"Everything is Terrible and No One is Okay"
Matthew Black
University Presbyterian Church
Baton Rouge
Jan, 28, 2026
There are some events that attract people because of the celebrity of the people performing, the vendors or special events happening there. What attracted this reviewer to Matthew Black's concert was the name of the event, which is also the first track of his album: “Everything is Terrible and No One is Okay." That just feels true.
Black is an indie-folk singer/songwriter on the tail end of his early 2026 tour. Last night he opened his concert in the sanctuary of University Presbyterian Church with a little context about his songs. He hoped that they would providepep in people’s step if they were experiencing world anxiety. The hour-long set ranged from protest songs that pointed to current events to lighter songs about Star Wars.
It was apparent from jump that Black is a natural performer who is comfortable onstage. He asked the audience to sing with him on four of the songs throughout the night. He’d pause and teach people their part and go over it. The audience, for their part, was equipped to do this. Many of the audience members were part of the church choir and had dropped in before choir rehearsal at 7 p.m.
“Is the whole choir here?” Black quipped after the audience sang their part. “We’re going to have a great night.”
Black performed his own songs and paused briefly between them to explain what inspired them. One was written for a friend’s 50th wedding anniversary, another to mourn the death of Leonard Cohen. If people didn’t know his music going in, they left humming it. As he’s very proud to point out, he rhymes a lyric with the word “Acetaminophen” which is no small feat.
The parts that the audience had to sing were usually simple and repetitive. No more than four or six words to remember like “I know we’ll get back home,” or “We carry on” or “All shall be well.” Having actual choir members in the audience definitely helped. Beyond the actual singing ability, there might be something healing about singing that things will (eventually) be OK as things are falling apart. Black’s songs acknowledge the hard things, “We wake up empty and afraid/The wars we wage, our climate's change/Our children locked up in a cage.” So it doesn’t feel like Pollyanna. It feels like hope that this isn’t all there is.
As a lifelong church attendee, I feel a certain kind of peace singing with a big group of people, hearing it echo and bounce back to me. A communityt is formed among strangers. According to Black, building community is the most pragmatic thing we can do at the world's end. At least for that hour, the friends and strangers in that room were each other’s community. Some came with their families, others just by themselves. I know I’m not alone in feeling it because after some songs, I watched as people wiped the tears from their eyes.
Matthew Black’s concert provided a soft and intimate place to land in a world of terrible news. From the events in Minneapolis to a deadly virus in India prompting countries to retighten their health screening processes, there’s a lot to be anxious about. “Everything is terrible, and no one is OK,” but after an hour in the church sanctuary things felt just a little more bearable.
