The two alternative rock/folk rock musicians brought relatable and heartfelt lyrics to the Vanguard.
Matt Maeson has been an artist that I have wanted to see in concert for quite some time now. His newest album, “Bank on the Funeral,” released earlier this year in April. His single “Cringe” has gone on to top alternative charts all summer. On Oct.14, Matt Maeson came to the Vanguard, and I was able to finally see him perform live.
Matt Maeson is an alternative rock/folk rock musician from Norfolk, Virginia. He grew up playing at biker rallies and prisons. He recently embarked on a headline tour in support of his new album. “The Day You Departed” tour made one of its first stops in Tulsa this past Monday. This show marked Matt Maeson’s first headlining show in Tulsa.
It’s rare to see a show where you like the opener just as much as the headliner. This concert was one of those rare occasions.
I am ashamed to say that I had never heard of The Technicolors before that night. By the end of their set, they won over a vast majority of the crowd, so much that there was a line almost leading outside the door for their merchandise stand.
The Technicolors are an alternative/indie band from Phoenix, Arizona. This year, they have released four singles.
Their set was the kind of concert that you could definitely bang your head to. I could quite literally feel the vibrations from their instruments.
The Technicolors brought high-energy to the stage that night. My favorite part was watching the guitarist just getting into the music and his performance.
At about the halfway mark of their performance, lead singer/guitarist, Brennan Smiley, joked, “Thanks for not leaving the room during our set.” To which many members of the audience shouted out things like, “You guys are great,” “I love your bassist” and, “You rock.”
Smiley introduced the final song in their set, describing a feeling of knowing that you don’t belong where you are now and that you have to get out. During this song, “Space Cadets,” Smiley sang, “and I know I don’t belong, I knew it all along. Because I’m just a space cadet with nowhere to lay my head.”
The Technicolor’s final song was so emotionally charged, everyone in the audience could feel it. I think it’s because everyone has felt that way at least once in their life.
At the end of the concert, the members of The Technicolors worked their own merchandise stand. They met their fans, took pictures and signed shirts.
After The Technicolors, it was time for Matt Maeson to take the stage. He started the concert with his song “Me and My Friends Are Lonely.”
After the song ended, he told the audience that he had to be acupunctured and get steroids because his neck was stiff. He joked, “This show is going to be fun. I don’t even know where I am.”
Perhaps the biggest highlight of the entire show was when Brennan Smiley of The Technicolors joined Matt Maeson on stage to sing a cover of the Killer’s “When You Were Young.” Before starting the song, Maeson mentioned that this was the first time they had performed this song together.
He introduced his song “Hallucinogenics” by jokingly asking the audience if we “wanna hear a song about drugs?”
Later, Maeson performed “I Just Don’t Care That Much,” which happens to be my personal favorite. The song is about needing change and time to process; it’s about accepting that you can’t do everything but realizing that you can do enough.
There is nothing better than a great concert, getting to hear amazing artists and singing along to their music. There was a moment during the show when I realized that everyone in the room was having a good time. We were singing off-key and clapping offbeat, but in that moment, it didn’t matter. We were all content to live in the moment.
If you haven’t heard of either Matt Maeson or The Technicolors, you should definitely give them a listen.