This past Saturday night, Matt Nathanson and Rachel Platten captivated a full house at The Calvin Theater in Northampton.

As Matt Nathanson and his band entered the stage, Nathanson addressed the crowd as “Sweet, sweet Northampton.” He then opened his portion of the show by playing “Mercy,” a song from his newest record “Modern Love.” Nathanson and his band played over 20 songs throughout the night consisting of songs from “Modern Love,” some very old songs from his previous records and multiple covers.

Throughout the night, Nathanson kept the crowd on its feet as the audience laughed along to his monologues consisting of jokes about anything and everything sexual. Halfway through the night, Nathanson revealed that he grew up in Lexington and that his father was a graduate of the University of Massachusetts.

Some of the many songs Nathanson did perform were “Laid” – a James cover which was featured in the movie “American Wedding” – “Fall to Pieces”, “Church Clothes”, “Kept” and “Room @ the End of the World.”

Nathanson also performed the song “Queen Of (K)nots” from “Modern Love.” He played that song into Soft Cell’s “Tainted Love” and then threw in a bit of “Personal Jesus,” originally by Depeche Mode. Some of the other covers performed by Nathanson included Prince’s “Little Red Corvette,” The Monkees’ “Daydream Believer” and “Jolene” by Dolly Parton, to name a few.

Nathanson ended his night playing the lead single off “Modern Love” called “Faster.” He involved the audience by giving them a beat to clap along to and telling them to dance during the chorus of the song.

Moments after Nathanson and his band left the stage, the full house demanded more, and Nathanson reappeared on stage alone with an acoustic guitar. He then commented on how in today’s society people feel like other people lives are more important than their own.

“We are more [concerned] on what’s going on with the Kardashian’s than our public schools,” said Nathanson.

He then followed this speech up by playing his song “Little Victories” from his album “Beneath These Fireworks.”

His band then reentered the stage and together they all performed Nathanson’s hit “Come on Get Higher” from the album “Some Mad Hope.” Again, the entire Calvin Theater was on their feet singing and dancing along with Nathanson. The night was capped off as Nathanson and his band played the song “Wedding Dress,” which is also on the “Some Mad Hope” album.

The sold out show began promptly at 8 p.m. as Rachel Platten took the stage and amazed the crowd before her.

Platten played a total of seven songs consisting of a new song not found on her newest record “Be Here,” some old songs and two very unforgettable covers. Platten sat all kinds of coy at her keyboard and was accompanied by a small drum set and another keyboard. The cute, down to earth singer-songwriter had a constant smile beaming from her face as she giggled along while singing and proved herself to have a rather charming stage presence.

Before each song, Platten explained the meanings behind them in a short, sweet and comical monologue. Stating how much she loved Northampton, Platten joked of how she ate a burrito at Bueno y Sano and now her stomach felt “interesting.”

After revealing that she had grown up in Massachusetts, she pointed out her mother in the audience. Platten then dedicated a sweet ballad version of “You Can’t Hurry Love” originally by The Supremes to her mother.

The second cover Platten performed was an exceptional version of Snoop Dogg’s “Gin and Juice,” which was then played into Jessie J’s “Price Tag,” which soon became Alicia Keys’ song “No One.” Platten was sure to involve the audience as she asked them to sing along to “Gin and Juice” like a “beautiful choir.”

Each one of Platten’s songs was unique, fun and extremely entertaining. For a couple of her songs, Platten showed off her beat boxing skills and involved the audience by having them clap along to the beat. Before playing her final song, Platten’s drummer snapped a picture of the audience on his iPhone as Platten encouraged the crowd to find her on Facebook, Twitter and Match.com.

Platten closed her portion of the show by playing her most notable song “1,000 Ships.” She earned a standing ovation from the crowd as she exited the stage.

The amazing performance Platten put on was unexpected and proved itself to be a very pleasant surprise. She did an outstanding job of amping up the audience and setting a perfect tone for Nathanson’s performance to follow.

The show ended precisely at 11 p.m. and everyone poured out of The Calvin Theater onto the streets of Northampton with smiles on their faces.

The pairing of Matt Nathanson and Rachel Platten was nothing short of perfection. The two complemented each other’s musical styles flawlessly. There was not one song, joke or dance that could have made their show Saturday night any better.

Charlene Swain can be reached at [email protected].