The Simkins: Matt Costa at the Music Hall of Williamsburg

Friday I had to tickets to see Matt Costa at the Music Hall of Williamsburg!

In the past five years I've probably seen Matt Costa perform between 5-8 times. The first time I saw him was way back in junior year of high school (2005), at Lou's Records up in Encinitas, CA. He had a small stage set up in the parking lot of Lou's, where he and his band played for free one drizzly afternoon for a crowd of about 20 or 30 fans/curious bystanders.

Here's a video that I took from that afternoon of my favorite song of his, Astair.

He has an amazing voice and I was shocked that someone could sound so much better live than recorded. After seeing him perform that day at Lou's, I followed his music and made sure to keep on top of his tour schedule. I managed to go to so many of his shows in the following years and meet him after every one.

At Lou's Records in 2005.

I've seen him perform in San Diego, Del Mar, Encinitas, San Francisco and a couple times in New York City. Throughout the years, he's gone through different band members, different styles and different sounds, but his voice has remained the same - amazing.

I hadn't even bought his newest album and wasn't sure what to expect from him at the show in Brooklyn on Friday, but tickets weren't too pricey and I liked the venue and area.

I needn't have worried; he put on an amazing show. Once again, he had a completely different band, but they were good. He has a phenomenal stage presence and really knows how to perform, although I miss the casual jam session style that he used to have.

He started out the show off-stage in the crowd.

With the harmonica.

At one point he jumped off stage and pushed through the

crowd until he stopped to sing literally in front of Courtney and I!

On the piano.

Playing the trumpet.

He played a solid hour and a half set, mixing old songs in between the new ones. After the show, we exited and found him outside patiently signing autographs and taking pictures.