Matthew Sweet - Liberty hall, Lawrence, KS 2-27-97

Lawrence - Lincoln, Nebraska native Matthew Sweet performed Thursday at Lawrence’s Liberty Hall, making his first area appearance in almost two years.

Sweet,a gifted songwriter has released a string of three outstanding albums going back to his 1991 breakthrough release, "Girlfriend."

As a performer, Sweet has a bit of a problem. Much of what makes his work worthy of serious attention is simply discarded in the mode in which he plays live. The subtle delicacy that breathes life into many of his better songs is left in the studio. On stage, he seems overcome by a desire to live out his rock and roll fantasy, and nothing more.

The element that in the past assured his live performances would always be at least interesting, the presence of guitarist Richard Lloyd, is gone. Lloyd was always there on stage left, making fascinating music even while Sweet and his rhythm section were bashing out ordinary rock and roll.

The current lineup of Sweet, longtime bass man Tony Marsico, drummer Ric Menck, Ivan Julian on lead guitar, and Paul Castain on keys and guitars is content to hammer out noisy, mushy rock and roll that frequently overcomes the material.

To be sure, the better the song, the less the band is inclined to get in it’s way. On the best songs, such as "Ugly Truth," "Girlfriend," "Someone To Pull The Trigger," "Sick Of Myself," and "Evangeline," the group played economically. On the less distinguished songs, the band got busy, chinking every sonic hole with mud in a vain attempt to distract the audience.

Sweet performed a number of songs from his upcoming release, "Blue Sky On Mars." The best of these are the first single, "Where You Get Love," and "Over it."

Sweet’s two encores encompassed seven songs, and two of the evening’s highlights.

His first curtain call included a more than credible cover of "Waterloo Sunset," one of the Kinks very best songs. Also played was an interesting, if overlong performance of "Moonage Daydream" from David Bowie’s "Ziggy Stardust" album.

Sweet began his second encore accompanied only by Julian for a delightful, semi-acoustic version of "I Thought I Knew You."

Perhaps Sweet simply despairs of approximating the sophistication of his studio work on stage. It’s disappointing, but not so much as to quell anticipation for his March, 25 release.