The Matches
The Troubadour
Oct. 23
I don’t usually like to clap along to the beat at shows. I figure we’re there to support the musicians, and they shouldn’t be so demanding. Maybe it’s just the way they approach the audience that I don’t agree with. But when Shawn Harris, lead singer and guitarist of The Matches, tells me to clap, I clap.
The Matches hit the Troubadour on Thursday for a sold-out show on their first official tour since losing bassist and founding member Justin San Souci and gaining Dylan Rowe. Rowe looked thrilled to be onstage with those exceptional performers, very much like a fan who’s living his dream. He could have been a bit livelier onstage ““ however, the men of The Matches are much more energetic than those of your average alternative rock band, and I’m sure he’ll master the art after a few more shows.
The bandmates immediately got the crowd going with the ever-so-graphic lyrics of “Sunburn Versus the Rhinovirus” from their sophomore album “Decomposer,” and then dived into the latest crowd favorite “Yankee in a Chip Shop” from “A Band in Hope.” This song, like many of their others, called for audience participation, allowing those who desired to not only to say “Hey!” but also to “say it like you mean it.”
Harris took advantage of his time onstage by encouraging everyone more than 18 years old to vote in the upcoming election while displaying his “No on Prop. 8″ button. This made for a great introduction into the band’s inspirational song “We are One.”
While not all of the songs the band played have titles as upbeat as “We are One,” they do share the theme of underlying positive meanings. Though some may have felt bad for rocking out to a song with the phrase “sick little suicide” in the chorus, which is also the title, the song’s message speaks of society’s ills, prompting listeners to be the exceptions and not take part in the social poisons cited in the song.
The Matches are part of a musical genre that many parents today probably don’t want their kids listening to, whether it’s due to the band’s bordering glam-rock fashion sense or song titles like “Little Maggots.” The band proved onstage through its affirmative lyrics and healthy energy, however, that it is worth the respect of mothers everywhere. After all, you have to admire a lead singer who can get the audience to pull off a synchronized pelvic thrust at a sold-out show.
Harris’ ability to connect to the audience, whether through his lyrics or more literally through his stage-diving, is something all performers should aspire to achieve. It’s that kind of energy that motivates the crowd to fully immerse itself in the performance: A mouthful of a stranger’s hair, the lead singer’s sweat and spit in your eyes, and pretty much violating, while being violated by, those around you are a package deal when you choose to stand close to the stage, and it’s well worth it if you ask me.
The Matches closed their set with “Papercut Skin,” during which a man whom I can only assume to be a roadie proceeded to come onstage and play the triangle like there was no tomorrow. That’s what’s so great about The Matches: They perform as if it’s their last chance to make a lasting impression on the crowd, which, on Thursday night, they undeniably accomplished.
““ Saba Mohtasham
E-mail Mohtasham at smohtasham@media.ucla.edu.