Sweet’s poor performance good for nothing but playing
foosball
Lackluster show at Whiskey deadens as night gets long
By Brian Remick
On the second story of the Whiskey in Hollywood, right next to
the bar, sits a foosball table.
Purely a source of entertainment? Possibly. But, more likely it
serves as a subconscious indicator of the success of the performer.
If someone is playing foosball during a concert, the concert is
boring.
During Matthew Sweet’s inconsistent show at the Whiskey last
Thursday night, the crowd around the foozball table went from
sparse to a little less than the main attraction.
Some even claimed they caught a glimpse of Sweet himself playing
a game or two.
The small venue on Sunset Boulevard was packed to capacity as
Matthew Sweet prepared to take the stage. The necessity for a clear
walkway to the bar left little room for movement, much less dancing
of any kind.
Matthew Sweet’s latest album, 100% Fun, is his sixth solo
release in his music career. His style has remained very consistent
and strong stylistically over the years, allowing him to accumulate
a small but strong, loyal group of fans.
Sweet began the show with his latest single, "Sick of Myself,"
which would end up being his best performance of the night. Due to
recent radio play, the crowd recognized this song the most as
well.
Small, loyal followings, like the fans of Sweet, are most often
more lively than Thursday night. Perhaps the lack of space in the
venue itself limited the crowd’s ability to dance, but most likely
the majority of fans that attended the show are relatively new
Sweet followers.
As Sweet pounded through hits like "I’ve Been Waiting" and
"Someone that Pulled the Trigger," his longtime fans sang along and
everyone else stood around wondering why they came. These older
songs brought Sweet his initial popularity but do not have the same
effect on newer fans.
Sweet’s music is deceivingly simple. All of his songs perfectly
complement Sweet’s unique voice with fantastic chord progressions,
while still rarely deviating from the simplest chords.
The show fluctuated drastically throughout the night, rounding
off at the end to a basically mediocre evening. The downhill trend
began when Sweet announced, "This is sort of a novelty for us
 we’re going to play an acoustic part of the set  it’ll
give your ears a little rest."
The crowd fell almost silent. Sweet turned off the distortion on
his guitar and said, "Are you guys happy about that or not?" The
audience gave a reluctant cheer, but the show would have been much
better without Sweet’s somewhat feeble attempt to display his
acoustic virtuosity.
The distortion was engaged again after a couple of songs, but
the excitement never returned. In addition, Sweet left most of his
older material till last, more than satisfying his older fans, but
certainly disappointing the younger crowd. He even experimented
with voice delay, which he said the band had never done before.
"That was a little psychedelic experience for you," Sweet said
afterwards. Oh  is that what it was?
The band came back for two encores after the original set,
playing, among others, "Super Baby," which people had been
screaming requests for all night. Even songs like this, however,
didn’t spark the crowd. The movement down by the stage had all but
ceased, save for a few bobbing heads.
Sweet’s performance was strong and, with the exception of the
acoustic fiasco, virtually unflawed. However, it didn’t attract
many new fans to his music.
Foosball, however, is the newest craze in Hollywood.