Matt Wertz & Steve Moakler keep World Cafe Smiling
Everyone has a different vantage point at a concert. You see things differently, respond to the music differently, and walk away with a different experience. When I started taking photos a year and a half ago, my vantage point changed and still continues to change. While taking photos, you begin to look at the emotions on the musicians’ faces and pay attention to the subtle changes in expression. One of the moments I look forward to most in a show is the genuine smiles and the pure excitement you can see on someone’s face as they play an instrument, sing a song,
or talk with the crowd.
Friday around 7pm, we met up with Steve Moakler who would be opening the show for Matt Wertz at World Cafe that night. Already having a genuine smile on his face, we searched for a room to sit and do the interview (watch here). After settling on a room, we sat and chatted about his love of music, passion for giving back, and living in Nashville. Good interviews before a show always put me in an even better mood; so as we walked back into the stage area and grabbed standing spots, we were ready for the night to truly begin. Steve took to the stage in front of an enthusiastic audience already prepared to sing along. Typically, I don’t expect for the majority of the audience to
know the music for the opening act, but this crowd did and they weren’t afraid to sing along. As the set progressed, Steve’s genuine smile grew and the audience got better and better.
Midway through the set, Steve mentioned his Free The Birds campaign to the crowd. In short, it’s a charity designed to help women that were rescued from sex trafficking. Giving back would later become a common thread of the night when Matt Wertz talked about Mocha Club and his involvement with them. Both had their respective organizations out at their merch table; Steve had shirts and birdhouses, and Matt had representatives from Mocha Club and was giving a copy of his Christmas CD to anyone thatsigned up.
Following Steve’s set, Matt took to the stage around 9pm to deliver another great 75 minutes of music. With a crowd already prepped and ready to sing, Matt took advantage of the audience and got them singing more and more as the set went on. The pureness to his voice added to how great the night was shaping up to be. Cracking jokes to get guitarist and friend, Nathan, to laugh made for interesting moments through the show. Midway through, Matt decided to try out some brand new songs and see how peopleresponded. Both were a success and fans gave more feedback after the show when all the guys were hanging out around the merch tables. As it neared the end of the set, fans didn’t want it to end and Matt joked about the way an encore works. He left the stage and returned with Steve to sing two last songs. Leaving the stage for the last time, the guys were genuinely excited about the show they just played and made sure to talk to all the fans that wanted to say hi.
It was yet another great show at World Cafe and the perfect way to begin the weekend. Make sure to check out both artists when they’re in your city and take some time to look at Free The Birds and The Mocha Club. Both are great organizations and deserve to be looked at.
