Thursday 5 April 2007

The gospel according to Matthews

Scott Matthews Gig – Brighton Corn Exchange – April 4th 2007



(A picture of the ticket, and more excitingly, the empty water bottle I bought at M&S in Brighton Station afterwards)
I just went on a search to find a quote about Scott Matthews, and in particular one of his gigs, to pour scorn upon. I didn’t find one because I got bored of reading about him quite quickly. I am actually now listening to the songs on his MySpace space and it sounds so much better than last night. Maybe my expectations of live music are too high or maybe I didn’t take the obligatory sedative on my way in.

If you are reading this then chances are that you will have read my previous (hip hop orientated) posts. You will probably be thinking ‘what right does this cracker have reviewing music in which he has no interest’. I know you will be because I would be too; I hate it when poncey fascists review good hip hop and write it off from the get go by saying that it is all about with guns, hoes, drugs and (their favourite word) bling.

Anyone of those ‘4 elements of hip hop’ would have livened up the sorry affair that was Scott Matthews gig in Brighton last night. Matthews was heralded in by ‘Alberta’; a threesome who sang a medley of songs consisting mainly of an unintelligible moan (‘Baweyee I uuuuuhhhhh oooooo’) and also by some good tunes off a CD ( Ian Dury and Meredith Brooks to name but two). I have been to a varied variety of gigs in my time however I’ve never been to one where the artist is regarded with reverent silence for the best part of an hour and a half. We stood, we stared, we listened in awe, we spoke and we got shushed by the worshippers. Honestly, I’ve seen more cheer in a monastery of mourning monks and I’ve never felt so disrespectful of a deity. The news of a Scott Matthews gig must have weaned out the most boring people in Brighton and brought them all together for one night. The closest we got to dancing was sitting down.

The main reason why this gig was so bad was the gig-goers. Matthews can sing and play well and all that but I do think he was revelling in the adoration a little too much. At one point he rebuked the crowd somewhat harshly, accusing us of being on ecstasy. In his defence I think I did hear someone go ‘Whoop’. His music is good for background music - I like it. I liked the Cello and the Viola; the musicians were excellent. I just think his gig was rubbish and most of his fans are worse.

I look forward to visiting what is regarded by many as the most vibrant town in Britain again on Friday for the Klashnekoff/Skitz/Zero Db gig. I am going to be on the look out for people who are alive/awake, people for whom dancing consists of more than a toe tap or a knee bend, and an atmosphere that can’t be likened to a wake. Oh…and drinks that aren’t £3.20 for a bottle of Carlsberg Export. I will report back on how many of those boxes I tick - all of them I expect.

1 comment:

Tom said...

Sounds like Becky has impeccable taste haha. Snowboard/ski/skate videos are the best for finding random amazing tunes.
I might have to do a VG4 post next.
There was gonna be some Hadouken! instead of NYPC but it got switched last minute. Also get that Chali 2na track posted or i'll do it for you!
Mike bought some xsjads, what a scrape. Have a good night at the klash.