Matt Corby at the Enmore Theatre
On Friday the 7th of June, the Enmore Theatre was all abuzz with the delighted squeals of fan girls and boys. Right from the start Corby looked completely at ease. His songs captivated the crowd, as he opened with Made Of Stone. A definite highlight was ‘Resolution’ which began slowly and sleepily; still managing to mesmerise the excited crowd. The song built in the same way as ‘Brother’ does, creating a great sense of maturity for the night. Corby told the crowd that the Enmore Theatre had always been a place he had on his list of things to do, and after playing in backyards across the country all of last year it was no surprise that the theatre would reach its full capacity in ticket sales. The softly spoken musician took breaks in between a few songs only to acknowledge the support act Grace Woodroofe and to check upon his band members. The message wasn’t getting across to the audience who responded to anything he murmured with screams of ‘’I love you’’ or ‘’we love you’’ or ‘’my friend loves you’’ which made some of the quieter songs in which Matt was left alone with his guitar slightly awkward. The stripped back songs showed just how powerful Corby’s vocal range, and tone is and just how frantically passionate his lyrics are. The rawness delivered by the musician isn’t shown to its full extent in recordings as it is onstage. There seems to be no such thing as a recording edit for Matt Corby, he plays for the passion he has for music and that alone. Corby brought a bunch of new material to the show, which didn't fail to register the same emotional honesty as his previous numbers have done. Bree Tranter from ‘the Middle East’ stepped on to sing ‘Big Eyes’ with Matt, her harmonies with the powerful tone of Corby’s voice worked beautifully. Some of the people around me may not agree; one who whispered to her friend ‘You are prettier than her, Matt would love you way more’. This was a performance full of authenticity that transferred to the songs more than any other reality TV star could manage let alone many other independent singer songwriters in Australia at the moment.
Review by Grace Barr, Photos by Geneva Valek.