On a sweltering evening, the hottest day in weeks, thousands of Melburnians descended upon the city's Botanic Gardens to watch the next instalment at Live At The Gardens, featuring a star-studded line-up: Matt Corby, Middle Kids and Lotte Gallagher.
Cleverly bringing two of Melbournes favourite pastimes together: drinking in the park and live music, Lotte Gallagher kicked off the evening (16 November) while the sun remained high in the sky.The setting and timing of the night drew a varied crowd, with young professionals drinking bottles of wine while toddlers ran wild, attempting escape from their parents or designated carers for the night.
Bringing her strong, anthemic sound to the stage, Lotte provided a well received appetiser for the acts to come. While most of her audience lay sprawled along the large lawn, the emerging front row rose to their feet, hugging the barricade.
"This song is about my ex. . . there's not much more to say," she quipped for her fourth track. Luckily, the heat didn't sway the performance from the up and coming pop star as she moved around the stage with joy and vigour.
Lotte Gallagher - image © Harrison Innes
Ushering in the night sky and a small relief from the temperature, Middle Kids took the stage a little after 8pm. The sweaty crowd had arisen from their seats to join those already standing to bask in the wholesomeness Middle Kids are known for.
Their track, 'R U 4 Me?' instantly brought out the mega fans in the front row, screaming along to each lyric while others joined in with each chorus.
With the Gardens' buggy wildlife chirping along in the background, Middle Kids led the audience through a 45-minute set of cruisey yet moving ballads, touching on old classic and newer hits like 'Edge Of Town', 'Stacking Chairs' and 'Questions', before finishing with their cult favourite 'Never Start', with an accompanying clap-and-sing-along.
Middle Kids - image © Harrison Innes
With the Botanic Gardens site now truly packed out, Matt Corby and his band waltzed on stage to huge applause, red light filling the eyes of all onlookers.
A lush atmosphere was instantly created as if Corby's very presence demanded a chill, relaxed, yet attentivevibe. As the first song began, the crowd fell quiet in awe as the barefoot musician closed his eyes and become lost in his music.
After his third song, Corby joked with the crowd and thanked them for their attendance: "There's a lot of other gigs tonight – you could've been at Pearl Jam."
As the Sydney-born singer-songwriter progressed through his set, each song a tender moment, it felt like the crowd had fallen under a deeply serene spell. There was a certain magic that filled the warm air, with many singing along and many more closing their eyes to focus on the music.
Matt Corby - image © Harrison Innes
Each song saw the performer with a different instrument; at times sat at a piano or holding a guitar, while others walking slowly and confidently with microphone in hand. His soaring vocals and soft instrumentals felt like a perfect match for the natural, inner-city amphitheatre.
With his initial performance closing with an upbeat rock outro following performances of 'Resolution' and 'All Fired Up', the band left the stage in typical big-band fashion. After an expected clamour from the audience for more, and a chant of "Matt! Matt! Matt!", Corby and band returned to the stage to thunderous applause.
Once again playing the joker, Corby made fun of the planned encore (as there was still 15 minutes until his set was due to finished): "You all knew I was coming back, I have to play that one song."
Matt Corby - image © Harrison Innes
With a three-song encore that began with Corby's latest Like A Version, 'No Scrubs', the crowd was right back in the moment, filling in during each chorus while the band really brought the track to life.
Following on to similar ecstatic reception was Corby's hit track 'Brother', with the closing track of the night being 'Miracle Love', which echoed throughout the Gardens precinct to listeners even beyond the fenced-off site. It was a fittingly epic, but tender way to finish the night, leaving the crowd on a solemn yet joyful high.
Live At The Gardens continues with upcoming performances from Tash Sultana, Xavier Rudd and a sold-out show for Chet Faker.
More photos from the concert.
