Matchbox 20 Rocked Ball Arena

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The Slow Dreams Tour brought Matchbox Twenty to Denver last night, June 6^th, 2023 at Ball Arena.

I was excited to see if the band had stood the test of time. They did not disappoint me or the thousands of fans who attended the show.

Founding members Rob Thomas, Brian Yale, Paul Doucette and Kyle Cook were joined by veteran drummer, Stacy Glen Jones, who is the musical director for Miley Cyrus and has been the touring drummer for Matchbox 20 since 2012.

The band dug deep into their catalog with album cuts like “All I Need,” “Hand Me Down,” “The Way” as well as cuts from their first new album in 11 years, the much anticipated “Where the Light Goes,” playing “Queen of NYC,” “Don’t Get Me Wrong,” “Rebels,” and “Wild Dogs,” the latter of which you can hear on KOSI 101.1

All their big hits had the crowd singing along with every word, including, “Mad Season,” “Bent,” “Back To Good,” “3AM,” “Push,” “Bright Lights,” “Unwell,” and a special acoustic version of “If You’re Gone,” with lead guitarist Kyle Cook, which was one of the highlights of the show. 

Lead singer Rob Thomas commented to the audience, “can you believe songs that we wrote 27 years ago would still be relevant today and enjoyed by ages 7 to 70,” which was evident from the crowd at Ball Arena. The crowd also gave Kyle Cook a massive cheer when he changed into a Denver Nuggets jersey for the final few songs of the show.

Matchbox Twenty is perhaps one of the biggest success stories of the late ’90s alt/pop radio boom, and the many hits they’re playing on this tour drives that home. In fact, you can hear more Matchbox 20 songs from the 90’s through today, on KOSI 101.1 than any other Denver area radio station.

It takes a lot to get me out late on a worknight, but I’m glad I went. It was an amazing show.

Jim Lawson

• all photographs taken by Jim Lawson, all rights reserved.