In some ways, this retro practice of playing classic albums from beginning to end live is a boon for the music fan. You basically know what you are getting when you go to the show. For me, I would just as soon see a show where the band plays new songs, old staples, and maybe throw a few obscurities into the mix. A lot of people I know get indignant because the artists set lists strays from the songs they are not familiar with. And that's not really fair to working performers who continue to make new albums long past their halcyon days of commercial success. I go to see the artist, and as long as they don't completely mangle their own songs, I don't have a problem with a band doing variations of songs I like, like seeing the Clean doing a countryesque, slowed-down version of Hold On To The Rail. I preferred hearing at the Mercury Lounge, when David Kilgour hopped up on stage with the opening band and joined them in a rousing version of it, sounding more like Merseybeat on steroids. Or hearing Nick Lowe on stage doing essentially a Gospel version of What's So Funny Bout Peace Love and Understanding. I am not averse to such pleasant surprises when I see a band live.
But Girlfriend is a truly special album in a number of ways. There is a universality to the album; almost anybody who is or was in a serious relationship can identify with Mr Sweet, our narrator. The songs run a gamut of emotions from extreme joy to the depths of despair and hopelessness. And it is a concept album, inspired by the dissolution of his marriage, a song cycle starting from the exciting start of romance, to the sad conclusion. And though it something that everyone goes through, he raises it from everyday mundaneness to something completely sublime. Not all concept album/rock operas work, but this one is probably successful by not overdoing it. Girlfriend is also a great pop album with unimpeachable hooks, an equally great sensitive singer-songwriter album, plus there is the added bonus of superb guitar licks, courtesy of Robert Quine, a veteran of Richard Hell and the Voidoids, and Lou Reed, and Richard Lloyd, from Television.
And on top of everything else, Girlfriend was a vindication for Sweet. Having been dropped by his label after his Earth album, and after having his demos versions of this album rejected by various labels, he not only got this great album recorded, but received both critical and commercial success.
And deservedly so. I would also recommend 100% Fun, his Japanese album, and I also enjoyed his fun album of 60's covers that he did with Susanna Hoffs of the Bangles.
I have to say I was pretty excited to see the concert. I've never seen Matthew Sweet live before and I was stoked. It was a contrast to the couple seated in the fourth row center, directly in front of me. Colin had seen Matthew Sweet about 15 times already. A super fan indeed! Turned out that they flew up from Texas to New York to see the show for his 40th birthday. Very nice friendly people. Also turns out he was in a band called Stereofuse who had some hits a few years ago, including a cover of Material Issues's Everything that made the Billboard Charts. I listened to it on Youtube, and I liked it. I was a little embarressed that I didn't know the band, but I have a lot of black holes in my musical knowledge. I may know a little about Hamza El-Din, or New Zealand's This Kind of Punishment, but maybe not so much about Depeche Mode. But it is fun being around people who share an interest in music. Most people I know have outgrown it to some extent.
Another reason I was stoked is because I knew that Ric Menck played drums on the original album, and he was performing that evening. Joining him on stage was his bandmate from Velvet Crush Paul Chastain, who played bass and sang backups. I never saw Velvet Crush perform (stupid on my part),
but I did see them play when I was at the University of Illinois back in the 80's, prior to Velvet Crush.
I was as impressed with their abilities as their evident enthusiasm for pop music. I'm not sure if they were called Choo Choo Train then, or if it was something else. So it felt like a homecoming almost to see these guys play nearly 25 years later. I saw a picture of Menck on the Parasol with a gigantic Amish farmer beard, but I guess he shaved it off at some point before the show. A terrific drummer with long gangly arms, he looks so big behind the drums that it seems like he's playing on a toy set.
Velvet Crush is a criminally unappreciated band--I especially like their first two. I would also recommend earlier recordings like Hey Wimpus! the recordings of Paul Chastain and Ric Menck and The Ballad of Ric Menck. Menck also has written a book in the 33 1/3s series, the topic being The Notorious Byrds album by the Byrds, which I have not read yet. Dennis Taylor was the guitarist for the show, in addtion to Sweet, who I don't know much about at all. He did a great job on stage on Saturday though.
Like I said before, the concert showcased the album in a somewhat different perspective, brawnier, probably a little angrier. Even the quieter songs were played more aggressively. I don't think there were many disappointed fans that night. To people who go live in the area of the Tarrytown Music Hall, I would recommend that you get to the shows early, because almost every show I've been to lately has had a very good opening band. This time it was a band from South Carolina called A Fragile Tomorrow. Originally some of the band members hail from Orange County, New York, on the western side of the Hudson. I actually bought the album, though I think I liked them live a little better. I probably need to listen to it some more. I was pleased that the show appeared to be a sell-out. Perhaps a successful box office for this show will provide incentives to book similar acts.
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