REVIEW: Matt Simons, Chris Ayer @ Great Scott 11/23

By Grace Lauson

On Nov. 12, American singer-songwriter Matt Simons played at the Great Scott in Allston. Simons’s friend Chris Ayer opened the show. They first toured together about eight years ago and have been playing shows together ever since. This was Simons’s first headlining show in Boston; his funny personality and great energy made for an exciting show.

Simons just finished the international leg of his tour and only has a couple of shows left before he goes back to into the studio to record more music. He has an album coming out later this year and gave the Boston crowd a sneak peek of some of his new songs. He played multiple unreleased songs, some old pieces, and, of course, his singles. His most popular song, “Catch and Release” (the Deepend Remix), has upwards of 200,000,000 listens on Spotify. The fan base has grown over the years and remain quite dedicated to Ayer and Simons.

The show was lively and the smaller crowd made for an intimate concert between Simons and the fans. He and Ayer both played acoustically, which showcased both their talent and musical abilities. Simons started off his set with “Tear It Up,” which is an upbeat song that really got the crowd excited for the rest of the show. He followed this by a more mellow song connected to his personal feelings between him and his wife called “Emotionally Involved.”

The lighting was low and I felt as if Simons was actually conversing with the crowd. He took song suggestions prior to the show and played music that strayed from his normal setlist such as “Weight on Me.”

Simons had just released a song four days prior to the show called “Amy’s Song,” which he performed for one of the first times in Boston. He played a song called “The Last to Know” that he said was inspired from Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard It Through The Grapevine.” This song has never been released, but was one of my personal favorites from the show. The style differed quite a bit from the rest of his songs, but had a great beat with very good energy.

Simons played about 20 songs and even brought Ayer back out to collaborate on a couple of songs during his set. This duo clearly has a history of great friendship and had fun while performing their songs together.

He topped off his performance with an encore featuring his newest single, “We Can Do Better,” as well as his most popular song “Catch and Release.” The crowd was dancing and singing along and he ended the show on a great note. He was very willing to meet fans after the concert and took pictures with almost everyone in the crowd. His show was truly one of a kind.