Mat Kearney is one of my favorite music artists. I have wanted to see him live for a couple years now, but every time he has come around I have had other plans. So, frustrating. I was excited that this time I could make it and that it was going to be at La Zona Rosa. The one problem I did have was there were two other shows in Austin on the same night that I wanted to go to. One was Howie Day & Colbie Caillat at Stubbs and the other was Derek Webb at the Cactus Cafe. Hopefully both acts will come around again and I will have the chance to see them.
This concert was a little different from the night before. It was in the big room, so a lot more people. We got there pretty close to when doors opened, which translated to getting a really good spot close to the stage. The opening band was a group called Vedera.
The lead singer is Kristen May she has a beautiful, sweet voice who along with singing also plays the guitar and piano. This was my first time hearing them and I really enjoyed it. Their sounds is pop/rock and melodic. It might help you to understand what they sound like by knowing who they have toured with: MuteMath, Jason Mraz, and The Fray.
For the most part a lot of their song lyrics were very emotional and compelling. But May sang with conviction. After doing some research on my handy iPhone I found out that May and Brian Little (lead guitarist) are married. Also, Brian and Drew (drums) are brothers. And I can’t leave out Jason Douglas (bass guitar). He has been friends with Brian since high school. Such a small world.
In between acts it felt like forever. Especially since the show started at 9. To warm up the crowd they played a little Beatles and some Marvin Gaye. It was cool. Everyone started to sing along. Mat Kearney and band finally came out and played an amazing show.
He was in his usual button up shirt and hat. He did a good mixture of his new and old stuff. Except for not playing one of my favorite songs, “Bullet,” but I’ll be OK. One of my favorite parts of the show is when he free styled. He began to sing all about Austin. That was awesome. Also, during one song he hopped off the stage with his mic and walked around the crowd giving high fives and singin’ away. So cool. You don’t see any artists doing that kind of thing anymore. Another thing I loved was how Mat really made it a point to make eye contact and connect with his audience. At some shows I feel like the artist are just staring into oblivion and in their own world, but he wasn’t like that. Kearney closed the show with doing a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark.” So fun. Usually Vedera comes back out and performs it with them, but they had to fly to NY right after their set was done.
I would definitely recommend both of Vedera and Mat Kearney if you like pop/rock/singer-songwriter kind of music 🙂
Until next time…PEACE OUT!
The One... 