Matthew Sweet to play Southern Theatre October 9

CAPA hosts alt-rock trailblazer Matthew Sweet on October 9 at the Southern Theatre (21 E. Main St.) for a stop on his special acoustic trio tour.

The acoustic performances will feature fresh arrangements of Sweet’s classic hits as well as rarely heard deep-cuts. Sweet will be joined by his longtime bassist Paul Chastain and guitarist Adrian R. Carter (Amy Ray Band).

Tickets, which start at $29, go on sale at 10 am Friday, August 2, and may be purchased at the CBUSArts Ticket Center at the Ohio Theatre (39 E. State St.), online at www.capa.com or www.CBUSArts.com, and by phone at (614) 469-0939.

Sweet kicked off 2024 with a sold-out tour, his first in nearly four years, and the release of an archival live record of one of his most fabled performances — a July 4, 1993 headlining set at WXRT’s ‘Taste of Chicago’: Live at Grant Park Chicago July 1993.

After spending the '80s as an up-and-coming jangle pop multi-instrumentalist with acts like Oh-OK, Lloyd Cole, The Golden Palominos, and The Buzz of Delight, Matthew Sweet emerged as the leading figure of the power pop revival with the release of his platinum-selling breakout record Girlfriend in 1991. Sweet adhered to traditional songcraft yet subverted the form by adding noisy post-punk guitar and flourishes of country-rock, resulting in an amalgam of the Beatles, Big Star, R.E.M., and Neil Young. Girlfriend became a word-of-mouth critical and commercial hit with its title track reaching the Top Five on the Modern Rock charts and its anime-styled music videos entering heavy rotation on MTV.

His next two records, Altered Beast (1993) and 100% Fun (1995) continued the hot streak, producing multiple top ten singles and achieving gold and platinum sales. Sweet's success continued in the late ‘90's and 2000's with successful US and European tours, major label releases (including Blue Sky on Mars, In Reverse, Modern Art), and a revered collaboration series with Susanna Hoffs (The Bangles) - Under Covers Vols. 1-3. More recent studio albums Sunshine Lies and Tomorrow Forever are championed by critics as persuasive testaments to the enduring qualities of Sweet's adventurous, emotion-charged songcraft.

On Matthew’s 13th album, Catspaw (2021), he plays every instrument (except drums) for the first time in his career. American Songwriter called it “a one-man show of sorts that represents another high point in a career that’s now almost four decades long and shows no signs of lagging.”