For his Modern Love Tour, Matt Nathanson had a number of in store performances and like he did for his Some Mad Hope Tour, he recorded them. The first we reviewed awhile back was Left & Right, Vol. 1, but this one was a little different. Left & Right, Vol. 2 was actually a Record Store Day release from 2012 and yes, it was on CD only and not vinyl. There were only 3,000 released and I think is the easier of the two to find (and cheaper one), but that doesn’t make it any less.
The E.P. consists of songs taken from his performance at Newbury Comics in Boston, Mass on October 8, 2011 and from his show at Music Millennium in Portland, Oregon on October 23, 2011. Like the last, it is filled with acoustic songs from his current album and a ton of great banter with the crowd. This time around, Matt brought his good buddy Aaron Tap along to assist on the acoustic guitar and the banter and the two together are quite a comic duo.
After the introduction, we get Matt’s hilarious commentary as he talks about having to pee and then a woman wanting his autograph after he peed, but he denied her as he was late to the in store. And his horse joke didn’t go over very well. He is all over the place. The opening track is the title track of his new album he is touring on. The song “Modern Love” is already a great pop song in full electric version, but acoustically it seems more intimate and like Matt is bearing his soul. The harmonies of him and Aaron really take it to another level. It might be beautiful here than the actual studio version, yes, it is that good.
One of my favorite songs on the album is up next with “Room @ the End of the World”, but before we get to it, he seems to grab an album near him while at Newbury Comic which happens to be Ted Nugent. Then he goes on and on about how the rapture thing never happened as this around the time people were claiming the world was going to end. The “whooo whooo’s” was there like on the album, but again, stripped back to its acoustic bear minimum. The chorus is so dang catchy and the story of the song is great about being with the one you love if the world was going to end.
Aaron is missing his shaker so we don’t get that affect in the next song and Matt had to give him a hard time. He then talks about how he tattooed the album cover, a picture of Matt, on to Aaron’s chest. Then we get a commentary on how horny Sebastian was from Little Mermaid with his song “Under the Sea”. This next song he joked is the sequel called “Bottom of the Sea”. And then he talks about how Walt Disney was a holocaust denier. Man, his mind is all over the place. When they finally get to the song, it actually feels like a Disney song. It is a little corny, but it is still a Matt song so there is a charm to it and the lyrical phrasing is great.
Right before the next song he starts using metaphors because of the little kids in the audience. He talks about that point in your relationship where it is so over, but the Scrabble is so good that you can’t end it. Scrabble of course is a metaphor for Sex! The song is an upbeat, high energy song and they are able to keep that same vibe acoustically as well. The chorus will suck you in and never let go. A total blast of a song which is called “Faster”.
At this point, I think they leave Newbury Comics and are now at Music Millennium for the song called “Kept”. No jokes, no commentary, straight in to the song. It is a slow, sad sounding song. Matt sings with a somber tone and so much heart you can’t help but be drawn in to the world he is taking you to. It is the most beautiful song out of the bunch and stripped down to only acoustic guitars and his voice really brings out the greatness of the song.
And that is it. Another great E.P. from Matt Nathanson. It gives you a chance to see his wit as a comedian while being a fantastic singer/songwriter. Any time he wants to put out these sets, sign me up, I’ll will buy every one. I’m so happy I was able to get both Volumes to this set. I hate they didn’t do anymore, but maybe someday. If you see this, grab a copy as you won’t be disappointed. My Overall Score is nothing short of a 5.0 out of 5.0 Stars. This is the kind of stuff that us hardcore fans love!!