| Print |

Written by Laura Hamlett Friday, 17 February 2012 14:11

This tour features just Good and his guitar, but his brilliance is visible in any form.

Kudos to Cobraside Records, who finally figured out that Matthew Good’s music is too spectacular to let Canadakeep it to itself. The U.S. label has just released Good’s fifth solo release, Lights of Endangered Species (which came out in his home country—and on iTunes—last year) and sent the man on a 19-stop tour of the States.

Unlike the artist’s full-band U.S.tour in 2010—which saw him appearing at SXSW for what he called the last time—this tour features just Good and his guitar. But don’t let that stop you. His brilliance is visible in any form, as evidenced by his five solo albums and four Matthew Good Band full-lengths before that. 2009’s Vancouver won “Rock Album of the Year” honors at the Junos,Canada’s version of the Grammys.

Lights of Endangered Species is yet another near-perfect offering from this songwriting genius. As always, it’s full of introspective and carefully crafted songs, artistic in their layers and shapes. Unlike its predecessors, however, the album is more ballad than ballast, yet with the signature Matthew Good voice and words.

The acoustic tour will surely find him crooning such Lights highlights as “What If I Can’t See the Stars Mildred?,“In a Place of Lesser Men,” “How It Goes,” and “Zero Orchestra.” Maybe we’ll get a sneak peak at something new, too. Regardless of what he plays, though, the show will be nothing less than perfect. | Laura Hamlett

Find out for yourself at www.matthewgood.org.

Matthew Good 2012 U.S. Tour

02.10 | Tractor Tavern, Seattle
02.11 | Mississippi Studios, Portland, Ore.
02.13 | Café de Nord, San Francisco
02.14 | Hotel Café, Los Angeles
02.15 | Sainte Rocke, Hermosa Beach
02.17 | Casbah, San Diego
02.18 | Crescent Ballroom, Phoenix
02.19 | Launchpad, Albuquerque
02.21 | Antone’s, Austin
02.22 | House of Blues, Dallas
02.25 | Double Door, Chicago
02.26 | St. Andrews Hall, Detroit
02.28 | House of Blues, Cleveland
02.29 | Club Café, Pittsburgh
03.02 | Rapids Theatre, Niagara Falls, N.Y.
03.03 | Club at Water Street, Rochester, N.Y.
03.04 | Brighton Music Hall, Boston
03.06 | World Café Live, Philadelphia
03.07 | Mercury Lounge, New York