Music
Scott Matthews @ Rescue Rooms, March 29
Published Monday, Apr 2 2007, 12:38 BST | By Miriam Zendle
It didn't bode well for Scott Matthew's forthcoming gig when, arriving at original venue Rock City, we were summarily informed that he was now performing in Rescue Rooms rather than the much larger Rock City. Rumours flew about as to why this might have been, though the most popular, and likely most accurate, was that he hadn't sold out Rock City, and had thus been moved to sister venue Rescue Rooms. Slightly embarrassing for the artist, you might think. Either way, it worked, because Rescue Rooms suits Matthew's style of gentle, slightly comedic folk tunes far more than Rock City likely would have.
Matthews is a gentle, slightly dorky but sweet character whose style is that of the Damien Rice school of songwriting. So chilled out you almost fall asleep listening to his stuff, he's got some beautiful tracks (see 'Elusive') but also some right stinkers - songs that never seem to go anywhere, or where the vocal clarity is lacking. Matthews' style of playing is such that you never quite know when the song's going to end, as rather than ending with a bang his music prefers to trail off rather anti-climactically, and many a time premature clapping ruined the end of a song, although there did appear to be one particular member of the audience intent on mistiming their clapping for pretty much most of his songs.
In his element during the songs, looking a little uncomfortable when he wasn't singing, along with his varied band (which includes a cellist, making all the musical difference to his sound), he finally leapt into some more upbeat, throbbing numbers that energised the crowd and showed a different side to his work. Although Matthews is clearly a great talent, he can't yet command a stage in the way many other artists can. He's a nice man, but that's not enough to make up for lack of atmosphere and, to be frank, a rather dreary evening.
Matthews is a gentle, slightly dorky but sweet character whose style is that of the Damien Rice school of songwriting. So chilled out you almost fall asleep listening to his stuff, he's got some beautiful tracks (see 'Elusive') but also some right stinkers - songs that never seem to go anywhere, or where the vocal clarity is lacking. Matthews' style of playing is such that you never quite know when the song's going to end, as rather than ending with a bang his music prefers to trail off rather anti-climactically, and many a time premature clapping ruined the end of a song, although there did appear to be one particular member of the audience intent on mistiming their clapping for pretty much most of his songs.
In his element during the songs, looking a little uncomfortable when he wasn't singing, along with his varied band (which includes a cellist, making all the musical difference to his sound), he finally leapt into some more upbeat, throbbing numbers that energised the crowd and showed a different side to his work. Although Matthews is clearly a great talent, he can't yet command a stage in the way many other artists can. He's a nice man, but that's not enough to make up for lack of atmosphere and, to be frank, a rather dreary evening.
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