Good Matthew, good

Matthew Good took the stage at Metropolis Saturday night and delivered like Marcus Naslund on a breakaway.

In his first visit to Mo-Town since he dropped the “Band” from the “Matthew Good Band” (MGB), Good opened the set with the first three tracks from his recent solo debut, “Avalanche.” The building came to life as the little rocker from Vancouver rescued the capacity crowd from what had been a less-than-Good evening of opening band fluff.

The crowd went nuts as Good sang and danced his way through the opening number, “Pledge of Allegiance,” a fresh tweak of Good’s three-chord, big beat, west-coast rock. Opinionated and blunt as usual, Good greeted the crowd with a warm “Bonjour to all our French friends out there!” Sporting a golf cap and his trademark bold-rimmed glasses, Good seemed a bit more relaxed than his last show in Montreal when he barged out on stage wearing a monkey mask and a “I hear Matt Good is a real asshole” t-shirt.

Matthew Good and his entourage performed just as well as the MGB did, maybe even better. There were some fresh faces on stage as Patrick Steward (formerly of The Odds) has assumed drum duty from Ian Browne. Despite his bleached blond hair and tan, Steward looks like he could be Matt Good’s dad. To his credit, the old fellow proved himself worthy with a near-perfect performance behind the kit. Fellow newcomer Christian Thor Valdson (formerly of Copyright) has taken over the second guitar position vacated by Dave Genn’s noisy exit from the group last year. The addition of keyboardist Mark Olexson has allowed Good to experiment with strings and sample loops which accent some of the warmer elements of his music.

The mosh pit was alive with the usual suspects moshing and surfing as the set list ran through new then old then back to new. MGB classics such as “Hello Timebomb” and “Giant” garnered much excitement from the crowd, as did “Apparitions” which was saved for the lone encore. The new Matt Good material includes some tracks that are a bit lighter and more sophisticated than his older stuff while drifting at times towards the New Wave sounds of ye olde tyme (e.g. the 80s).

Good also took the opportunity to address the U.S led war on Iraq as he decried pro-American support that has been voiced by some western Canadian premiers. After declaring that most Canadians do not support the war, Good asked the crowd if they wanted to be Quebecers or Canadians. The consensus seemed to be that the majority of persons present were against the war in Iraq and wanted to be Canadian. “I thought so,” said a grinning Good, and the show went on.

Matthew Good put on an electrifying show Saturday night and proved once again that he is one of the industry’s most under-rated performers. Singer, songwriter and dancer rolled into one, Good exhibits more talent than Raine Maida and Avril Lavigne combined. Good is better than good; he is great.