Support: Vera Blue
The Palais Theatre, St Kilda – May 2
Written by Amanda Sherring
While the Palais is hands down one of the most beautiful venues in Melbourne, I’ve never been much of a fan of sit-down gigs. However, in the case of witnessing Vera Blue and Matt Corby, I think it’s certainly a wise choice, as fans would be unlikely to know what to do with themselves as they witnessed such incredible vocal abilities.
Vera Blue warmed up the crowd, and aside from her at-times awkward conversation and closed eyes during most of the set, her actual singing was flawless. This musician is the real deal when it comes to talent and I can’t think of a moment where she didn’t hit a note – as varied and as complicated as they often were. There was even a cover thrown in of the Gorillaz’ ‘Feel Good Inc’, which while sounding completely different from the original, moulded into her sound really well.
At the beginning of Matt’s tour there was quite a bit of drama surrounding his illness and a cancellation, and still showing remnants of his sickness (there were a few chesty coughs snuck in between songs), it was incredible to see Matt hit those notes and bring each track to life even though he wasn’t 100 per cent – you’d never know it though. With a full band behind him, including two on keys/synth, a guitarist, bass and the odd flute picked up by the keyboardist and himself, his new blues-driven sound came to life in front of the sold out venue. Matt started off with his newer tracks, though still threw in a few oldies (including ‘Revolution’) to his more than an hour set. The love for the musician was clear as in between songs, squeals and confessions of love were yelled out and echoed through the venue. Quite a comical moment came when a fan yelled “I love you Matt” to his response of “cheers mate”. What else is there to say? Matt is a talented performer who expels a vocal ability unlike any I’ve seen in the industry, and his humbled nature matches that ability to a tee. If you haven’t seen either of these performers, try as hard as you can to rectify that.
