Opening the Chris Shiflett tour, Dea Matrona become more impressive with each passing month. The young trio from Belfast have done things the hard way, and constant touring has honed them into a watertight unit, Mollie McGinn and Orlaith Forsthe’s days busking giving them a natural ease in front of any audience.
Dea Matrona – Scala, London – 28 March 2023
Words: Paul Monkhouse
Photography: Eric Duvet
They have the songs to back up the youthful confidence, too, as self-penned stormers like the slinky So Damned Dangerous and the heavy Red Button show the writing chops developed in an organic way. Whilst their ability to swap instruments, sharing lead vocal and guitar duties, is both skilled and visually compelling, it’s this ease they display onstage that most captivate, a youthful joy and honest passion to make music blazing out.
The two young women, along with drummer Jamie, are as far away from a world of ‘X Factor’ and ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ wannabes as could be imagined, and that’s truly something to be applauded.
With the spare set time of a half hour, it was a case of get in, hit hard and get out. From their powerful twist on Fleetwood Mac’s evergreen Oh Well, the acoustic delight of Glory Glory, and the ballsy sass and sensuality of the closing number Make You My Star, not a moment was wasted.
The dust of their recent Kris Barras tour is still on their shoes, and having played with artists as varied as Van Morrison, Eagles Of Death Metal and Black Eyed Peas, there’s already a sense that Dea Matrona are veterans, but that visceral excitement and buoyancy should see their rising star continue to dizzying heights in the future.
With a full headline tour of the UK coming up and a highly anticipated debut album in the works, it looks like Dea Matrona are set to be household names within the next twelve months, and the world is a much brighter place at that prospect.
