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..." 

 

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.