Concert Review: Richard Marx and Matt Scannell, Wildhorse Saloon, 6/13/2008

It was one of those nights for me. I don't know where the blame lies and it could even be my bad. I came to hear Richard Marx expecting a full band and some rock and roll (soft though it would be since this was Richard after all) but I wound up at an acoustic show.

I walked in thinking 80's, 90's, big hair and many pop hits ("Don't Mean Nothing", "Right Here Waiting", etc). Now I'm sure the true Richard Marx fans (and there were plenty of them on hand) knew that he and Matt (of Vertical Horizon fame) were playing acoustically, but I do not believe the word "acoustic" appeared on the bill for this show. There are only a handful of bands that come to mind that I never cared one way or the other if they played in either style (Hot Tuna and The Grateful Dead, to name two). But even in those cases the style (electric or acoustic) was usually clearly advertised.

So when the crew set up with only two chairs, two guitars, and a piano, I knew an attitude change was required, and fast. I think I succeeded pretty well at the start. The boys came out and started alternately playing each other's songs, many of them hits, just unplugged. They opened nicely with Marx's "Now and Forever", followed by Scannell's "Sunshine". A new song, "Always on Your Mind" was next, followed by Scannell's "Give You Back". I really enjoyed the latter, with Scannell singing to Marx's piano. And so it went all evening. Other highlights were "Best I Ever Had", "Better Life", "Right Here Waiting", "Don't Mean Nothing", and "Everything You Want".

But there were many moments that didn't hold my attention. These guys are obviously great songwriters and musicians, but some of the material just didn't do it for me. I also thought the between-song banter was boring (a seemingly unwritten requirement for acoustic shows) although I know the fans thought it was charming, interesting, and sometimes funny. But from where I was sitting I also saw lots of people closing their tabs and leaving early. My waitress actually commented on this, saying it would be a rough night tip wise. It also didn't help that there were two humongous booms swerving around in front of me recording the show for a possible DVD the duo said they might put out. The booms also seemed to be making the people up front uncomfortable because they were really swinging low overhead at times. So the banter and booms equaled too much distraction for me (and obviously a lot of other folks as well), making it hard to focus on the music. But Scannell and Marx's fans seemed happy with everything.

I see that Marx is playing in Nashville again in July and Scannell is not on the bill. Perhaps that's the show the casual Richard Marx fan should be going to see.