Matt Neal

24/05/2026

Thank you Port Fairy Theatre Group for staging my fifth short play The Waiting Room. Some incredible performances on Saturday night - we live in a truly talented part of the world.

Thank you to the wonderful audiences who have attended our shows this weekend. There’s still time to get your ticket for our last performance of the Short Play Festival for this year. Show starts at 2pm today (Sunday). See poster for QRCode to get tickets, or go onto our website for the link to purchase tickets https://www.portfairytheatre.com.au/.

24/05/2026

Some highlights from 150-200 (thank you for all the album suggestions btw):

David Byrne - Rei Momo
The former Talking Heads frontman went full Latin for his first post-TH solo album and it's a party from start to finish.

Harry Styles - Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally
Banger after banger after banger.

CMAT - Euro-Country
Also full of bangers. More bangers than a Bunnings sausage sizzle.

Shuggie Otis - Inspiration Information
I knew nothing of this record before I started and was blown away. It's funky, but it's chill, but it's so much more. Some incredible vibes.

Ben Salter - The Stars My Destination
Incredible songwriting, beautiful songs, sounds incredible.

Oceansize - Effloresce
This is a new favourite. It's heavy but not too heavy, filled with hooks and adventure.

Harry Nilsson - The Point!
WTF. Part-pop record, part-absurd fable, utterly gripping and insanely fun.

Public Enemy - It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back
A bona fide classic that pushed boundaries in so many directions.

Devo - Q. Are We Not Men? A. We are Devo!
Somehow both wickedly smart and joyously dumb at the same time.

The City - Now That Everything's Been Said
Tapestry is good and all, but this is my favourite Carole King record so far.

Nine Inch Nails - With Teeth
Having internal arguments about which is the best NIN album now. This is their "pop" album, and goddamn it's good.

Patti Smith - Horses
Finally get this record. It's a tape measure - every inch of it rules.

Updated: April 28, 2026 Back at the start of the year, my colleague Olivia Sanders mentioned one of her New Year's resolutions was to list...

19/05/2026

200 albums done, 300 to go.

Updated: April 28, 2026 Back at the start of the year, my colleague Olivia Sanders mentioned one of her New Year's resolutions was to list...

18/05/2026

The wonderful folks at Port Fairy Theatre Group are staging my latest short play THIS WEEKEND as part of their short play festival. Grab your ticket today!

5 sleeps before our opening night on Friday 22nd May, can feel the excitement building up among the casts and crew. Look forward to seeing you at the Port Fairy 2026 Short Play Festival.

05/05/2026

So I compiled all my ABC music articles into one place to make a quasi-history of music. I've tried to arrange the articles by the era they cover, and I'll update it as I write new articles. Enjoy!

Supergrass, live at the Forum, Melbourne, 2025. Pic by me. Here's a collection of my ABC articles on music: April 2026 Is Something For Kate...

04/05/2026

People will want to hate Michael because of what's not in the movie, and that's fair enough. But judging this film purely by what is on the screen, and the story it's setting out to tell... well, it's actually not a bad film by any stretch of the imagination. And his nephew Jafaar Jackson is genuinely amazing.

This is a version of a review airing on ABC Victoria's Statewide Mornings program in April 30, 2026. (PG) ★★★ Director: Antoine Fuqua. Cast:...

02/05/2026

Lately I've been living in 1976 so I could write this piece about the big albums turning 50.

The music industry is always in a state of flux, but what was happening in 1976 was akin to the dinosaurs looking up and seeing a meteor on the way.

01/05/2026

Tiny scrolls, crowded with creativity.

For the Month of May, they will find their way into our city's spaces. If you seek in this first week, you may find:

🌟 A word on art, superimposed over art itself, from
🌟 A moment of inspiration from ideas man (/comedian)
🌟 Lively lyrics from singer/songwriter and poet
🌟 A pithy phrase from Celine, the artist behind .tones
🌟 A beautiful thought from artist Sherry Johnstone of and
🌟 Some news from children's author Paul Jennings
🌟 Love lyrics from songwriter Don Stewart
🌟 Musings on Warrnambool memories from author and photographer
🌟 A thrilling piece of dystopia from radio host
🌟 Wise words from author Kerry King of
🌟 Reminiscence on the magic of music from musician Matt Neal
🌟 Philosophical ponderances from musician
🌟 A little story from
🌟 A note of nostalgia from songwriter
🌟 A merging of poetry and science from author and science writer
🌟 A shared memory from author
🌟 A sweet poem from teacher Florence Roney
🌟 A glorious artwork from artist Kristy Roche
🌟 Aussie animal poetry from children's author .coates_thewritetime
🌟 A few words from
🌟 A note on reciprocity from Marine Scientist
🌟 A ripper of a short story from author Paul Venzo
🌟 A lyrical treat from children's author
🌟 Poetry from
🌟 A writer's insight from author Jock Serong


Warrnambool City Council

Collins Booksellers Warrnambool
Deakin University, Warrnambool Campus region_arts
Regional Arts Victoria: South West

ABC South West VIC
Dirty Angel Comedy - Warrnambool
Spirit & Soul Creations
Flash1A
Laura Bowman Music
Dr Jodie Fleming

28/04/2026

Coming soon - a disappointing attempt to film a book that's probably impossible to turn into a satisfactory movie.

This is a version of a review airing on ABC Victoria's Statewide Mornings program in May, 2026. (PG) ★★ Director: Andy Serkis. Cast: (voices...

28/04/2026

More sneak peaks of rehearsals from The Waiting Room written by Matt Neal and directed by Lisa Graham.