When talking about bands that have countless hits, one of the first to come to mind has to be Matchbox Twenty.
Having been around now for 16 years Matchbox have managed to notch up more hits than you could poke a stick at. With such a huge catalogue provoking massive popularity, it is no surprise that they managed to pack the Brisbane Entertainment Centre, two nights in a row.
Touring Australia on the back of their latest album, North, Matchbox Twenty made their third stop in Australia last Saturday night to treat the crowd to a long set with support from INXS.
Joining these two bands on the bill (to make it that little bit sweeter) were our pals from over the water, New Zealand’s Evermore, who have also just released their latest album.
Having just been named in the top worldwide venues, the Entertainment Centre was the perfect place to watch these three bands do what they do best: entertain.
Kicking the night off, Evermore played to one of their largest crowds yet. Opening with “It’s Too Late”, the band got the crowd’s attention quickly and held onto it as they ran through “Light Surrounding You”, “Running” without faltering once, the trio providing a great opening set.
Despite being one of Australia’s most famous and successful bands in history, there has been a lot of speculation surrounding INXS over the last few years. However, having found Ciaran Gribbin as their latest frontman, they’ve reinvented themselves and managed to produce the same excitement and charisma that they had all those years ago.
A massive crowd reception greeted the band, and after a short drum intro, they got stuck straight into “Suicide Blonde”.
If the crowd weren’t already moving by now then the next song, “Original Sin”, did the job. Gribbin immediately owns the stage and struts his stuff as he takes photos from the stage. The driving guitar chords and pounding drums of “What You Need” lead into new song, “Sugar”.
From “Disappear”, “Kiss The Dirt” to “Beautiful Girl”, the band is in fine form. From all the Farris brothers to Mr Pengilly’s incredible talent on guitar and sax, INXS are well and truly back in a big way.
Rounding their set out with a string of numbers from Kick, such as “Need You Tonight” and “New Sensation”, the incomparable group leave the crowd pretty exhausted. However it is when Gribbin dedicates “Never Tear Us Apart” to the late Michael Hutchence that leaves goose bumps up the arm.
The venue, now packed from the barriers up to the lingering seats at the back, are then graced with a video that introduces the headliners.
As the curtains draw back and Rob Thomas leads Matchbox Twenty onto the stage with the opening number “Parade”, off their new album, the room fills with the sounds of women shrieking everywhere, clearly some people are excited.
Eventually the sound of the band prevails as they move into “Bent”, while “Disease” is the night’s first rocker as the band members make good use of their open stage to move around. With plenty of stairs and platforms covered in lights changing colour every couple of seconds, the group have given the crowd plenty to look at as well.
Exclaiming that they will play for the next couple of hours or until they get dragged off, Thomas leads the band into a massive set that includes all the hits including, “She’s So Mean”, to “How Far We’ve Come” and “3am”. As Thomas slinks around the stage, the rest move around the stage, swapping positions as they make their way through “Real World”, “If You’re Gone”, “All Your Reasons”, “Long Day” and “Back To Good” – which really sees Thomas stretch his powerful vocals.
“Unwell” and “Bright Lights” bring about the end of the main set before the four song encore ends on “Push”.
As the band leave the stage they leave the audience overwhelmed at the sheer talent and size of the set they’ve just witnessed. Matchbox Twenty, you are welcome back anytime.
