have been able to do in a while; she's been really busy and so have I. It's always a treat to go out and do something really fun with her. Before the show we managed to go and get our belly's full of I-Hop and got in line early enough to be very close to the stage. The one downside to the intimate venue is being sardined in general admission standing in one spot for hours on end. My senses were happy but my back was not.

This was a fun set. The show was opened up by Matt's cousin/guitarist. Then with minimum intermission Matt Nathanson was on the stage. It was just the two of them for most of the set aside from 2 songs where his whole band came on stage. It was a stripped down show with something I had never seen before. A song wheel. If you want to know what Matt Nathanson is going to play when you go see him on this tour. GOOD LUCK! The song wheel was as explained by Matt "so, if you are unhappy about anything I didn't play, you can blame it on the fucking wheel." Matt Nathanson is such a ham. His sets are 2 parts. One part stand up comedy show, one part singer songwriter jams. He played a good 18 song I believe, with some deep cuts, some cuts off his new album and a few things in between. It was a well rounded show that was just enough for the small space that is the Troubadour. You wouldn't want to see anything much more try to be fit into that venue. 

This was actually a late birthday present for my girlfriend. I'm glad I got to take her to see her favorite music dude. Trust me, she's nutty for Matt Nathanson! 

Knotfest 2015

Here we are at 101 concerts. What are we gonna do about it?
Well... I guess we are gonna write about it.

Knotfest: A festival put on annually by the band Slipknot. This festival is two days of heavy metal artists exploding through the hills of San Bernardino.

I, however, was only drawn to the first day, Saturday October 24, 2015. Because who was main headliner? Judas Priest. Who opened for them? Korn. If you've been paying attention you'll know already that I am a huge Korn fan and an even bigger Judas Priest fan.

I have another post you can read called Epicenter Festival 2015. Where I talk about seeing Korn alongside a few other cool bands. Such as Limp Bizkit, P.O.D. I suggest you give that post a read!

I feel like Korn is a band that you come to understand and appreciate. I know the sound can be "a lot" at first. But when you find out where that heavy music comes from, and it comes from a very heartfelt place. It can change your mind, and make you a Korn believer. The lyrics are largely written by Jonathan Davis  who truly had a sad childhood. Understanding his story changed my mind. Also their relationship as a band is awesome. They are all buddies, in videos they seem to have so much fun with each other being in a Rock band. Or nu-metal if you want me to be all specific and what not.

So what do you do when you have tickets to see an awesome show, but your girlfriend gets busy?

Find another willing soul to gallivant alongside me through heavy metal bliss!
My friend Raitt pulled through when I requested a ride in exchange for his entry. So he picked me up at my house, we went and grabbed a 32 of Budweiser some ice and we were off.  We ripped through on the toll road and we arrived early for some pre game shenanigans. We were supposed to have a few drinks, then we got buzzed, and then we got drunk. Sharing laughs, and our love for metal.
While at Knotfest I managed to see Kataklysm, Mastodon, Korn and Judas Priest. To be honest I needed to rest during Mastodon. A lot of walking and a lot of beer was exhausting. I actually walked 7 miles! But by the time Korn was up I was ready, ready to redeem myself after an hour long lawn nap. I was so far from the stage that I didn't really worry about watching the show. There was a cool little mosh pit of just a few people. It was wide open and we were just having a lot of fun listening to Korn together. Korn is definitely it's own niche that I'm pleased to be part of. The set was not nearly as long as I could have hoped. They are touring for the 20th anniversary of their first self titled album. However there set was far too short to give the audience a full injection of the album and then some extra hits. So they ripped through the first half of the album and gave fans some of there more chart topping hits. I'm just glad to have seen them during the Epicenter festival. They had a longer set during that show, it was fantastic. Again I can't venture too far into the performance itself, because I had seen it and I wasn't really focused on trying to watch what was so far away. But I love John, Fieldy, Head, I love the Korn crew. They've made some of my favorite songs of all time.

The moshing subsided for Priest as one would expect, Judas Priest is high octane metal don't get me wrong. But their brand of metal doesn't really call for moshing. They slay you into submission to the point where all you can do is sit and watch in awe as your face starts to melt off. Rob Halford looked to be in really good health, and I can't imagine Judas Priest going anywhere anytime soon. I hope to find myself at a true to the bone full set Judas Priest show again soon. Much like Korn the set was minimal and short. However they did manage to have Rob ride out on his motorcycle. As one has come to expect. But cheers to performing some of my favorite songs of all time for me again boys. The Priest is always welcome back to Southern California. Please check out my first Judas Priest post Dan Goes To Judas Priest Concerts where I write like the biggest fanboy goober ever. Maybe next time I'll be able to afford meet and greet tickets and really solidify my Judas Priest history!!