Photo: Aleksandar Jason Photography
When I go to gigs I love looking around and capturing a person who is completely awestruck by the artist they love, isolating their experience and encapsulating themselves to the music, showing only emotion in their face. To be an artist and have the ability to do this – well, that is a special thing: one fine quality that Matt Corby has cultivated.
Corby gave a soulful raw performance. His rough earthy voice was as much an instrument as his guitar.
Before Matt came the warm, husky voice of Grace Woodroofe. For many (including myself) who hadn’t heard much of her until this evening, her vocals with the band’s performance lend itself to be a great supporting act.
Then came Corby. He opened alone on his keyboard with ‘Water and Wine,’ a mournful new piece, with a husky falsetto that silenced the crowd. Despite the occasional loud cheer from a horde of overwrought tweens, you would not have heard a pin drop.
Next song in, accompanied by his 5-piece band, Corby traded keys for his acoustic guitar, to play yet another new track ‘It’s Good To Be Alone.’ The soulful sounds from the acoustic, along with Bree Tranter on flute, perpetuated the awe-inspired silence established early in the show.
Back to keys we moved into ‘Made of Stone.’ Usually played solo by the artist, Matt was accompanied by his drummer, bass player, guitarist and keyboardist who all worked in perfect harmony to give this song the incredible height heard reverberating throughout the Enmore Theatre.
Afterwards came ‘Runaway’ and ‘Resolution,’ the latest track to come out by the bearded artist. Already having seen Matt live a few times before, it was ‘Resolution’ that I was most looking forward to hearing. And in doing so, let me just say the live version is (if more) better than the recorded one.
The dirty bluesy ‘Souls A’Fire’ came next and if the audience was anything to go by, this one proved to be the crowd pleaser.
Switching it up to electric guitar, Matt shared ‘Trick of the Light,’ another new song with a faster tempo and a funkier vibe.
It was the raw and very emotional ‘Untitled’ next, which completely captivated the crowd. Dim lighting with just Corby and his guitar. By tying the intimacy of the story behind the song, we were able to join in that feeling, while watching Corby wholly lose himself in the lyrics.
After came the acoustic rendition of ‘Lonely Boy’ and ‘Fire and Thunder,’ which Matt stopped halfway through to spot out a girl passed out up front (heavy).
However, the show must and did go on. Next came the famous “ooo-ee-oooh” everyone was waiting for, with the crowd belting out the chorus to ‘Brother’ with him.
The set came to a close with the pairing of vocals from Bree Tranter for ‘Big Eyes’ following the fast guitar picking and thunderous clapping from the audience along to ‘My False.’
The set was better than good, it was pretty excellent, and it’s no surprise that the show was sold out.
Matt Corby has been reminded and compared to the likes of Bon Iver, Jeff Buckley and Nick Drake. But, I think after witnessing him live, it’s safe to say he is pretty much in a league of his own.
