Matteo Mancuso at the Dakota Jazz Club

Hubby and I celebrated our anniversary with an evening out at the Dakota Jazz Club in Minneapolis to see Matteo Mancuso.

Let me just say that we would both do that again in a heartbeat.

We had never been to the Dakota before. It’s the perfect size venue for live music for this time in our lives. Yes, we’re now Olds, and we prefer more intimate venues where the volume doesn’t blow out our eardrums and we’re so far away from the stage that the performers are the size of ants and we have to watch giant screens the entire time to see anything. We can watch musicians on a screen at home, for gosh sakes!

Actually, that’s how we first got to know Matteo Mancuso. Erik saw a YouTube video of him playing jazz guitar several years ago and has been following him since. Matteo is from Italy, and he and his musician friends would get together in what looked like spaces in homes to jam jazz tunes, like “The Chicken,” in front of a camera and post the videos to YouTube. You know, just your standard online content creation, except it was obvious that Matteo and his friends were really, really talented at an unusually young age for their skill level. Matteo is only 28 now, but he has the guitar chops of someone much older.

In 2023, he released his first studio album, “The Journey.” Erik had to have it. We bought two copies, a CD that we could copy to our phones and a vinyl album that Erik wanted to save without opening.

When Erik saw an announcement that Matteo was going to appear at the Dakota in June, he texted me saying, “Can we go?” Because it was around our anniversary, I thought it would make a great anniversary gift to ourselves, so I said, “Sure!” and we ordered tickets.

We arrived as the club was opening and got ourselves situated with drinks and dinner while there was hardly anyone around. Dinner was marvelous (smoked trout salad for me and wagyu beef for Erik); dessert was divine (Earl Grey lavender bread pudding).

As we were eating, the place filled up. The show started on the dot at 7:00 p.m.

Matteo was joined by Riccardo Oliva on bass guitar and Gianluca Pellerito on drums. All three are phenomenal musicians and their performance was tight. It was obvious through their interactions that they enjoy playing together, and we’ve seen them do so often on YouTube.

The show ended with “The Chicken” and a standing ovation. They came back for an encore of “Drop D” off of “The Journey” album.

We jumped into the merchandise line and purchased a hat and another copy of “The Journey,” which we had Matteo sign for us. Yes, we now have three copies of the album! But it’s worth it to support such talented musicians.

As we left the Dakota, it dawned on me …. I never imagined I’d meet a musician from so far away that I’d seen on YouTube videos. And, yet, it has happened. Isn’t life weird and wonderful?

This is Matteo Mancuso’s first headline tour in the United States, so if you have an opportunity to see him, we highly recommend it. Find the rest of the tour dates here: https://www.premierguitar.com/news/matteo-mancuso-first-headline-tour.

Matteo Mancuso’s official website is here: https://www.matteomancuso.net.