During an interview earlier this month with Matchbox Twenty’s Paul Doucette, he paused to consider the longevity of his popular band.
“It’s hard to stay together for 30 years,” he said. “That’s why a lot of bands don’t do it.”
The group is currently out on its Slow Dream Tour, a jaunt that was originally supposed to launch in 2020, but was sidelined and rescheduled twice by the COVID-19 pandemic. The outing — which hits the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on Monday, May 22; FivePoint Amphitheatre in Irvine on Sunday, May 28; and Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre in San Diego on Tuesday, May 30 — is in support of the band’s first new studio album in more than a decade, “Where the Light Goes,” which drops on Friday, May 26.
To be completely accurate, Matchbox Twenty won’t hit their 30th year as a band until 2025, but the guitarist knows a thing or two about how difficult it can be for a band to remain intact for so long.
In Matchbox Twenty’s case, there have been several periods where the band went inactive – usually involving times when singer Rob Thomas was making and then touring behind one of the four solo albums that have made him a major star in his own right.
Those projects had idled Matchbox Twenty for stretches of time since 2005. In the early years, things were busy, and the quartet became one of the most popular bands out there. The 1996 debut album, “Yourself or Someone Like You,” sold some 12 million copies and yielded four hit singles, including the chart-topping songs “3AM,” “Push,” “Real World” and “Back To Good.” The 2000 follow-up, “Mad Season,” added four more hits, including the multi-chart-topping “Bent,” and 2002’s “More Than You Think You Are,” included the Top 5 hits “Unwell” and “Bright Lights.”
But then Thomas, who has gained individual fame for co-writing and singing on the monster Carlos Santana hit “Smooth,” in 1999, launched his solo career. And since…
Read the full article here