Photo by Cameron Yong
Photo by Cameron Yong

When I arrived to Wednesday night’s show at the Barn, I immediately saw a long line of people anxiously waiting to enter the venue. The topic on everyone’s lips was trying to meet the night’s talented headliner: indie artist Matt Costa.

Inside the Barn, the stage was lit up with a mixture of red, blue and yellow lights as the opening act, Hindu Pirates, made their way to their instruments. As the band began to play, lead vocalist and keyboard player Austin Ferreria sang “Nothing At All” while the other members bobbed their long hair back and forth to the steady rhythm of the guitar chords. After playing a few songs, guitarist Giuseppe LoBasso made the first interaction with the crowd. He announced, “This one is going to be a banger,” as they began to perform “Sweet Tooth.”

Hindu Pirates emerged into the surf rock genre as a talented quintet with a vintage feel to their music. The band used typical instruments, such as the guitar and drums, but the synthesizing keyboard contributed a unique sound that gave their songs an electric, space-age tone.

The atmosphere of the Barn drastically switched gears to a soft and mellow tone as Matt Costa took the stage and opened up with one of his most recognizable songs, “Mr. Pitiful.” The track has been used in multiple films, such as “I Love You, Man” and was also featured in the trailer of “Youth In Revolt.”

Costa is known to be a talented multi-instrumentalist and vocalist. During his song “Ofilia,” he managed to strum the chords on his guitar, sing vocals and play his harmonica simultaneously.  Throughout the night, Costa would switch his elaborate instruments around and go from playing the keyboard, to the tambourine, to the guitar.

The highlight of the night occurred during Costa’s popular tune, “Miss Magnolia.” In the middle of the song, Costa disappeared offstage and burst onto the ground floor, dancing playfully around the Barn. He made his way to the very center of the crowd where he got up close and personal with the audience. The crowd was definitely enthusiastic about Costa’s spontaneous actions as we all gazed upon the musician with starstruck eyes and big smiles. Costa finished up his song surrounded by his many fans and returned back to the stage.

Costa successfully got the crowd involved by teaching us the chorus to his enjoyable song “Good Times Are Coming.” After the audience learned the lyrics, everyone was able to loudly sing, “Good times are coming, those good times are coming / Good times are coming to an end” right along with him.

Afterwards, Costa played another one of his notable songs, “Sunshine,” which has more of a whimsical and elegant tone. Costa’s quiet voice consumed the Barn as the entire audience listened in awe to his soft, whispering vocals. The crowd sang along softly, but when the song came to an end, everyone erupted in applause.

In between songs, the audience shouted out their song requests for his beloved hits. Costa took into consideration what the audience was begging for and even played one of the requested songs, “Sweet Rose.” The crowd was excited to know that he was listening to them and showed their appreciation by clapping to the steady rhythm of the drums and the flowing chords of the guitar.

Costa interacted with the audience and would tell us his inspirations hidden behind his song lyrics. According to Costa, one of his closing songs, “Laura Lee,” was intended to feel like a fairytale. As he began to play his song, I became lost in the short yet fanciful story about this mysterious Laura Lee character.

During his last song, “Clipped Wings,” Costa’s quiet and mystic vocals filled the Barn and created an environment that gave me chills after his performance. As the concert came to an end, I was left wanting to hear more after witnessing Costa’s amazing live performance. His interaction with the audience and cool demeanor made the concert a memorable experience, and I left the Barn a much bigger fan of Matt Costa than when I first arrived.