PHOTOS: Matthew Sweet @ City Winery Atlanta

Long-time power-pop purveyor, Matthew Sweet, primarily known for his early 90’s hit records, Girlfriend, Altered Beast and 100% Fun was at City Winery in Atlanta this week for a two night run to celebrate the release of Tomorrow Forever, his first full-length solo record since 2011’s, Modern Art. We were at City Winery for the 1st night to see Sweet play a set of hits from the past album, and some of the recently released new material.

Opening the shows for this run of the tour was another power-pop master from the 80s, Tommy Keene. Keene, who had an incredible run of solo records in the 80’s and 90’s, touched on everything from 80’s new wave with some 60’s vibe to a bit of mainstream rock reminiscent of artists like Tom Petty and The Replacements. Tommy, armed with only a guitar, played a solid set of originals from throughout his career like “Deep Six Saturday,” “Back to Zero Now” and a few choice covers including Mission of Burma’s, “That’s When I Reach for My Revolver” and Alex Chilton’s “Nighttime.”

Next up, Matthew Sweet took the stage with his fantastic, all-star band consisting of Jason Victor from the Miracle Three and Dream Syndicate on guitar, Ric Menck from Velvet Crush on drums, and Paul Chastain from Velvet Crush and The Small Square on bass.

The band ripped through a wide selection of songs from Sweet’s catalog with the energy of a garage band instead of the polish and finesse found on most of his records, keeping it raw and fun from start to finish.

Highlights included Sweet’s biggest hit “Girlfriend,” which brought the crowd to their feet, the resigned anxiety of “Someone to Pull the Trigger,” “Sick of Myself” and the first encore’s final song, “Devil with the Green Eyes.”

With a solid new album out, a killer set and a fantastic live band, Matthew Sweet and his band did not disappoint.

Check out John McNicholas‘ photos from Matthew Sweet at City Winery below:

Matthew Sweet @ City Winery Atlanta 7-26-17

Tommy Keene @ City Winery Atlanta 7-26-17

Setlist:

I Wanted to Tell You
Byrdgirl
Pretty Please
Winona
Divine Intervention
Music 4 Love
She Walks the Night
Someone to Pull the Trigger
We’re the Same
You Don’t Love Me
Trick of the Light
Girlfriend
I’ve Been Waiting
Sick of Myself
—- First Encore
The Searcher
If Time Permits
Devil With the Green Eyes
—- Second Encore
The Ugly Truth