Matchbox Twenty’s Current Tour is a Glorious Ode to Their Entire Career

The band is pulling songs from every album on the tour that was three years in the making

Last night in Pennsylvania, iconic alt-rockers Matchbox Twenty finally took the stage at the Wind Creek Event Center. The band’s current tour has been three years in the making. The run, originally slated for the summer of 2020, has finally come to fruition. While “Matchbox Twenty’s 2020 Tour” had a sweet ring to it, sadly it wasn’t meant to be. Now, the band is finally on the road giving it everything they’ve got for the fans who have literally been holding on to their tickets for years.

The band took the stage and kicked things off with “Friends,” the opening track from their latest album, Where the Light Goes. The album came out back in May, but it probably would have never been made had their tour not been delayed for three years. Starting off with the track seemed more poetic when you heard frontman Rob Thomas sing, “Hey, all my friends, all my friends are here, singing it out.”

And sing they did, for the next twenty songs.

“How Far We’ve Come” followed, continuing the metaphors. “I believe the world is burning to the ground / Oh well I guess we’re gonna find out / Let’s see how far we’ve come,” Thomas sang. Indeed, the world did seem to be burning a bit back in 2020, but we’ve come a long way since then, baby, and Matchbox Twenty are back on the road behind a record that was never intended to be made.

The threw is all the way back to the beginning on the third song with “Real World.” One of several smash hit singles from the band’s watershed diamond-selling debut album, it was met with an explosion of cheers from the crowd when the opening notes hit their ears. Kyle Cook’s melancholy riff could very well have a place on the Mount Rushmore of 90s alternative rock, and hearing it come through the speakers last night brought us all right back to 1996.

Throughout the set, the band left no stone unturned. They pulled multiple songs off each one of their studio releases, putting together a hefty 21-song setlist that fully encapsulated their storied career. They didn’t ignore their new record. In fact, they pushed it, playing four songs from the LP. “Wild Dogs (Running In a Slow Dream)” is a sweet slice of nostalgia that serves as a still frame of where the band is right now. Previous gems like “Disease,” “If You’re Gone,” “Mad Season,” “Bent,” and “Back 2 Good,” among others, resonated tremendously. At times, the crowd nearly drowned out Rob Thomas’s distinct vocals. He didn’t seem to mind too much.

They wrapped things up with the all-new “Rebels,” from their latest effort.

With the crowd needing just a little bit more, the band returned to the stage to give them a whole lot more. They kicked off their four-song encore with “3AM.” The crowd erupted with the first few strums of the song’s opening chords. “Unwell” and “Push” followed. They finally finished up with the tear-jerking anthem, “Bright Lights,” from their GRAMMY®-nominated 2002 album More Than You Think You Are. One line from the track stands out: “There’s some things you don’t need until they leave you / They’re the things that you miss.” It’s so good to have Matchbox Twenty back in our lives. Their songs are part of the soundtrack of an era that’s fleeting a bit. Hopefully, though, they aren’t going to leave us again any time soon.

Matchbox Twenty’s Slow Dream Tour rolls on through August 7, wrapping up at the Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre in Chicago.