Matchbox Twenty - Storytellers (DVD)

...was a dvd of the matchbox 20 session on VH1 storytellers. My boyfriend got me this for my christmas because he knows how much I love this band - I'd go as far as to say that it's in my top ten favourite bands along with the likes of Counting crows and the goo goo dolls.


==What is VH1 Storytellers==

Basically VH1 storytellers is a music series produced by VH1 which started back in 1996 with Ray Davies during his ...
...VH1 storytellers shows the band matchbox 20 back in 2001 at a studio in chelsea piers in New york City several months after the realease of their 2nd Album "mad season" and so the performances feature several songs from the album including;


* Bent
* Mad Season
* Black and White People
* Push
* If you're gone
* Crutch
* You won't be Mine
* Rest stop


more

Well Christmas is over and I suppose it is common for most Ciao members to start reviewing some of the christmas goodies we got from Santa. One of the pressies I received in my stocking was a dvd of the matchbox 20 session on VH1 storytellers. My boyfriend got me this for my christmas because he knows how much I love this band - I'd go as far as to say that it's in my top ten favourite bands along with the likes of Counting crows and the goo goo dolls.

What is VH1 Storytellers

Basically VH1 storytellers is a music series produced by VH1 which started back in 1996 with Ray Davies during his "storyteller" tour which is where VH1 storytellers got it's title from. To a certain extent VH1 storytellers is similar to the MTV Unplugged sessions, which basically brings some of our favourite artists on stage to perform some of their biggest hits in the form of an intimate live acoustic session. VH1 Storytellers allows these artists to share details of their inspiration for their songs which sometime mirror memories and experiences of the artists themselves. It gives the viewer / listener a greater understanding of what's behind the music and what makes the band or solo artist tick.

Matchbox 20 VH1 Storytellers

The dvd of VH1 storytellers shows the band matchbox 20 back in 2001 at a studio in chelsea piers in New york City several months after the realease of their 2nd Album "mad season" and so the performances feature several songs from the album including;

• Bent
• Mad Season
• Black and White People
• Push
• If you're gone
• Crutch
• You won't be Mine
• Rest stop

Along with these album tracks the band also get involved in a question and answer session with the audience and performed their own version of the rockabilly classic "lonely weekend". Rob also performs the track "3AM" from the bands debut album 'yourself or someone like you' and tries to shake things up by performing a variation of the song crutch which was performed in a swing style proving to the audience that this band has talent.

All 5 members of the band appeared on the show including front man Rob Thomas, Bass guitarist Brian Yale, lead guitarist and backing vocalist Kyle Cook, rythm guitarist and backing vocalist Adam Gaynor who sadly left the band in 2005 and Drummer Paul Ducette.

With Rob Thomas being the main songwriter and also the lead vocalist it's only natural that most of the talking comes from him throughout the dvd admitting that he bases a lot of his music on his own personal views on relationships, not necessarily on his own relationships but on relationships in general.

Fans of the band will absolutely love this session with 62 minutes of viewing pleasure. it is interesting informative and also humourous with Thomas throwing in a Jerry Springer mode during the question and answer session to keep the audience humoured. Rob provides the audience with great insight into where the inspiration for his songs come from and what certain lyrics mean.

The DVD itself is relatively short and there is a substantial amount of footage that has been left in that could've been edited out which I don't think is a bad thing as it adds to the interpretation of the individual personalities and characters within the band leaving in banter between the band and the crew while waiting for the props to be set up for the next song etc which I found very amusing to watch. Rob tells the audience that he never wanted to be a singer but because he writes the songs and has a big ego, he could never imagine anyone else singing them so he made the choice to sing them himself.

The sheer quality of the performance makes this dvd a must have for matchbox 20 fans even though the running time is short.

Some of the Tracks

I don't want to spoil the entire dvd so I've selected a few of my favourite tracks from the dvd to summarise for you.

Track 1 - "Bent"

Rob Thomas describes this song as being about 2 people who are messed up but because they're together being messed up doesn't really matter. Injecting a little humour into the story he tells the audience about the various interpretations of bent here in the UK referencing the slang term meaning gay, and also the slang term in Australia for being pot smokers, and how seeing big posters of the band with Bent as the title for them made them seem more interesting than they actually are with the various interpretations of the word in different countries. Admittedly Rob tells us that this was his first attempt at writing a love song and that it has no links to homosexuality whatsoever.

Track 3 - "Black and White people"

Rob tells us that this song isn't in fact about black and white people but about how people can feel like they're 2 different things at once, feeling both black and white at the same time

Track 5 - "When you're gone"

Rob describes this song as being a letter to his wife that was never meant to be a song for the band, after she apparently realised she was dating a rock star and freaked out a little bit convincing herself that it was never going to work he had to find his own way of convincing her that it was all worth it so the lyrics of when you're gone are the letter he wrote to her a song he wrote just to write it, never intended to be successful

Track 11 - "3am"

Perhaps the most poignant performance on this dvd was when Rob Thomas sat down at the piano to perform his most personal story. "3AM" is the harrowing and beautiful autobiographical piece of music that depicts Rob's Childhood, and having to deal as a child with his mother's battle with cancer (who thankfully came through the other side ok). Some of the audience members had tears rolling down their faces as the realisation set in that this song they had heard a thousand times on the radio or the cd they were in fact only hearing for the first time as they never knew the story behind the lyrics.

The Disappointing bits

The picture quality of the dvd I found somewhat disappointing as it appeared grainy in places and suffered somewhat from a lack of detail (apparently a common feature problem in live performance dvd's). There are no subtitles but of course - you don't need them as there is a definite clarity found in the vocals of Rob Thomas.

Audio

The Audio is supplied in both DTS 5.1 and also Dolby digital 5.1 surround sound. Both options provide the viewer with good quality sound which is what you would expect from a music dvd.

The extra bits

The only extra that this dvd has is an alternative country version of the song push which during the feature was played straight as though taken directly from the album. This ties in with Rob Thomas taking influence from the likes of Tom Petty who he tells the audience at one point is one of his inspirations for his music.

My personal Opinion

Of course I am biased as matchbox 20 is one of my favourite bands so I find it hard to be negative about any of the music featured in this dvd. The performance although not as good as seeing the band live is top quality and it really accentuates the talent of this quintet who are still going strong (minus Adam) today.

It is very rare to see these live performances without going to an actual concert so I find the VH1 storytellers series a great way to get up close and personal with your favourite artists in the comfort of your own home, and it gives you something you wouldn't get at a concert which is the great insight into the creation and development of the band and it's music, the likes and dislikes along with the memories and inspirations. 

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