Friday night at Auckland’s historic Town Hall felt less like a concert and more like a celebration of what live music is supposed to be — real voices, real instruments, real emotion, and a packed room full of people genuinely connecting with the artists as world class musician Matt Corby lit up the stage.
The evening opened with Tusekah, a stripped-back duo featuring nothing more than electric guitar and voice. No backing tracks. No programmed drums. No gimmicks. Just songs.
And honestly, that was refreshing.
With the crowd still slowly filtering into the venue, Tusekah immediately set a warm and intimate tone for the night. Her voice was effortless — powerful without oversinging — floating over Sam’s tasteful electric guitar work. The opening song featured the lyric “laying shut-eyed with your chest on my cheek,” immediately pulling the audience into her world.
There was a gentle confidence to the set. Original songs like Childhood Friend, Baby’s Breath, and How Far We’ve Come showcased strong songwriting and emotional honesty. One of the standout moments came during the closing song, when Tusekah got the audience involved in a call-and-response singalong that had the crowd swaying and smiling along with her.
Support acts often struggle to command attention in large rooms, but this audience was genuinely listening — a credit both to the songs and the performance itself.
Next up was Australian singer-songwriter Gretta Ray, who brought a beautifully authentic presence to the stage. Armed mostly with just an acoustic guitar, she delivered a set that sat somewhere between folk, country-pop, and confessional singer-songwriter storytelling.
Her opening track — the only song featuring a backing track all night — included the lyric “Dear 17, screw you and that good song you wrote,” immediately establishing the brutally honest tone that would define much of her set.
Gretta’s stage banter was natural and engaging throughout. She spoke openly about this being her first time performing in New Zealand and revealed she’d spent the last two years battling illness, making this her first full live show in quite some time. That vulnerability gave the performance extra weight.
Songs like Swimming and Crying stood out for their honesty and originality, while Drive — which she explained was the song that gave her a career — had the audience completely locked in thanks to its driving acoustic rhythm and soaring chorus.
One of the biggest crowd reactions of the night came when she covered Drops of Jupiter by Train. The entire venue joined in for the iconic “na na na na na” section, and to her credit, she absolutely did the song justice.
Then came the main event: Matt Corby.
And what a performer he is.
If you had to sum Matt Corby up in one sentence, it would simply be this: natural-born singer, world-class musician.
From the moment he walked on stage with his five-piece band, the room shifted gears. Corby’s voice is extraordinary — effortlessly moving between soulful low-register phrasing and impossibly high falsettos that somehow never feel forced. He sings with the kind of ease that most vocalists spend a lifetime chasing.
The band itself was incredibly tight. Drums, bass, keys, electric guitars, and layered backing vocals all breathed and flowed naturally around Corby’s songs. Nothing felt over-rehearsed or mechanical. Every song grooved.
Highlights came thick and fast.
One standout moment arrived during a song featuring the lyric “How far is too far gone,” which felt emotionally massive in the room. Another crowd favorite saw Corby ditch the guitar entirely and hold the microphone in his hand while the audience sang along loudly to the chorus.
Corby also showed off just how complete a musician he is by jumping between electric guitar, lead guitar lines, and piano throughout the set. Many great singers aren’t great instrumentalists. Many great guitarists aren’t great singers. Corby somehow excels at both.
And importantly, he was funny too.
After somebody yelled “I love you!” from the audience, Corby laughed and returned the love before telling a hilarious story about his previous New Zealand show at The Powerstation, where a fan repeatedly screamed “Get your balls out!” between songs. The crowd erupted.
There was also something wonderfully human about the mistakes. On one song, Corby stopped twice after stuffing up the intro, laughing at himself and winning the audience over even more in the process. It reminded everyone that this was genuinely live music — not some polished, pre-programmed spectacle running to click tracks and backing stems.
Visually, the production was fantastic. The lighting design elevated the emotional shifts beautifully throughout the night, while the live sound mix deserves serious praise. Every instrument sat perfectly in the room without overpowering the vocals — no easy task in a venue the size of the Town Hall.
But the emotional peak of the evening came during the encore.
Corby introduced a recording of himself singing Amazing Grace at ten years old and then performed a live duet alongside his childhood self. It could have easily felt cheesy. Instead, it was genuinely moving. The young Corby’s voice sounded less like a child and more like a choirboy soloist — pure, haunting, and beautifully controlled.
At the end of the song, Corby laughed and admitted: “That 10 year olds vocal shits all over my 36-year-old self.”
The crowd loved it.
The final songs of the night pushed the room into full singalong mode, with stomping feet echoing through the balcony seating and the audience roaring back lyrics at the stage. By the end, the entire venue was on its feet delivering a standing ovation.
And deservedly so.
This wasn’t just another concert. It was a reminder of why live music still matters.
No lip-syncing.
No overproduced distractions.
No fake perfection.
Just brilliant songs, outstanding musicianship, soulful vocals, and genuine human connection.
A fantastic night from start to finish.
Jesse Wilde
Matt Corby
Gretta Gray
Tusekah
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