{Apologies for the crappy cell phone pic, you guys!}

Was this my most anticipated show of the year? So far—YES. I think it was. And so I was a little worried when my friend told me that Matthew had stumbled a bit during his Portland show, but I needn’t have been: The Girlfriend Tour was exactly what I wanted it to be.

Opening band Summer Twins (from Riverside, CA) took the stage, and I was pretty much immediately taken with the two sisters at the heart of the band: Chelsea and Justine. First off, Justine plays DRUMS, and I’m a sucker for a female drummer. Second, Chelsea has one of these awesome sultry-cute voices, and plays the guitar in an adorable sway-dancing way that is almost too twee to handle.

Rounded out by Marcia Rivera on guitar (who stood completely and totally still the whole set) and Levi Audette on bass (who bounced around the other side of the stage in stark contrast), Summer Twins played a bunch of really solid, utterly danceable super-fun indie rock tunes that mixed a hint of of surfy-garage rock with retro pop.

Bounciness was in abundance, my friends. I bought their self-titled debut CD at the break, resisting the vinyl…but only temporarily. Because I bet they sound AMAZEBALLS on vinyl.

{Summer Twins photo from 
their instagram account. Adorbs, non?}

Admittedly, Matthew’s set was a bit messy at the beginning—but he straightened it out quick and played AN AWESOME SHOW all-around (plus, I will cut the guy some slack because I’m sure it’s not easy playing songs you’re haven’t played in forever 20+ years later).

I was also wondering where the hell all the power pop fans in Seattle were since The Triple Door wasn’t even half full at 8, but it turns out they were just doing the typical Seattle thing: having drinks in the bar, skipping the opening band, and wandering in just in time to see the main act (ATTENTION people who do this: You are missing some really great bands! Just sayin’).

Anyway…by the time Sweet arrived on stage, it was a mostly-packed house full of enthusiastic Girlfriend fans—as well as two ladies who stood up and danced with wild abandon during the two 100% Fun songs. Don’t worry, they checked behind them first to make sure they weren’t blocking anyone’s view.

If you’re familiar with Girlfriend, you know he started with Divine Intervention, but instead of ending on the last track of the original vinyl record, he actually included the CD “bonus tracks” and ended with an achingly beautiful rendition of “Nothing Lasts”. I swear I heard some sniffling! Somewhere. It wasn’t me—I just had something in my eye. And then our lovely Matthew realized it wouldn’t be cool to leave people mired in depression for the rest of the evening, so he ripped out “Sick of Myself” to end the set with, leaving us in an upbeat mood with which to urge him back to the stage for an encore.

The encore was just three short songs, including “She Walks the Night” from his new album Modern Art, which sounded similar to the stuff on Girlfriend with maybe a bit more country twang added in. I dug it, and I’ll probably download a copy and check it out.

I left The Triple Door in a happy daze, so pleased that I got to see him finally play it live, and I highly recommend y’all check out the second show tonight!

Now I’m just kicking myself for not ordering the special edition Girlfriend Vinyl, because it was sold out at the show and on site—and the Internet is not helping me find it. Jerk.

Set list:
{Girlfriend + Bonus Tracks}
Divine Intervention
I’ve Been Waiting
Girlfriend
Looking at the Sun
Winona
Evangeline
Day for Night
Thought I Knew You
You Don’t Love Me
I Wanted to Tell You
Don’t Go
Your Sweet Voice
Does She Talk?
Holy War
Nothing Lasts
Ready
Sick of Myself {100% Fun}

Encore:
Time Capsule {Altered Beast}
She Walks the Night (Modern Art}
We’re the Same {100% Fun}