Monday night gigs are a strange anomaly. Personally, I like them. They kind of take your mind off the working week to come, and allow you to ease yourself into the next four days of working for the man, or woman. One thing about this particular Monday night was that Matt Corby was gracing the stage of Sydney’s Metro Theatre and about to make you wish you didn’t have to go to work in the morning.
Opening proceedings was R.W. Grace. On the back of a name change, R.W Grace played the crowd a mixture of old and new tracks, whetting the crowd’s appetite for the main course later on in the evening. Having seen her support Alt J last year, I knew she was going to be great, and you wouldn’t believe it, she was on point. Despite the name change, she could still belt out a tune.
Next up was Sydney act Stolen Violin. I’ll be honest in saying that I was at the bar when their set began and assumed it was just the PA playing. But after wandering back into the main room, I was greeted with definite live music, but no apparent live band. Upon further investigation, Stolen Violin, with their sweet ambience and ever so soulful harmonies, had taken to performing their entire set sitting down in a sort of ‘youth/ church group’ type of arrangement. It was different, a little bit weird, but all in all, they pulled it off.
There was a strange eagerness to the crowd as they waited in anticipation. Never before has a crowd turned up so early, en masse, and waited for the main act to appear. R.W Grace played to about a half filled room, and when Stolen Violin finished up 40 minutes before Matt Corby, The Metro would have been 80% full.
Entering at 9.20pm, Corby took the opportunity to tell the crowd that current single, the aptly named “Monday”, was made all from sounds he solely makes. The crowd stood in utter silence and took in the gospel-like ease and grace that Corby presented through the use of some looping and his honey coated vocals. As a stand alone single, it could easily make end of year top ten lists.
Still running the bohemian hipster look the masses have grown accustomed to, if there was an award at the ARIAs for best hair and vocal combination, Matt Corby would win hands down. His track “Runaway”, while not as long as Kanye’s, was much more beautiful. It was atmospheric, transcendent, simplistic and entirely next level. I’d have given it a Mark Holden ‘Touchdown’.
Bringing out his own guitar for “What The Devil Has Made”, he was ably supported by his five-piece band, all of whom were masters of their trade. The introduction of flute was the deal maker. There isn’t enough flute in contemporary music. When it’s presented as well as it was here, I don’t know why every band doesn’t have a flautist. With his scat work at A+ levels, “Devil” was an early set highlight.
“Resolution” was the first opportunity the crowd had to flex their vocal muscle, and took the opportunity to deliver their best ‘don’t you worry’ lyric on the entry to the chorus. The flute made a reappearance on the next track, this time in jazz form. The redheaded magician on keys and percussion really crushed her part through the track. New track “Wrong Man” was a real builder, and proved to be a real stand out from the set. Keep your ears peeled for its release; it’s going to be huge.
Taking the track down a jazz/ Ben Harper track, Corby and co headed into “Trick of The Light”, which got the crowd moving and snapped out of their infatuation with standing in utter silence as the master on stage applied his trade. Unannounced, he moved into “Brother” on the back of “Sooth Lady Wine”. One thing you notice with his current interpretation of “Brother” is that he’s done away with the rawness of his roars from the original studio cut. It’s a sign of the maturity he has as a musician, and signals the professionalism he places and emphasises on throughout his performance.
Thanking the crowd for coming along, Corby quickly dismissed the cries of ‘I want your babies’ with ‘too bad’- classic banter. Closing the night out with another new track, it had a John Legend “Ordinary People”-esque vibe to it, and really summed up the type of performance you’d just witnessed. Matt Corby has a great skill. I’m not talking about his singing either. He took what should have been a regulation Monday night, and turned it into magical evening, far, far away from that alarm clock in the next morning.
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