By Katie Asha, Music Deputy Editor
There could not have been a more perfect venue to host Matilda Mann than Trinity. Trinity, aka Bristol's Trinity Centre, is a towering and ornate Church structure surviving from the Georgian era – now restored and used to host community-focused arts events. The Gothic-architectural venue has a magnetised pull on Bristol students and indie music artists alike, despite being a little way out from the city center.
Matilda Mann is a London-based folk-pop singer, who recently gained some online popularity for her singles 'Inventing' and 'Chain Reaction'. Her music translates love, romance, and meet-cutes into a twinkling but grounded sound that could easily belong to the soundtrack of a 20000s rom-com, with concise but emotive lyrics: 'I forgave the world the day I met you,' she sings matter-of-factly into the mic during the chorus of ‘The Day I Met You’. Her sound will be a sweet spot for fans of Olivia Dean, Lizzy McAlpine, and Big Thief., and her latest album Kimset, released September 4th 2026, proved these influences even further while adding something uniquely her own.
She took the stage on 13th October in custom Tegan Astani: a navy mini dress with three-quarter length sleeves, adorned with pearlescent buttons at each hem, hair down and curling around her shoulders. The singer's mic stand was flanked by two guitars which she alternated between throughout the show. Mann chanced the stage for just one song without either instrument, which she slightly shyly described to the audience as 'a strange experience… I never know what to do with my arms when I'm not holding a guitar'.
Prior to the show, I noticed a heart shaped sign over a folding table stand in the corner — 'Matilda’s Meet Cute' it read in narrow typography. The table was tucked directly alongside to the merch stand of the night, and offered audience members the chance to find love at the concert. The way it worked was as follows: there is a pile of paper slips on the corner of the table, on which a participating person writes their first name, pronouns, the gender they’re interested in, and a fun fact about themselves. I participated, of course, but my fun fact is a secret. Throughout the first half of the show, the paper slips are sorted through and two people which seem compatible are selected.
During the second half of the show, Matilda pauses and looks up mid-sentence. 'Oh my god, I’ve literally not noticed that the whole time,' she says, gazing towards the back of the room just above the door, 'What on earth is that?'. The audience whips their heads around and turn back to the stage in confusion to see Mann legging it off stage into the wings.
She appears a few minutes later with two feathery angel wings looped to her back and a stagehand next to her, who is clutching two slips of paper. We learn that the singer is now cupid. Into the mic, she reads out the names of the two people that have been selected to be curious about each other, that is, to fall in love, They are told they both get a free poster at the merch stand at the end of the show… and, if both of them want it, a date.
Anastasia Baker
Featured image: Katie Asha
Will you be finding love at Matilda Mann's next concert?
