On the Road Again
Live Reviews:

Matthew Sweet
November 5, 1999
Lee's Palace, Toronto

Matthew Sweet

What to expect was the question on many people's minds before Matthew Sweet took the stage for his The Edge 102 radio station-sponsored show at Lee's Palace. You see, the show was a promotion and the only way to get in was to call and receive tickets from the radio station, meaning not every one in attendance would necessarily be a Sweet fan.

"How long is he going to play?" and "What tunes will he do?" were just some of the questions being bandied about at the venue, but at 11:30 p.m., Matthew Sweet came out and answered all.

Playing songs from his latest pop/rock opus, In Reverse, Sweet opened with "Millennium Blues," which was quickly followed by "If Time Permits" and "Beware My Love," the first three songs on the album. Hmm, three songs from the new album. Hey, that means he's promoting his new material. To be fair, Sweet ended up playing 23 songs in over 1 hour and 45 minutes, so there was a good cross-section from his career, but it was quite apparent even he didn't know what to expect, playing it safe throughout the entire show.

Soon after the first few songs it became obvious that Sweet has either switched to de-caf, or didn't put enough sugar in his coffee that morning because it was quite apparent that the show was missing that special "something." Resplendent in his cast-offs from Bryan Adams closet, Sweet went on to play more material from his latest CD like "What Matters" and "Hide," prompting older fans to feel lost and wondering where the old stuff was.

Now this isn't a Matthew Sweet bitch-slap session, but a guy who's got seven solo albums definitely has enough material to showcase, and when five of your first seven songs are all new you're bound to feel a little heat from the audience. Surprisingly though, it never came, probably do to the fact that there were a lot of casual fans in attendance. In Sweet's defence, he and his backing band were technically excellent, and seemed to enjoy playing live and to a packed house, but for whatever reason, they couldn't convey that to the audience.

This could probably be attributed to the line-up of songs. Sweet finally got into the older material like "I've Been Waiting" from '91's Girlfriend, and "Come To California," from '97's Blue Sky On Mars, but his delivery was askew. In almost every case, Sweet and his band were playing in a fast song/slow song combination, never gaining any momentum and keeping the crowd in a lull-like state, except for the occasional rocking song like "Behind The Smile."

Throughout it all, though, Sweet was a true professional and didn't let the audience apathy get to him. Changing his guitar yet again in rock star fashion (at least 12 times throughout the show), Sweet played the hit "Girlfriend," which finally got the audience moving. A little later, it was the end of the regular set, and Sweet didn't want to disappoint those leaving early so he played his radio cut "Sick Of Myself," from 100% Fun.

Sweet would come back later for two encore's, playing older material such as "Where You Get Love" and "We're The Same," prompting a better response from his cult following and showing the casual fans that he had more to offer.

A slightly disappointing show in terms of energy and song arrangement, but still one that showed Sweet has the chops and proficiency to play live. Maybe next time he'll go back to regular coffee, and like Kevin Nash says, he'll be "Too Sweeeettt!"