Matchbox Twenty doesn’t disappoint packed house

Ken Miller

Thursday, Nov. 13, 2003 | 8:24 a.m.

The Orlando, Fla.-based quintet, fronted by the ever-strutting, chest-thumping Rob Thomas, cranked out no fewer than 20 songs to a well-behaved capacity audience at the Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel.

Their set focused heavily on their most recent CD, "More Than You Think You Are," but included most of the band's greatest hits of the past seven years, including "Push," "3 a.m." and "Real World."

They were given a suitable lead-in by up-and-comers Fountains of Wayne, a humorous foursome known mostly for their cult single, "Stacy's Mom," a homage to lusting after your friend's mother.

Most of the group's by-the-numbers numbers received scattered polite applause, but "Stacy's Mom" was a wakeup call, with the audience finally coming to life and chiming in on the chorus: "Stacy's Mom / Has got it going on / She's all I want / And I waited so long."

A nice touch came at the end of Wayne's set, during which they inserted snippets from Joe Walsh's "Life is Good," Kansas' "Carry On" and The Cars' "Let's Go" to their final number.

After a half-hour intermission, Matchbox Twenty wasted no time getting to work, launching into "Feel," "Disease" and "All I Need" before Thomas addressed the crowd of nearly 2,000.

"Hello, beautiful people of Las Vegas," Thomas shouted, adding, "this is the perfect-sized show."

Thomas, wearing a white dress shirt with "Dragon" emblazoned on the right upper sleeve, ended up being the recipient of more than a few "gifts" thrown on stage throughout the performance. When a flower was tossed, he briefly put it playfully in his hair before throwing it back.

Throughout the evening, the five band members -- and session keyboardist Matt Beck -- seemed to be having a genuinely great time onstage. Lead guitarist Kyle Cook and rhythm guitarist Adam Gaynor, both on opposite ends of Thomas, provided a solid backbone for Thomas' lyrics, with ample support from bassist Brian Vale.

Drummer Paul Doucette showed not only his talent on the skins but also his skills as a songwriter. As Thomas took to the piano for "Could I Be You," he made sure to let the audience know it was Doucette's piece.

Almost all the songs had the audience bumping and grinding. Particular highlights included "Bright Lights," "Unwell" (the band's latest hit) and "If You're Gone," in which Thomas and Cook performed unaccompanied.

There were a few clunkers -- "Changes," which Thomas said was "for the R.E.M. fans in the audience," and "Mad Season" had many in the crowd taking their hands out of the air and placing them on their hips -- but they didn't dampen the mood.

Much of the credit has to go to Thomas, who seems to love interacting with his audience. At one point he apologized for not going over to a certain section of the stage because of the feedback; and when a bouquet was thrown onstage, he looked anxiously into the crowd, asking, "Did someone get married?"

He got no response, but you got the feeling he wanted to bring a happy couple onstage.

His Vegas references did get tiring, though. One or two is fine, but Thomas shouted, "How you doing, Las Vegas?" a half-dozen times, including once with an Elvis inflection and again accompanied by "Danke Schoen."

Thomas even went so far as to include a lame, seemingly ad-libbed, riff on how Las Vegans have seen it all.

"What do you eat in Las Vegas? Do you eat a blind camel with three legs?," he asked. "I can get it for you at 3 in the morning in Las Vegas."

While a few audience members began filtering out before the end, the majority of the crowd demanded -- and got -- an encore, during which the band performed "You Won't Be Mine," "So Sad So Lonely," "Push" and "Long Day."

Members of Matchbox Twenty's fan club took up much of the front row, and as far as they were concerned, the band could do no wrong.

But it seems safe to say that no one in the theater went home feeling cheated. Love them or hate them, this band put on a show -- and then some.