Down in the Valley

Matt Corby - December 5, 2012

I finally saw Matt Corby for the first time this past week in Paris, and he was nothing short of wondrous. I’ve been a fan of Matt’s for 3 years now, and I always knew that seeing him live would be different from listening to his recordings and to watching youtube videos, I knew it would be better. So going into the show, I had incredibly high expectations, and he far and beyond exceeded them all; put simply, he blew me away.

I arrived at the venue about an hour early, so I managed to get a spot in the front row about one person to the left of center. I saw it all, and everything about the concert was beautiful. Matt’s voice is completely out of this world. There were moments when I would just grin in complete awe of what I was witnessing. And when he’s on stage he doesn’t hold anything back, nor does the rest of the band, and this, in addition to Matt’s spectacular vocals and instrumental skills, is what makes seeing him so enchanting and beautiful. Matt steps on stage and he shares himself with you. He’s completely honest and open and it’s magical. It’s such an intimate and personal expression that at times you wonder if it’s too much. During “Runaway” (a song about a failed relationship) I was almost brought to tears. Matt plays the song like his heart was broken yesterday, and it was so personal that I honestly felt like I shouldn’t be watching, like some sort of mistake had been made and that he forgot he was playing for a room full of strangers. But he plays every song like this, with the same heartache or enthusiasm or whatever emotional state he was in when he first wrote it. Every song, even the ones written years ago, is fresh and new. And it’s so infectious. Matt open’s himself up and then the band follows, and they begin to move and flow as one, fully giving themselves up to the song, and you find yourself relating to the music and remembering your own life stories: your heartaches, how you felt when you left home for the first time, and the music comes and moves in you and through the crowd. It’s invigorating. By the time they ended the set with “My False,” I swear my heart rate was at least 160 bpm (although, this may have been do to the fact that I was leaning on the stage and the bass drum was vibrating through me haha). It was so spectacular.

After the show, I stuck around for awhile and managed to meet the Matt and the band and their photographer, and they are all top notch peoples. I actually was lucky enough to grab drinks with them after, and they really are all super nice; they’re such a fun bunch. Matt is really down to earth and outgoing, and his girlfriend is the sweetest. They make a really cute couple. It was such a surreal experience, but at the same time just really normal and low key.

All in all it was a night for the books. Matt’s a great guy who was simply meant to play music, and he does it amazingly well. I hope to see him again someday and that you do too.