Review: Scott Matthews @ Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Review: Scott Matthews @ Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal

7:35pm Friday 21st October 2011 in Gig and concert reviews By Helen Perkins, Reporter

GUITARIST Scott Matthews warmed his Kendal audience with a mellow evening of drift-away songs.

The singer and songwriter, originally from Wolverhampton, played a lengthy set for fans, under pink spotlights in The Brewery Arts Centre.

His voice was impossible not to compare with Jeff Buckley’s — the pair share the same soft, melancholy tone.

However, the songs were all his own and varied from slow and low acoustic numbers to rockier, up-tempo tunes.

The 35-year-old swapped guitars as he played hits from his four-album career, including his best-known hit Elusive and numbers from his recently released album What the Night Delivers.

Matthews’ skills with an acoustic guitar were enough to leave any novice feeling pretty envious.

The crowd were subdued apart from the occasional whoop and ‘That song was my favourite!”

His understated music flowed together and put me into a bit of a trance.

The songs made a fitting mental soundtrack for me, wandering back under the streetlights in the autumn Kendal drizzle.