Tag: Matthew Sweet

Review: Mathew Sweet, Tommy Keene in concert

 in Reviews

By Ken Paulson —
I’ve only seen Matthew Sweet perform once before, on a double-bill with the Bangles at the 30A Songwriters Festival. The show was fine, but couldn’t compare with tonight’s performance in front of an audience of fans, all of whom apparently own a copy of Girlfriend.
That raised both the adoration and energy levels at the City Winery in Nashville  and Sweet delivered. He played a remarkably balanced set, with a handful of tracks from his new Tomorrow Forever album, and a generous mix of past successes. The new material went over well and “Music For Love” was a highlight. Sweet saved a familiar trifecta to close out his main set, including vibrant versions of “Girlfriend,” “I’ve Been Waiting” and “Sick of Myself.”

Opening the show was Tommy Keene, a revered figure in power pop circles. He played solo, first acoustically and then with an electric guitar. He delivered a solid set, but it made you really want to see him with a band.

Highlights included his classic “Places That Are Gone,” “Deep Six Saturday” and a cover of Alex Chilton’s “Nighttime.”

 

 

 

Power Pop redux: Matthew Sweet, Tommy Keene on tour

 in Americana Music

Americana Music News — An intriguing tour featuring two power pop icons rolls into Nashville tonight for a show at the City Winery. Matthew Sweet and Tommy Keene are touring together in most cities.
Sweet is touring in support of his new album “Tomorrow Forever,” his first since 2011. He’s made up for it with a 17-song collection.
Here’s the rest of the tour:
SA 7/29 Louisville KY – Headliners
TH 9/07 Alexandria, VA – Birchmere
FR 9/08 Annapolis, MD – Rams Head On Stage
WE 9/13 Northampton, MA – Iron Horse Music Hall
TH 9/14 Derry, NH – Tupelo Music Hall
FR 9/15 Brownfield, ME – Stone Mountain
SA 9/16 Boston, MA – Brighton Music Hall
SU 9/17 Norfolk, CT – Infinity Hall
MO 9/19 Fall River, MA – Narrows Center for the Arts
WE 9/20 Hudson, NY – Club Helsinki
TH 9/21 Wilmington, DE – The Queen
FR 9/22 Tarrytown, NY – Tarrytown Music Hall
SA 9/23 Port Washington, NY – Landmark on Main Street
SU 9/24 South Orange, NJ – SOPAC

30A Songwriters Festival update

 in Americana Music

We’re  at the 3rd annual 30A Songwriters Festival in Santa Rosa, Florida, with Matthew Sweet and the Bangles headlining. The weather is as good as it gets in Florida in January and turnout so far has been impressive enough that some veteran attendees of the festival are saying it’s too crowded.  Clearly these people have never been to Bonnaroo.

We’ll post reviews of the Bangles and Matthew Sweet shows later, but we’re headed out for a full slate of acoustic performances tonight. This is our first year here and the festival’s map left us with a sense that we’d be travelling all over the county to visit the mulitple venues, but the festival is actually fairly compact, with most of the Saturday shows clustered near the Watercolor Resort on A30.

 

Matthew Sweet at 30A Songwriters Festival

 in Reviews, Songwriters

Matthew Sweet opened the afternoon show at the 30A Songwriters Festival with a set that drew heavily from his breakthrough 1991 album Girlfriend. Sweet joked that the girlfriend was now 21 and old enough to drink.

It was a tough setting for Sweet. Most of the crowd had come to see the Bangles, and though there’s some stylistic common ground, he wasn’t big on pop radio.  Although Girlfriend is widely considered a classic, this was new material to much of the crowd and the response was somewhat subdued.

Sweet said he had been playing the album in its entirety on his current  tour, but was going to skip some songs “because we can.”

Highlights included Girlfriend tracks ““I’ve Been Waiting” and “Evangeline”   and the hard-driving closer ‘Sick of Myself,” from 100% Fun.

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