Matt Nathanson and Carbon Leaf kicked off their co-headlining fall tour on Sept. 21 at the Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood.
The San Francisco-based musician Matt Nathanson took the stage first a little after 9 p.m.
He started off the show by saying, “I’m going to make you fall in love tonight.” He then sang amazing and cathartic songs that can make a person’s heart ache and when you just started to feel emotional, he made a joke or told a funny story to lighten the mood.
Throughout Nathanson’s whole set he continuously joked with the audience and built a relationship with everyone in the intimate setting of the Roxy Theatre. The audience was not only interacting with him during his set, but also grooving to his mellow songs that are reminiscent of John Mayer, Dave Matthews and Maroon 5.
The audience was filled with many of Nathanson’s loyal fans who were singing every word to his songs and shouting out requests at the musician. During his show, Nathanson played many of his well known songs from his new album “At the Point” such as “Angel,” “Suspended,” “Princess” and “Church Clothes,” three of them acoustically without his band. He even indulged the audience with two new songs and threw in a classic Journey song “Any Way You Want It” to get the crowd energized and everyone in the audience singing.
Nathanson ended his set with his interactive sing-along song “Answering Machine,” leaving the audience keyed up and filled with satisfaction.
After a 30-minute intermission, Carbon Leaf took the stage around 10:30 p.m. The alternative folk rock band seemed to have a loyal fan base just like Nathanson’s and when Barry Privett, lead singer and songwriter, walked onto the stage the audience went wild. The band covered many songs from the new album “Love, Loss, Hope, Repeat,” including the title track “Love, Loss, Hope, Repeat” and the emotional “The War Was in Color,” but also mixed in some of their older songs which seemed to be favorites of the audience such as “Life Less Ordinary,” “What About Everything?” and “The Boxer.”
The Virginia-based band kept up the energetic atmosphere Nathanson had built at the beginning of the show.
Privett was often interacting with the crowd and everyone in the audience knew every lyric to their songs. All the audience members were singing along enthusiastically to their soulful rock music. The band rounded out its set with its first single off their new album, “Learn to Fly.”
The co-headlining tour of Nathanson and Carbon Leaf was lively and rewarding. Their soulful alternative pop music was an exquisite live performance and the intimacy of the Roxy Theatre enhanced the experience even more.
