It’s interesting, how some ordinary Monday dull days may turn into something magical and truly charming later in the evening. You never know, when you are going to fall down the rabbit hole and experience all six (or even more) marvels of the Wonderland. You never fully know, how really, seriously, most definitely fantastic Matt Corby is, until you see his soulful self live!
In all honesty, it feels like Matt Corby is the most genuine and humble lad right now on the Australian music stage. He doesn’t shoot for stars and doesn’t crave the ‘get famous in 15 minutes’ Warhol’s formula, he doesn’t do commercial songwriting and everything he produces turns out soulful and heart-warming. After his album ‘Into The Flame’ and especially the Brother erupted on the world as an absolute hit, his life had definitely take a different from usual turn and split into ‘before’ and ‘after’. Although, it didn’t change a thing in Matt’s attitude towards song-writing and in general. Right now we have the ‘Resolution’ EP and recently released and beloved single Monday that took our hearts away, and none of them lack the special ‘Matt’ thing. More than that, we may await the no less emotional new stuff, which Matt had generously shared with Brisbane this Monday at The Tivoli. How often do you find such strangely real people in this surreal world?
The Tivoli was bursting even before the doors were opened, that’s how everyone wanted and urgently needed to secure their awesome place for the night. It was hard not to get into this tsunami of excitement, as you could feel the vibe here and there, seemed like the venue was vibing itself. Some people would still believe they can find a nice place, after wasting their time chatting by the bar…Optimists, what can I say. The time indeed flied by, as the clock stroked 8:00PM and the gentle R.W Grace took over the stage. We first have heard of this mysterious electro-pop kid a year ago, when she dropped Pluto on us. Keeping that deeply emotional, edgy, weird atmosphere in her music and voice, she rushed from low and even tad aggressive to high-key, touching and piercing notes, making one wonder where was she before with the meaningful and intense lyrics, getting even into the toughest hearts.
And here belongs the phrase someone unrestrainedly shouted out so that the whole Tivoli and Matt in particular could hear: “I love you, Matt!”. Guess what was the answer? A smirk and casual “Okay”. No scenic loud love declaring, no fake Hollywood smiles, just ‘Okay’. But do you actually need to hear the answer you want from someone, who gives all his soul and love to you through powerful and passionate music?
One of a sudden everyone froze, when the light beam hit the stage. There he was: Matt Corby, slowly and carefully walking out on stage, as if he was measuring each step, before stopping and making the bond with the beam, the crowd, the beat. It was not only the Monday, as the first day of the week, it was the Monday. He started gently, with nice and warm greeting of the crowd and stood there, looking all comfy and covered in his own atmosphere, not everyone can understand. Gradually lulling the audience, he injected the trust, the happiness, the belief and some other unidentified awesome feeling in every soul present there, and just after everyone was ready to breath in, his voice erupted in a powerful wave of sound that definitely didn’t allow to breath evenly.
After setting the right mood, he played a bunch of new songs, which certainly were a huge tease for those longing for the new album. Playing with his voice, like the harper pulls the harp strings, he connects with the music on the whole different level. The way he blends into the lowest and the highest notes, spilling into pieces and leaving the magic void inside our souls, is indescribable. Every time he approaches his old stuff in a different way, showing everything his indeed unreal voice can do. Surely, here belongs a huge thanks to The Triffid, as the space’s magic helped to create the atmosphere, to spread the sound in every corner and Matt’s voice to get smoothly under everyone’s skin in seconds. Mixing new songs with some good old ones, he even managed to chat with us a little, although after quick confession that he’s not good at talks at all, was right back to goosebumping the audience with the touching Resolution. It will never stop being fascinating, how casually the music and Matt’s vocals shift from blues shades into folk, then raw rock sound and back into the weird, yet satisfying blend of everything. Yes, Matt is everything, but it’s not only his voice, but the lyrics: get off your phone, take it in tonight, if you see the light, - and we sure did see the light in the face of Matt Corby on the stage of Triffid, who made our hearts shiver thousand times.
Matt is definitely something different to a glorious and enormous Aussie music stage. If you can imagine, and I bet you can, he feels like a warm cozy sweater that is always there for you, and you don’t need a reminder about having it. It’s comfortable, it’s huge and snuggly, not the ordinary one. It makes you feel secure. When you hear Matt’s voice, you feel all those feelings at once hitting you, although, you might need to add unconditional happy cry from time to time. Thank you, warm Matt Corby, the Monday night could’ve never been any better, it was something special.
For the past few decades, Triple J has long been the opponent to everything plastic in Australian music. Only a few years ago did former presenter Jay Whalley (as part of Frenzal Rhomb) summarise...
Matt Corby, Grace Woodroofe @ The Tivoli, Brisbane. Photos: Aimee Catt.
Matt...
