Show Review

As a late-blooming fan of Matt Pond PA, I came across the wonderful opportunity to see these guys play live. I've heard rumors that Matt Pond PA will be jumping to a major for their follow-up to the wonderful "Several Hours Later," an album encapsulating a sense of nature and love.

Arriving in time for Youth Group's set, another band for which I am a late-blooming fan but a fan nonetheless, I found myself almost spacing out during their set. Playing in support of their latest release, "Skeleton Jar," which has had songs showcased on the soundtrack for the OC, I could see why Youth Group found themselves opening for Death Cab For Cutie in 2005. Tranquil and fluid, Youth Group's singer and company found a way to make their already spacious pop sound sound even more spacious. Songs flowed together to make one set of enjoyable harmonies and melodies from the singer and guitar players--and while their sound wasn't short of impeccable, they seemed to drown their audience out with a little too much of the same thing. While splendid and pleasing to the ear, Youth Group's music can be described as dry and flat, a true paradox. The highlight of their set was perhaps their closing, when the flatness finally escalated into the atmosphere, with blissful and attention-grabbing shreds from their guitar players.

As Matt Pond PA took the stage, singer Pond embraced the crowd, stating "[We] really wanted to be here tonight." His warmth and humor were only exemplified more with tasteful jokes and impressive stage presence, as the band played with impressive energy and melody. Their celloist, a sweet looking girl, seemed to have her act together as well, plucking and sliding her bow gently. I've always been impressed with this band's ability to encounter a sense of tranquility while remaining upbeat, and their set had flashes of contrast as blaring guitars and drums turned off their onslaught and singer Pond's voice calmly carried its melodies. All in all, they played a wonderful set of mostly songs from "Several Arrows Later." Though the crowd would later learn the band's equipment had been ransacked at an earlier show on this tour, the band made excellent use of the instruments they had--and while it would've been nice to hear that awesome acoustic guitar on "Halloween," the electric sounded just fine. Highlights of their set included, of course, the fan-favorite "Halloween" and the wonderful second-to-last performance of "From Debris," which--while it lacked the vocal harmonies I was hoping for that come across so well on record (the lady of the band did not lend her vocals)--was an exquisite, beautiful anthem.

The dynamic of the Matt Pond PA live set is truly compelling--at moments the singer almost loses his nerve shouting his heart out, and at other moments he's so quiet it almost sounds like a whisper. The band truly has their act together--and did I mention I could see the reason this show was sold out?

review by Andrew Martin