Live Reviews:

 

Gershwin Room, The Espy, St Kilda: 23rd September 2009 - Supporting The Panics on The JD Set

Inpress, Wednesday 30 September, 2009 - by Carolyn Dempsey

 

"...The first support are Matheson, a rock band who err on the side of country.  They sound a little bit like Keith Urban, hyper radio friendly country music, but there is also enough rock sensibility not to alienate the late teenage audience.  They're a three-piece, and their drummer manages to steal the day, annihilating the drum kit with the speed and noise of someone not normally inclined towards music of this style..." 

 

Gershwin Room, The Espy, St Kilda: 23rd September 2009 - Supporting The Panics on The JD Set

 FasterLouder website - Australia - by user ojk007 (http://www.fasterlouder.com.au/reviews/events/20563/The-Panics-The-Bloodpoets-Matheson--The-Espy-Melbourne-230909-.htm) 

 

"...Grabbing my wrist band, I followed the crowd into the Gershwin Room. First up to delight the packed crowd was Matheson; chosen by their fans to play the JD Set. Their voting fans made themselves known in the front of the crowd with a resounding cheer as Matheson took to the stage supposedly still recovering from the weekend’s Blueprint festival, not that it had any negative effect on their set.

Conjuring up a cross between Paul Kelly and stadium sounding vocals, Forever Girl brought out a long ballad chorus from lead singer Aaron Matthews. Matthews followed this up with a softer Lullaby and picked up the set with Let The Satelites Fall.

Their sound comes from crunch guitar intermixed with clean bass and drums coupled with massive vocals to create a soundstage far larger than the Gershwin Room. Bassist Mark Perry and drummer Stevie Martin joined Matthews and the crowd for mellifluous harmonies in I Was Her Man. They finished with River In The Sun from their new album These Are My Horses..."

 

 

Thornbury Theatre:  17th July 2009

Beat Magazine - Melbourne

"Matheson's alt-country odes to love and loss provided a soothing and, at times, spirited set. Safe For Now was the stand out track with Aaron Matthews' vocals eliciting a depth of emotion. Forever Girl  highlighted the trio's laidback shimmering guitar tones and folk-inspired storytelling, but it was the melancholic tension of I Was Her Man that proved most compelling"

 

 

Thornbury Theatre: 17th July 2009
Fasterlouder website - Australia

Matheson wear their not-so-alternative country on their red gingham shirt-sleeve making me want to drive through The Heart Land, whatever that means. Tones of Paul Kelly, and oddly Ash Grunwald but the real voice I keep hearing is Caleb Followill of Kings Of Leon. Matheson announce their record is called These Are My Horses and I realise the gingham is intentional. Their sound is Bob Dylan folk-bones under a country-stadium cloak. I’m missing harmonicas as the emotive frontman implores, ‘Lets make a night of this year.’


Mallets on snare and tambourine make inspired light/dark balance within the beautiful Safe For Now, a sleepy, nurturing track that sits comfortably among the venue’s velvet striped chairs and ornate silver candles. 


The River and The Sun is bonafide storytelling – sunlight with dust specks floating; nice long grass under a hand-stitched picnic tablecloth; a delicious, sexy undertone. Sounds like it’s got a fiddle, but it hasn’t (but it should have.) A talented bunch of chaps, even if they’re not exactly on my dial. Go forth with a piece of straw between your teeth, drive across the open plains etc.