Mat Kearney Concert!

I got the INCREDIBLE pleasure of reviewing Mat Kearney's album Young Love...then I was INCREDIBLY blessed when I was asked to review his concert here in Omaha as well!  Wow.  I can't say ENOUGH about Mat Kearney.  I loved him before...but now I REALLY love him...and I managed to hook my husband too by taking him to the show with me!  Here are some facts:

Mat Kearney's third album, Young Love, hit stores debuting on the #1 spot on iTunes Album and Rock charts and is currently sitting at #5!


Propelled by the sunny handclap and catchy hook of hit single "Hey Mama", Young Love is quickly making listeners fall for Mat all over again. Check out the video for "Hey Mama" here.
If you aren't familiar with Mat's music you've probably heard some of his previous hits on your favorite TV shows. Past songs have appeared on 30 Rock, Grey's Anatomy, The Hills, Friday Night Lights, Scrubs, NCIS, and numerous other television shows. Mat's been winning over crowds on tours with everyone from John Mayer and Sheryl Crow to Keane and The Fray.
Young Love Tracklisting
1 Hey Mama
2 Ships In The Night
3 Count On Me
4 Sooner Or Later
5 Chasing The Light
6 Learning To Love Again
7 Down
8 She Got The Honey
9 Young Dumb And In Love
10 Rochester
11 Seventeen

Mat on Tour This Fall

Mat is hitting the road in September playing nearly 40 shows in US & Canada. Tickets on sale now.
9/14 Jacksonville, FL Murray Hill
9/16 Charleston, SC Music Farm
9/17 Athens, GA GA Theater
9/18 Carrboro, NC Cat's Cradle
9/20 Charlottesville, VA Jefferson Theater
9/23 Louisville, KY Headliners
9/24 Cincinnati, OH Bogart's
9/25 Cleveland, OH House of Blues
9/27 Interlochen, MI Corson Aud
9/29 Urbana, IL Canopy Club
9/30 Milwaukee, WI Turner Hall
10/1 Des Moines, IA People's Court
10/2 Omaha, NE Sokol Auditorium
10/4 Bloomington, IN Bluebird
10/5 St Louis, MO The Pageant
10/7 Oxford, MS The Lyric
10/8 Pine Mountain, GA Callaway Gardens
10/9 Birmingham, AL Workplay Theatre
10/20 Nashville, TN Cannery
10/23 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
10/24 Baltimore, MD Ram's Head
10/25 Lancaster, PA Chameleon
10/27 Allentown, PA Crocodile Rock 10/28 New York, NY Webster Hall
10/29 Philadelphia, PA Theater of LIving Arts
10/30 Albany, NY Northern Lights 11/1 Northampton, MA Pearl Street
11/2 New Haven, CT Toad's Place 11/4 Boston, MA House of Blues
11/5 Portland, ME State Theatre
11/6 Burlington, VT Higher Ground
11/8 Montreal, QC Petite Campus
11/9 Toronto, ON Opera House
11/11 Buffalo, NY Town Ballroom
11/12 Pittsburgh, PA Rex Theater
11/13 Detroit, MI St. Andrews
11/15 Columbus, OH Newport Music Hall
11/17 Chicago, IL House of Blues
11/19 Madison, WI The Majestic
11/20 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue

Here are some links that you might be interested in!  I just LOVE reading his stories and watching his videos on his site.  He is fantastic!
Mat's facebook page
Hey Mama's Video
Mat Kearney and Leagues
Mat's website

So let me start with the night.  The concert started at 8 pm.....but I forgot that there are always openers.  Thet opener for Mat is Leagues.  Two of the guys from Mat's band is also helping out this band....so they are working double duty.  What great guys!!  Leagues was...different.  I wasn't sure I was totally thrilled with them.  I was standing back by one of the bars and they had the Jets/Ravens game on.  I am a HUGE football fan...so after awhile of listening to Leagues...I have to admit to glancing over to watch the game.  I think they could have a future....but I am just not so sure how GOOD of a recording future they may have.  They weren't BAD...just not...well...they need work let's put it that way.

Forgive me for the pictures....my camera did NOT cooperate....it was foggy in there, so I don't know if it didn't understand how to focus with all that "fog" or what...but I wasn't happy with my results.  The pictures I am posting are actually the best of the bunch.

We stood back by the light and sound booth.  It was standing room only...literall...no chairs.  I wish I had known, I would have wore different shoes.  It was at Sokol Auditorium, which is a great historical building....I just didn't know I wouldn't be sitting...or have the option to sit....but once Mat Kearney took the stage, I didn't much care!  Being by the sound/lighting booth was really cool too.  I have never seen what those hard workers do "behind the scenes"....it was very impressive to say the least!

Here is Jeff and I waiting for Mat to take the stage.  At about 9:30....it happened!!  What we had been waiting for!  He was PHENOMENAL!!!  He sounds JUST like his CD's...so many artists don't sound like their CD's...but not Mat Kearney....it sounded like I was jammin' out in the car.  He is a cross between Dave Matthews and Matthew West as far as his sound goes.  He is an AWESOME performer....he is very personable to the audience...and there was not ONE person there watching that game...not even me!!!  :-)

He definitely had EVERYONE'S undivided attention!!  INCREDIBLE!  He played for over an hour...waiting OF COURSE until the encore to play "Like Ships in the Night" and "Hey Mama"...the one that everyone was waiting for!

All in all it was one of the best...if not THE best concert I have been to...and I have been to a lot of big name concerts....he has something very special though!

Be sure to check him out!

*I was given free tickets to the concert in exchange for my honest opinion, no compensation was given to me*