THE TONIGHT SHOW

Well, well… we finally made it. The final show of the tour. It’s been a long journey, filled with highs and lows and everything in between. We’ve had a lot of fun, and I think seeing all the fans out on the road, and the incredible outpouring of support for Mat’s music has really blown everyone away. I’m so excited for everyone who got to see a show on this tour, it was a really special time for both the crew and the band. Anyways… here’s a recap of our experience on The Tonight Show…

We arrived early in the morning driving through Universal Studios… there was sets all around us. Western, NY city, CSI… it was all quite surreal. The stage was empty when we got inside and much smaller then what it looks like on TV. The crew was prepping the masks that come down from the ceiling for Conans “in the year 3000″ sketch. It was really interesting to see how all the behind the scenes stuff worked on the filming of The Tonight Show.

This picture was taken during “rehearsals” Mat and the band had to play “Closer to love” with cameras and crew 3 to 4 times before the show that night, in order to get the camera angles correct before doing it live. This lasted until about 2 pm. Until everyone was starving and desperate for food. Luckily this is when the food actually arrived. The food was fantastic. Mat seemed EXTRA excited about the food.

After lunch, we were offered the opportunity to sit at Conans desk and take pictures before he came out for rehearsals.

Conan has had that eisenhower ceramic on his desk from the very first show he ever did in his old slot. Apparently its kind of famous. Also, he has an autographed guitar sitting next to his desk that Pearl Jam signed for him on the first show. Pearl Jam is his favorite band from what I hear.

There was a Wii and an Xbox 360 in the dressing room for us to play around on while we waited for the show to start taping. Some of the band members opted to stay and do this, while some of us decided to head to Universal Studios Theme Park. The studio and the theme park are located all in the same area. We got free tickets and “front of the line” passes. We got to ride Jurassic park, The Simpsons, and The Mummy. Then it was about time for the taping so we headed back to the studio for makeup.

After this I wasn’t allowed to shoot during the show, so my photos were limited to the dressing room. For a lot of the band members this was their first time playing live on a tv show. Adam was so nervous he thought he was going to puke. But no worries, the performance went off without a hitch and everyone agreed it was a resounding success. I hope you guys saw it! Okay well that’s all for now… this Jonny signing off… over and out.

-Jonny

SIN CITY

When we arrived at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas today it was a little jarring. We had just come from Denver, where the air was clean and crisp and we were surrounding with beautiful mountains. Nature. Las Vegas as we all know has a little bit different vibe…

Although different, we all had a great time in Vegas. The hotel room had a great view of “The Strip”, and a beautiful pool area. There was waterfalls, private cabanas, and all kinds of delicious food. We had an amazing sushi dinner before the show, and Mat played a little poker. Surprisingly, Mat has quite the poker face.

The show was specifically for a few lucky radio contest winners. The venue was small, and Mat seemed really excited to be playing for a much smaller, more intimate crowd. It was apparently something he hadn’t done years. I hope everyone that was there enjoyed it as much as he did. Only one stop left on the tour! Conan!

-Jonny

MAT KEARNEY FROM THE ROAD: FRAGMENTS VOL. 5

THE MILE HI(EVERYONE) FESTIVAL

We woke up on the bus with beautiful snow capped mountains all around us… we were in Denver today at the Mile High Festival. There was giant stages, and tents, and art sculptures adding to the overall atmosphere. Along with Mat, The Fray were headlining the festival later tonight, while Widespread Panic headlined the second stage. We were in good company.

A couple of the advantages to being an artist playing at a huge festival(besides the awesome free food, and free massages), is that you get a driver and golf cart that will drive you wherever you need to go!

Another, thing is the crowds. The crowds are HUGE. You play to lots and lots of more people then what you normally get too. So not only do you get to play to many of your own fans, but you get the opportunity to expose your music to thousands of new people that have never heard it before.

I shot this during Mat’s set, from the very front of stage, there was thousands upon thousands of people there. It was quite an experience.

Mat had a really busy schedule for the day, at around noon he first had to head to the festival radio station and record a couple of acoustic songs.

After the radio station interview and performance, he decided to take a walk down to the soccer field nearby. Mat was a pretty avid soccer player in college. He was also recording some video content for Rhapsody as part of a special promotion at the Mile High Festival, “a day in the life of Mat Kearney” basically. So he decided to take the camera down to the soccer field and record some content reminiscing about the old days.

Unfortunately within about 2 minutes we were yelled at by the security guard, and ordered to leave the field(all of this is caught on video with the flip cam, which you can see at rhapsody.com/mhf). After all of this it was just about time for Mat to take the stage. So we jumped in the golfcart and headed towards the stage.

We got there just in time! Mat took the stage right around 3 pm and played a great set! See you in Las Vegas!

-Jonny

OH-MY-HA!

Today we were in Omaha, NE at the Slowdown, home of Saddle Creek Records, and all things Conor Oberst. The venue was really unique and doubled as kind of a bar/gameroom of sorts? They had board games, and an old fashioned photobooth. I know you can’t see close up on the photobooth, but there were pictures of John Edwards, and Conor Oberst just to name a few. I guess John Edwards is a fan.

Right next door to us there was a nice shopping area and coffee shop. This was really great because usually at the venues we play there is nothing nearby and you have to catch a cab to get into anything cool.

The crowd was lined up outside the door for hours before the show started… HOURS! It was incredible, they were so excited that they got let in ahead of time and got to see the end of Mat’s soundcheck. A special treat usually only reserved for a few special radio station contest winners.

-Jonny

THE RED, WHITE, AND BLUE NOTE

Today’s show in Columbia was at The Blue Note, apparently Johnny Cash played here once upon a time. So that’s pretty cool. There was a beautiful sunset right around 7 that provided the perfect backdrop for a great evening.

When I finally managed to get off the bus and head backstage, there was a impromptu rendition of “Creep” by Radiohead happening in the dressing room. Wish I would have had my video camera on hand… it was pretty epic.

Columbia was a quaint college town with a lot of a personality… the crowd ecstatic. The venue… packed. Thanks for a great show Columbia!

-Jonny