Live Review: Teddy Swims, Matt Corby @ Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne

Matt Corby sets the mood, opening with a performance that silences a room – even one as large as Rod Laver Arena. With minimal staging and an emphasis on musicianship, he guides the crowd from quiet introspection to full-bodied soul. His voice is rich, smoky and fluid and fills the arena with warmth.

Corby begins with stripped-back acoustic tones, drawing the audience in with his signature intimacy before adding rhythm and colour as the set progresses. He shares some brand-new music from his upcoming album Tragic Magic, including Burn It Down, with a fresh and funky vibe. 

Corby notes that he cannot believe his song Brother is fifteen years old now, before he sings the iconic anthem that sends shivers down our spine with his powerful vocal performance. Miracle Love and Better Than That showcase his ability to build from whisper to roar without losing emotional precision. 

By the time Corby’s final song rings out, the crowd are on their feet with a standing ovation. He leaves the audience grounded yet buzzing, perfectly primed for the main event.

The sound of drums fills the arena, and the sheer curtain drops from the stage as anticipation pulses. Teddy Swims appears at the top of the stage platform, opening with Not Your Man bursting with energy, charisma, and soul. His seven-piece band, known as Freak Freely, hits hard; the horn section punches through the mix and the rhythm section comes alive. 

Swims walks down the staircase to the front of the stage and immediately blows us away with his incredible vocals.

“It’s great to be back in the best damn country in the world,” he says as he addresses the audience. “Three nights at Rod Laver Arena is crazy,” he notes as he kicks off his first show here tonight.

He has one rule for this evening called “Staying Wit It” that we repeat it after him to acknowledge being safe and keeping in check of ourselves and friends around us tonight as we party on. He doesn’t plan on talking too much as he has a lot of ground to cover tonight with a huge catalogue of music as he continues with Hammer To The Heart, Apple Juice, and She Loves The Rain to showcase his mix of pop polish and southern grit, while Devil In A Dress and Bad Dreams allows his voice to soar which is equal parts tenderness and raw power.

Throughout the night, Swims’ authenticity shines through with a strong sense of humility and gratitude, matched with powerhouse delivery that’s part gospel revival, part arena spectacle and all heart. If this performance is anything to go by, Teddy Swims isn’t just riding a wave of success — he’s building something lasting. 

Mid-set, the mood shifts. Swims takes a step back from the full-band assault for a more intimate moment and a reminder that beneath his stadium-filling vocals lies a storyteller with deep vulnerability.

He shares a few emotional tracks, including Need You More, Small Hands and a stripped-back performance of his track with Illenium, All That Really Matters, dedicated to his family, including his four-month-old son and partner, who are here tonight. He opens up about being a new dad – something that’s really changed his life.

“I always think it’s a good day to cry – it’s pain leaving the body, it’s healing,” he says. “I’m very happy for the heartbreak I went through because it taught me a lot and gave me an opportunity. I’m so grateful now for all that it taught me and that I could put it into my music to share with you,” he says.

Swims leaves us with a challenge to not waste our pain and leaves us with words of wisdom. “Whatever pain you have – write a poem, diary, song, draw a picture, or paint to use that pain for something good because you have no idea how that might help somebody and get you through too – give it an outlet and let it change your life.”

To liven things up, the band joins back in, and for a very special treat, Swims welcomes Tones And I to the stage to perform their latest collaboration Gone Gone Gone live on stage for the first time ever. It’s an exciting moment as the powerhouse vocalists share a due that’s a match made in heaven.

Swims acknowledges how he started doing YouTube covers back in 2019, so he incorporates this into his show tonight with a jukebox shuffle to choose a song for them to play. The song selected tonight is Shania Twain’s Still The One and it sparks a huge crowd sing-along with phone torches swaying.

He disappears for a moment and returns at the top of the stage, sitting on a toilet for Your Kind Of Crazy, and shows off his cheeky and playful side as he proceeds to throw rolls of signed toilet paper out to the audience.

The moment the opening line of Lose Control hits, the entire arena lifts. Thousands of voices join Swims in a cathartic, communal sing-along. He briefly leaves the stage before a three-song encore, including Bed On Fire with flames igniting the stage, Goodbye’s Been Good To You and The Door, which sees confetti streams shoot out across the audience as everyone joins in to belt out every word in unison for a big finish.