Saw Matt Nathanson at the Jammin’ Java Cafe earlier this week. It was a good experience, and a fun venue. No smoking, and intimate–I hope to go back soon. Of course, the beer was expensive–$4 being the cheapest domestic bottle. I wound up paying $5 for a Red Stripe, but that’s a personal thing. Your mileage may vary. And alcohol’s expensive at every concert; it wasn’t that bad. I’ve paid more for less.

The trip was a nice break from S&F, and a necessary moment of self-splurging. I get tired of eating rice and beans and frozen dinners all week, it’s true, and I’m sure my girlfriend gets tired of me saying, “Hey, come over and let’s watch some bad tv.” I only really heard a few Matt Nathanson songs before that night, and my absolute favorite–no contest–was “Angel,” a simple, minimal acoustic number that showcases his voice. That opinion wasn’t changed by the concert. Still, I got to hear it live, which is great.

My favorite part of the experience came in between the songs. Nathanson is an excellent storyteller, good at reading the group and giving it what it wants. Funny as shit, too, in that narcissistic way that musicians and other artists (writers too, I’m sometimes told…) have.

It was also interesting because while the audience was a good mix of ages and social groups, it was also predominantly female–so the patter was oriented towards a female audience. It had as many references to sex and female body parts as any of the rocking-hard totally-awesome bitchin’ rock acts I’ve seen, but it was also different in a way that made it clear the patter was directed towards the women. Not as demeaning, perhaps, and lacking the not-so-subtle, “Am I right, guys? Am I right?” feeling. Also, he made a few metaphors about, er, “interacting with” the audience as a whole, not just the women in it, that collectively made the group female, and himself the ravager of said group.

Very nice for lonely women and girls, very disconcerting for yours truly. Still, my gal liked it, although (I think) not too much, and he’s a good performer. Fun times.

I’ll try and make the next concert I go to bitchin’ awesome and totally masculine. It’ll likely be a long, long time from now, though. We’ll see if my pockets get a little looser when I get my raise at work.

(BTW, I missed out on The Pogues, Flogging Molly, The Supersuckers, Dropkick Murphy, The Tossers, The Violent Femmes, and a handful of other completely amazing bands that I can’t recall at the moment since starting Son and Foe. You guys better appreciate the sacrifice, or I’ll turn 40 one day, realize my youth was misspent, and cry. A lot.)