Matthias Harris -Cardiff Gig Review
A chilly Tuesday in late October seemed like an ideal night for some melodic melancholy. Cardiff was in luck, as English singer-songwriter Matthias Harris was in town. He was invited to join Dave Giles as part of his Upload Live Tour which finally visited the city’s intimate ‘Clwb-Ifor-Bach venue. However, Harris exhibited the the kind of performance usually saved for main stage acts, not supporters. Despite only playing to the half-filled cosy venue, the bravado and duress of the artist’s material was enough to captivate everyone in attendance. The set list was rich with new emotionally charged songs like ‘Home’ which ushered the show in and smoothly transitioned to the next two songs with a clever cohesion between each track. Watching Harris made you realise just how much is going on in his music―watching it build up layer by layer, looping live sampling and beats until it became that bright wall of spectacular electro-soul noise. However, the vocals were never obscured by his impressive instrumental set up. The audience gave a huge cheer after War in Our Hearts; the third song in the cohesive trio, which showed off Harris’s range of high and low vocals enrapturing the concert goers on a rainy evening.
There was something so endearing about his approach to entertaining the crowd;so humble and authentic. He drew laughter from the audience and shared the story behind Goodbye before silencing the room with the heartfelt track. A favourite moment was when Harris closed his eyes and held a note for so long and so majestically, that every vein in his body delivered the power, grace and passion that the personal experience behind the song reminded him of.
After thanking Dave Giles for inviting him on tour and the audience for attending, Harris encouraged everyone to clap for supporting independent music.The 25 minute set was drawn to a close with Torn, another particularly powerful and exuberant track; demonstrating a level of control and sonic power that left the audience in awe. With his funny humour, Harris snapped the audience out of the day dreams he’d put them in with his music and invited everyone to come say hello after the show.Harris is an archetypal example of an artist you need to see live and so I’d highly recomend catching his remaining shows in Manchester, Norwich and London.
Matthias Harris’s debut EP is available as a limited edition CD or on Itunes very soon.
www.matthiasharris.com
@matthiasharris
