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I had last seen Matthew Sweet in concert back in 2004 at the 9:30 Club - Since then, the power pop icon has been releasing new solo music along with the fantastic collaborative albums with Susanna Hoffs. But he rarely has toured. So when it was announced he was coming back to DC, I quickly snatched up a ticket. On Saturday night at the Lincoln Theatre, Sweet and his backing band did not disappoint as they ripped through 17 songs that served almost as a greatest hits concert. It was great to see him back on stage and hearing the songs that made up so much of my early to mid-20’s.
He kicked off the show with “The Ugly Truth” from Altered Beast and it was clear that Sweet and the band were in step with each other the whole way. Sweet’s voice remains…well, sweet. A few songs later they revisited Altered Beast with the dark, yet beautiful “Someone To Pull the Trigger” and quickly went into one of my favorites from Girlfriend, “Divine Intervention”.
Guitarist John Moreman (of the outstanding indie-pop band The Orange Peels) sounded so good on these tracks with long-time collaborator and bassist Paul Chastain (from the amazing Velvet Crush) and drummer Debbi Peterson (of The Bangles) using their rhythm section muscles to keep pace. The final piece of the band was “the new kid” Adrian Carter who provided supporting vocals, acoustic guitars (and serves as musical director).
They touched on some of the slower, ballad-type songs with the fantastic “Winona” and “You Don’t Love Me” with fantastic harmonizing to go along with more great guitar work from Moreman and Sweet. Near the end of the set, they reached into their bag of tricks for some of my favorites - starting with “We’re the Same” from 100% Fun. It’s a beautiful song with strumming guitars and sunny, harmonized vocals, especially during the chorus.
“If Time Permits” comes from a very underrated Sweet album, In Reverse. It’s a very chamber pop song that relies on harmonizing and dreamy music. Sweet talked about Brian Wilson during his show and this song tracks so much with what the Beach Boys did with the Wall of Sound. Loved that he’s added it to the live set.
After a few more tracks, he left us with three gems - “Star Explode”, a new song from his latest album Catspaw, an interstellar, universal song that sounds fantastic live and fits in perfectly with his closing numbers. “Girlfriend” is of course one of the songs that everyone waits for and Sweet and the band didn’t disappoint. The song came off fiery and brash while maintaining its pop hooks. The band didn’t waste any time before launching into his other “top hit”, “Sick of Myself”. A raucous closer made me dip back to the mid-90s and relive the beauty of that music.
The show was fantastic! Seeing Matthew Sweet again was like a loud, warm hug and served as a hope that he continues to create great music and every now and then bring it out on the road.