Matt Corby brings his magic to The Astor Singer songwriter Matt Corby performed at The Astor. MATT Corby can silence a room. In fact, the 22-year-old can hush an entire sold-out venue with a few simple notes. Kicking off his national tour in Perth last night, the swoon-worthy singer-songwriter provided the crowd with a tantalising taste of the debut album he's been working on in LA for the past few months. Local songstress Grace Woodroofe, who is supporting Corby for the rest of the tour, opened the all-ages show at the magnificent Astor Theatre. Her husky vocals swing easily from blues to rock, and sound somewhat like Chan Marshall (AKA Cat Power) and Sarah Blasko at times, with added grunt. Championed by Heath Ledger and Ben Harper as a teen, Woodroofe, who is also now based in LA, was enchanting and received a huge response from the crowd for tunes from her debut album Always Want as well as new single Dead Weight. But when the clock struck 10, it was Corby who lit up the stage. Dressed in a tailored suit and black shirt, Corby sat alone at a keyboard and commanded attention with his distinctive voice layered over simple chords. His band joined him on stage and Corby sang through several new songs, telling the crowd it was the first time he had performed them and this was his "first full-on gig" this year. "I'm getting jittery," he laughed. Swapping easily between guitar and keyboard, Corby showed off his vocal chops on older material, such as Souls A'Fire and Made of Stone. He appeared more comfortable on stage than past performances, joking and engaging with the crowd. When introducing Untitled, he described it as "a song about my almost first love." Punters responded with an "awww," to which he said "don't do that, it's f***ing manly. Love's legit!. Corby, who long ago shook the Australian Idol heartthrob tag, has generated much hype with the handful of EPs he's released over the past few years, including winning an ARIA in 2012 for Song of The Year. This is his first headline tour in a year, and last night was a chance to try out the new material on a willing audience. His newly released single Resolution went down a treat, as did a cover of The Black Keys" Lonely Boy. With a voice that can scale the spectrum of gravelly growls, soulful melodies, and soaring falsetto, Corby was mesmerising. And, without taking away from his talents, the man is gorgeous. He ended the set spectacularly with Brother, which got the biggest crowd reception and rapturous applause, before returning for a duet of Big Eyes with his keyboardist Bree Tranter. The new album isn't expected to drop until later this year, but from all appearances it will be a cracker. Matt Corby 2013 Australian Tour May 23 - The Astor Theatre, Perth May 26 - HQ, Adelaide May 31 - Palace Theatre, Melbourne June 1 - The Tivoli, Brisbane June 7 - Enmore Theatre, Sydney Tickets from mattcorby.com.au