Matthew Sweet, Abe Partridge @ TD Music Hall, April 13

Matthew Sweet will be playing songs from his forthcoming album with Debbi Peterson, Paul Chastain and John Moreman.

Here's the scoop...

Matthew Sweet recently played his first shows in nearly four years, selling out his Midwest run and garnering rave reviews. For his first show in Toronto since 2019, Matthew will be bringing a full band with Debbi Peterson (The Bangles) on drums, Paul Chastain (Velvet Crush) on bass, and John Moreman (The Orange Peels) on guitar. Alabama songwriter/podcaster and visual artist Abe Partridge will open the show. Get tickets for Matthew Sweet's show at TD Music Hall on April 13th while you can right here. 

The power pop pioneer is hard at work writing and recording his next studio record, due out in 2024. In addition to new material, Sweet just digitally released a live recording of one of his most fabled performances, Live at Grant Park Chicago July 1993. Originally recorded by Metro Mobile Recording for Chicago radio station WXRT, the blistering 17-song set includes hits and fan-favorites including “Girlfriend,” “I’ve Been Waiting,” “The Ugly Truth,” and a spirited cover of John Lennon’s “Crippled Inside.” Matthew is backed by Richard Lloyd (Television) on lead guitar, Will Rigby (the dB’s) on drums, and Tony Marsico (Cruzados, Bob Dylan) on bass and background vocals. 

Remixed and remastered from the original DAT source by engineer Brian Kehew, known for his work with The Who, The Pretenders, The Stooges, Crazy Horse, and The Replacements, the live album captures Sweet live at the peak of the alternative rock takeover when he first achieved commercial success with a series of gold and platinum records that still hold up today. Sweet’s loyal fans will be delighted to know he recently launched a Patreon page which you can check out right here. Sweet regularly shares writing demos, visual art and sculpture (cats!), livestreams, and more. 

Check out Matthew Sweet's Grant Park show from July 4, 1993, two recent performance clips of opener Abe Partridge followed by a list of tour dates. 

Matthew Sweet Tour Dates:

FR 12 Apr   Buffalo, NY - Electric City

SA 13 Apr  Toronto, ON - TD Music Hall

MO 15 Apr  Boston, MA - The Wilbur Theatre

TU 16 Apr   Philadelphia, PA - World Cafe Live

TH 18 Apr   New York, NY - City Winery Pier 57

FR 19 Apr   Jersey City, NJ - White Eagle Hall

SA 20 Apr   Washington, DC - Lincoln Theatre

TU 23 Apr   Cincinnati, OH - Ludlow Garage

WE 24 Apr  Plainfield, IN - Hendricks Live!

Happy Birthday Paul Chastain of the Velvet Crush

Celebrating Paul Chastain's birthday with a Velvet Crush performance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien.

Velvet Crush's stellar debut album gets reissued in October

Glass Records label honcho Dave Barker shows off the turquoise vinyl version of the Velvet Crush's 1991 classic. 

On October 19, Glass Records' Glass Modern subsidiary is reissuing the debut Velvet Crush album In The Presence Of Greatness, originally released on Creation Records in 1991. In The Presence Of Greatness was recorded on eight tracks by Rick Menck, Paul Chastain and Jeffrey Borchardt with their pal Matthew Sweet in his basement in Princeton, New Jersey 1990-91. Repackaged in a new sleeve with photographs from the original session by Michael Lavine. Initial copies of the 180 gram pressing will be on turquoise vinyl. You can pre-order the Velvet Crush's 90s indie rock gem from Forced Exposure right here after listening to a few magical tracks below.

That time Mitch Easter joined The Velvet Crush on Late Night with Conan O'Brien

Listen to Paul Chastain, Ric Menck and crew play "Hold Me Up" off Teenage Symphonies To God from 1994. 

Velvet Crush's Teenage Symphonies demos due from Omnivore July 22

The Velvet Crush's co-founder Ric Menck just posted on Facebook about Omnivore's plans to re-release the demos they cut for the group's classic 1994 album, Teenage Symphonies To God which have previously appeared on the Melody Freaks collection in 2002. Interestingly enough, Ric didn't mention anything about a vinyl issue and neither does Omnivore's press release which follows:

"Yes, it's true. There's a new Velvet Crush release coming soon! It's called Pre-Teen Symphonies, and it will be available through the fine folks at Omnivore Records!! It collects the demos we recorded for Teenage Symphonies To God, as well as a live show recorded in Chicago by the WXRT mobile unit.

"This stuff has been out before, but never in one place, and it has never sounded this good (totally remastered from original tapes!). I wrote the liner notes, and the cover of the CD features some really cool never before seen photos. It's been ages since there's been any new "product" by VC on the market, so I'm kinda excited about this! I'm really glad it's coming out on Omnivore, too, because they've been putting out some fantastic records for quite a few years now!"

Here's the Omnivore press release...

SHERMAN OAKS, Calif. — When Rhode Island’s Velvet Crush appeared on the scene in the early 1990s, they were obviously a force to reckon with. Signing with England’s Creation Records (Oasis, My Bloody Valentine, Teenage Fanclub), they released their debut LP in 1991. But, it was 1994’s Teenage Symphonies To God (the title being a play on Brian Wilson’s description of what would become SMiLE) on Sony 550 Music that put them on the map. Co-produced by the legendary Mitch Easter, it opened America’s eyes to what those over the pond were so wild about.

But, what was the genesis of that record? We can now find out with Pre-Teen Symphonies, a collection of 16 previously unissued tracks from Velvet Crush: eight demos (including one for the classic single “Hold Me Up”) and eight tracks recorded live in 1995 at Cabaret Metro in Chicago. The set, available on CD and Digital, will be released July 22, 2016.

As the band—fronted by Paul Chastian (bass, guitar and vocals) and Ric Menck (drums) with Jeffrey Underhill (guitar)—proved the past was the future by taking elements from classic ’60s melodies, ’70s power pop, and ’80s reinvention, Pre-Teen Symphonies is a unique look into the development of a classic, and the live power that drove it.

Menck writes in the liners: “It’s probably no exaggeration to make the claim that Teenage Symphonies To God was the pinnacle of our illustrious career as a band. It’s certainly the album by Velvet Crush that most people know. Pre-Teen Symphonies collects all the loose ends, and hopefully, helps to usher in a new chapter for the little band that could from Providence, Rhode Island.”


  
Pre-Teen Symphonies CD/Digital Track List:
1. Hold Me Up
2. My Blank Pages
3. Time Wraps Around You
4. Not Standing Down
5. Turn Down
6. This Life Is Killing Me
7. Weird Summer
8. Star Trip
Live At Cabaret Metro, Chicago:
9. Window to the World
10. My Blank Pages
11. Ash and Earth
12. Time Wraps Around You

Velvet Crush reunite for one song in Boston