A few months ago I took a wrong turn near South Coast Plaza, and came across a building that must have been just visiting from the future. This architectural gem in our beloved Costa Mesa, California, is the home of Samueli Theater, which might very well be the best place to see live music that you could possibly hope for. Plenty of room, drinks, and even a rare roast beef sandwich in the lobby if you forget dinner on your way to the show. I hate to admit this, but after Satisfaction rocked, a big part of me wanted to be able to root for the underdog and say that they stole the show from Matt Costa. Even after the first solo song of Matt Costa's set, something in me wanted to be able to contradict the burgeoning group of his fans...to find all of the flaws, to be Jack Black in High Fidelity.

But, then the rest of the band came out, and new comparisons flooded into my mind. A bit of Wilco meets James Mercer, followed by whatever I would hate someone else for saying, followed by more obvious comparisons, each designed to avoid accepting him on his own merit. The band was hitting on all cylinders, and I started to see that this group of gents were not here to be the next fashion divas of the indie scene, but rather they genuinely loved playing music together. It kept getting better, and I found myself in the midst of some Newport Harbor High School hipsters with my beer and camera, and I set it down and hit record for this slightly-muffled clip (see below) that officially made me like the music of Matt Costa. Not to mention the fact that they made the crowd go nuts, and displayed absolutely no pretense whatsoever. A special thanks to Katie Martin at Indie 103.1, and also to our new friends at OCPA - Tim Dunn, Heather Cho and Jessica Brunner. Stay with us because we will be covering the upcoming Indie Artist series shows live at Samueli Theater featuring Rogue Wave, Voxhaul Broadcast, Pinback, Nada Surf and more.

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