Does anyone still care about the power of a good song? Matthew Sweet does. In fact, it’s fair to say that when it comes to writing catchy and melodic rock and roll songs Sweet has always been a vastly underrated musical force. He recently released his album Tomorrow Forever (REVIEW), which is one of his better releases in recent years and harkens back to the glory of his work in the 90s. It was the release of the album that found Sweet and his band on tour and on stage at Portland’s intimate Doug Fir Lounge on Sunday, August 20th.
Tommy Keene got the evening started with a solo performance. Wielding his 12-string acoustic guitar, Keene dove into a quick career retrospective. Though it would have been more exciting to see the venerable rocker with a full band, Keene held his own and managed to charm everyone with songs like “Nighttime” – dedicated to Alex Chilton with a bit of a Big Star sound – and the wavy “Laugh In The Dark”. Keene soon ditched his acoustic for a beat-up electric, which he used to play stripped down but rocking versions of tunes like “I Don’t Feel Right At All”, “Highwire Days”, and a rousing cover of Mission of Burma’s politically poignant punk tune “That’s When I Reach For My Revolver”.
Within moments of Matthew Sweet taking the stage there was a collective excitement shared in the crowd at the fact that his voice hasn’t aged a bit since his 90s heyday. He also brought along a top notch band that would provide a proper rock and roll backbone throughout the set. Knowing that most of the crowd was there for his older material, Sweet kicked off the set with his 1993 song “Time Capsule” to instant applause. The hard rocking “Pretty Please” off the new album went over well with its 60s psychedelia riffs and beautiful solo work from guitarist Jason Victor, who would shred masterfully throughout the set. While Sweet seemed intent on simply playing his songs with minimal stage and audience interaction, his talented band more than made up for his lack of showmanship, with Victor and bassist Paul Chastain laying down soaring harmonies and rocking out on songs like “Divine Intervention”, “She Walks The Night”, and the insanely catchy fan favorite “We’re the Same”. The second part of the set saw the band laying into some of Sweet’s best known songs from the 90s, delighting the audience with the power pop goodness of “Girlfriend”, a version of “I’ve Been Waiting” that featured Tommy Keene joining in on the fun, and “Sick of Myself”. These songs all hold up so many years later and reminded everyone of a time when college radio was cool and rock musicians wrote infectious, thoughtful music.
Sweet and his band closed out the night in triumphant fashion with a handful of encore tunes. The paisley pop new song “The Searcher” hit hard before things slowed down for the dreamy “If Time Permits” and the R.E.M.-esque Altered Beast track “Devil With the Green Eyes”. Finally, the band closed with the charged up rocker “The Ugly Truth” before bidding goodnight and leaving the crowd simultaneously in awe and wondering why more songwriters of Matthew Sweet’s caliber aren’t around anymore.
Read our recent INTERVIEW with Matthew Sweet!
