Carbon Leaf & Matt Nathanson at the Aggie

Last night I went to see Matt Nathanson and Carbon Leaf at the Aggie. I had won two tickets, but couldn't find anybody who was able to go, but had to go anyway. Matt Nathanson is great to see live and I had heard some of Carbon Leaf's stuff, but had never seen them live, so I was really looking forward to it. Biking down to the Aggie I thought I would ride around the back to see if any of the band was out in their bus or just hanging outside the theatre. I noticed that the back door was wide open, so after locking up my bike, I took a quick look to see where the security guard was looking and then walked in and down the stairs to the green room. When I got in I saw Matt Nathanson was sitting on the couch working up his set list so I said hey and talked to him for a while. Told him I'd seen him a couple weeks ago down in Austin and that I was looking forward to the show. He offered me a beer and we talked a little more and then I headed up the stairs to check out Carbon Leaf. As I was walking out, the security guard noticed I didn't have a wrist band and noticed that I was coming from the back, so he told me I had to leave and go around the front. Oh well, no big deal.

The show itself was great. Carbon Leaf is a great band and really tight on their live performance. They've got a really good sound and a lot of catchy songs. I haven't heard all of their new CD, but from some of the stuff they played off of it last night, I might have to check it out. Favorite song that they played was definitely "The Boxer" and their hit single awhile ago "Life Less Ordinary" was a close second. After they were done, the band came out to the crowd and hung out to listen to Matt Nathanson play and I got to meet and talk with their keyboard player and one of the guitarists. Pretty cool guys.

Then Matt Nathanson came on. No big surprises since I'd seen him recently and several times before, but it was still a great show and he played a lot of songs that I really enjoy and that the Waido Band covers. "I Saw", "Little Victories" and "Suspended" were among my favorites of the set.