“Some of you are like, ‘Mike I didn’t come here tonight to do that.’ …It’s Matt, and yes you did.”

When I tell you that Matt Nathanson has been one of my favorite musicians for many years, you’ll just have to believe me. I’m not gonna say I was a fan way, way back when, but there was one song that introduced me to this man’s music. It is to this day my favorite Matty Nay song. It’s called Little Victories. I will write about that song another day…

Today, we are going to discuss what spending Valentine’s Day is like with Matt Nathanson and Stephen Kellogg. Or at least what my experience was a few days ago… their wives have probably had better V-Days with their men. (LOL)

When the Boston Accent Winter Tour was announced via email list and I saw the TWO North Carolina dates (Asheville and Charlotte), I immediately hit up some people on Facebook to see if they were interested in going. Charlotte was a Valentine’s Day show (on a Tuesday, no less), and Asheville was on a Wednesday, so I knew it would probably be difficult for anyone with small children to actually be able to get out to go with me that night – but I wasn’t going to give up!

About a month out, I was talking to another friend of mine (A), and he said he would go to the show with me so I wouldn’t have to go alone. Literally a few minutes later I bought the tickets – there was NO WAY I was going to miss seeing Matt Nathanson!!! ((Backstory, I did get to go to one other MN show, but it was 10 years ago [coincidentally at the same venue] and it was not the best time ever due to who was with me at that time.)) This time I was determined to see this show my way, which meant being as close to the stage as possible and feeling every note that was played and breathing every word that was sung.

Another message went out to the email list notifying us that select shows would have a VIP preshow experience for a $75 ticket price (on top of the show ticket). That’s too rich for me, so I was happy just having my show ticket and I didn’t give it a second thought.

My friend A had to work until 3:30 that day and I left work at noon, so I let him know that I would just go straight to the venue. The show had sold out and I wanted to ensure a good place in line so I got a good spot by the stage! A was going to just meet me there when he got there. I park in the parking deck at 4pm and walk over towards the venue… forgetting my tickets in the car (D’oh!)… so I had to walk BACK to the parking deck then BACK to the venue. I followed the signs towards the entrance only to see about 40 people already in line for the show. “Good thing I got here when I did,” I thought. “Otherwise I’d just have to get on the balcony to get a good view.” More people started filling in behind me in line and I started to worry about A being able to get through once he got there. The couple behind me, Jenny and Jason, were trying to give away some tickets to the show since they had some extras. They had come down from Delaware to attend this show! It was nice to have someone to talk to in line for a bit, we talked about Delaware and Asheville (since they were going to the AVL show the next night too). Definitely made standing in line more fun.

Two employees of Amos Southend came out to check IDs for wrist bands and the VIP experience. I had forgotten all about VIP! Now it made sense why so many people were already lined up! The guy got to my ID and said that I wasn’t on his list, to which I informed him I wasn’t there for VIP but I was just really early for the show. I still got my wristband, and he moved on to the other people in line. About 15 minutes later they opened the doors to the VIP folks, and I stepped aside so they could all get in and get their posters and CDs which were part of the VIP package. After everyone else was in, I noticed one other girl still outside so I walked over to talk to her. We were both just really early for the show. We talked a little bit about how she had free tickets to give away because her friend had to work, and I mentioned my friend was also working and would be there when he could get there.

The guy checking the VIP list motioned for the two of us to come over to him by the doors so we did. “I can go ahead and let you guys in but I can’t give you any of the VIP merch stuff.” **jaw drop** “I don’t care, I’m just excited to get to experience this!” So she and I went in, I texted A to let him know I was inside and for him to let me know when he got there so I could bring him his ticket.

…do you know how difficult it was to not have my phone out recording video this entire time? I snapped ONE picture because I didn’t want to be a distraction. I did get a few audio files, but I didn’t want to be really obvious about those either. (Sidenote: I haven’t listened to them yet. If they’re worth it, I’ll put them here on the blog sometime.) Preshow VIP was amazing, y’all. The banter back and forth with the audience, the questions asked (about The Rock Boat, his songwriting process, who he’d like to record a duet with, and more), the genuine appreciation of these fans in VIP for this musician… it was an incredible experience. Unfortunately, MN did say he has a bit of an upper respiratory thing going on and wasn’t sure how things would sound, but of course he sounded amazing. A did text me about 40 minutes in to let me know he had arrived, so he got to see a bit of the VIP show with me. At one point Jenny had turned around (she was in front of me at the barrier, I was standing next to her husband Jason) and looked surprised to see me. I whispered “They let me in!” and she seemed genuinely excited for me. 😀

When preshow ended, MN went backstage and I got to talk to A for a bit, as well as Jenny and Jason. I also took a minute to run up to the balcony to get a T-shirt! They unfortunately didn’t have women’s sizes, so I got a “Unisex Large” and I’m praying it fits. (I still haven’t put it on yet.)

About 7:30 Stephen Kellogg came out on stage and gave us a mind-blowing acoustic set broken up with witty banter and fantastic stories. I had never had the pleasure of seeing him live, although I do like a good many of his songs. It just never seemed to work out that I could get to one of his shows. I’m so glad it worked out that night… I also found out he has a book that I WILL be buying soon. I did record one video of Stephen Kellogg, the closing song that he did. Enjoy. 🙂

I didn’t want to do this, but I’m going to break this up into two parts (posted immediately together, so there’s no real delay). Here’s the link to part two of the evening.