Mat Kearney

A really cool video from Mat’s performance at the To Write Love On Her Arms - Heavy & Light show in Orlando at the House of Blues on January 9, 2010 was just posted! This “Stand By Me” cover was the encore of the night and included members of Anberlin, The Rocket Summer, Underoath and Copeland.

A little backstage hangout at New York’s famed Irving Plaza.

Well, well… we finally made it.  The final show of the tour.  It’s been a long journey, filled with highs and lows and everything in between.  We’ve had a lot of fun, and I think seeing all the fans out on the road, and the incredible outpouring of support for Mat’s music has really blown everyone away.  I’m so excited for everyone who got to see a show on this tour, it was a really special time for both the crew and the band.  Anyways… here’s a recap of our experience on The Tonight Show…

We arrived early in the morning driving through Universal Studios… there was sets all around us.  Western, NY city, CSI… it was all quite surreal.  The stage was empty when we got inside and much smaller then what it looks like on TV.  The crew was prepping the masks that come down from the ceiling for Conans “in the year 3000″ sketch.  It was really interesting to see how all the behind the scenes stuff worked on the filming of The Tonight Show.

This picture was taken during “rehearsals” Mat and the band had to play “Closer to love” with cameras and crew 3 to 4 times before the show that night, in order to get the camera angles correct before doing it live.  This lasted until about 2 pm.  Until everyone was starving and desperate for food.  Luckily this is when the food actually arrived.  The food was fantastic.  Mat seemed EXTRA excited about the food.

After lunch, we were offered the opportunity to sit at Conans desk and take pictures before he came out for rehearsals.

Conan has had that eisenhower ceramic on his desk from the very first show he ever did in his old slot.  Apparently its kind of famous.  Also, he has an autographed guitar sitting next to his desk that Pearl Jam signed for him on the first show.  Pearl Jam is his favorite band from what I hear.

There was a Wii and an Xbox 360 in the dressing room for us to play around on while we waited for the show to start taping.  Some of the band members opted to stay and do this, while some of us decided to head to Universal Studios Theme Park.  The studio and the theme park are located all in the same area.  We got free tickets and “front of the line” passes.  We got to ride Jurassic park, The Simpsons, and The Mummy.  Then it was about time for the taping so we headed back to the studio for makeup.

After this I wasn’t allowed to shoot during the show, so my photos were limited to the dressing room.  For a lot of the band members this was their first time playing live on a tv show.  Adam was so nervous he thought he was going to puke.  But no worries, the performance went off without a hitch and everyone agreed it was a resounding success.  I hope you guys saw it!  Okay well that’s all for now… this Jonny signing off… over and out.

-Jonny

When we arrived at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas today it was a little jarring.  We had just come from Denver, where the air was clean and crisp and we were surrounding with beautiful mountains.  Nature.  Las Vegas as we all know has a little bit different vibe…

Although different, we all had a great time in Vegas.  The hotel room had a great view of “The Strip”, and a beautiful pool area.  There was waterfalls, private cabanas, and all kinds of delicious food.  We had an amazing sushi dinner before the show, and Mat played a little poker.  Surprisingly, Mat has quite the poker face.

The show was specifically for a few lucky radio contest winners.  The venue was small, and Mat seemed really excited to be playing for a much smaller, more intimate crowd.  It was apparently something he hadn’t done years.  I hope everyone that was there enjoyed it as much as he did.  Only one stop left on the tour!  Conan!

-Jonny