BY Sabrina Bollinger | October 8th, 2025
Matt Maltese Brings “Tour For You My Whole Life” Tour to Columbus
When I was in high school, I took a college-level writing course where the first assignment was a creative expression of something that mattered to me. In that essay, I created parallels of listening to Matt Maltese and finally feeling at home in Ohio. Tonight in Columbus, I got to relive and cement that same sentiment I wrote about years ago with Matt Maltese's Tour For You My Whole Life stop in Columbus.
For those unfamiliar, Matthew (Matt) Maltese is a British-Canadian singer-songwriter. Since his debut in 2015, he has gone on to release six studio albums and several EPs. The music Matt creates blends together aspects of indie pop and soft rock with a few dashes of jazz sprinkled in between. Going into this show, I was hesitant to see how his sound would carry into a live performance. But after seeing the show, let’s just say a lot of my perspectives have changed.
To kick off this transformative night of music, artist Cornellia Murr took the stage with her band of four members. Bringing to the stage instruments you don't see performed live very often, such as the saxophone and the flute. Paired with these unique instruments, Cornelia brought a dreamy and comforting sound to Newport Music Hall that has me convinced she was the perfect person to accompany Matt Maltese on this tour. Not only was her voice beautiful, but she could whistle better than anyone I've ever met, and it was impressive seeing her whistle in time live.
After hearing Cornelia’s beautiful voice, I eagerly anticipated Matt’s set, and I didn’t have to wait long. As I spoke with fans before his set, I discovered that this was actually a birthday show for our wonderful headliner. In addition to this tidbit of knowledge, I found his birthday twin standing in the front row. Mahak, if you’re reading this, happy belated birthday. Soon after, Matt’s set started, and I was transported to another world. Although his set was simplistic in style, the music had an emotional depth that spoke volumes.
With Matt playing the piano, he was accompanied by four other band members described as playing drums, bass, guitar, and “everything”. This earned a chuckle from me as well as the crowd. A few songs into the set, he ran into some technical difficulties, and while his stage crew attempted to fix the problem, he continued to finish the entire song. Being able to adjust a song to accommodate little bumps in the road is not an easy feat, and one I wanted to applaud him and his team for managing perfectly.
After the first three songs, I took my seat off to the side and watched the show with what must’ve appeared to be wonderstruck admiration. Matt’s vocals are wonderful in the studio, but the recordings cannot capture the true emotional capacity and depth his voice holds. As I was watching, all I could think about was how beautiful his music sounds live. But beautiful cannot begin to capture the feelings he delivers into the heart of the crowd. And not only is it his voice, but his whole show makes you feel that way.
A couple of songs before the end, Matt introduced a moment they’ve been doing all tour. He finds an audience member whose birthday is the night of the show, and he sings his song “Happy Birthday” to them while they sit upon a chair and are gifted a cupcake. Foreshadowing from earlier, Mahak was the participant Matt chose for this show, and it was a wonderful moment to witness for both of them. After she blew out her candles, the crew surprised Matt with his own cake, which he accepted joyfully.
Between the music and the crowd, this was a show I will not soon forget. Matt Maltese’s music makes you feel something. The show reminded me of every reason why I do this. It brings joy and a sense of connection that no other event can bring. I walked into this show excited to hear a song I loved when I was younger, and I left having an utmost appreciation for life and everything in it.
