Take Me Back To Summerfest 1997: Matthew Sweet at Leinie Lodge

To paraphrase someone I always paraphrase: Memories are illusions. Memories of concerts in the times before smartphones and social media, doubly so.

Take my memories of a concert that for many years I considered my personal Greatest Concert Of All Time: Matthew Sweet at Summerfest 1997. Kind of random, right? But hear me out: I remember a crowd of thousands packed outside one of Summerfest’s biggest outdoor stages, watching the celebrated alt-rocker tear through hit after hit after hit. Songs like “Girlfriend,” “Sick Of Myself,” “I’ve Been Waiting,” “Divine Intervention,” and “Come To California”—the latter from that year’s beloved Blue Sky On Mars album. My then-girlfriend and I were huge Sweet fans, and I remember the two of us were absolutely beside ourselves.

And, crucially, I remember that when it came time for Sweet to wrap up his 90-minute set, dude kept playing. He even said something like, “I’m gonna keep playing!” And he kept playing for so long that eventually—incredibly!—Summerfest cut the power on the stage. Sweet laughed, triumphant. The crowd went wild.

But that can’t be right, can it? There are plenty of questionable details in my recollection—least of all that Blue Sky On Mars was “beloved.” (It’s really good though!) Google tells me that Sweet didn’t play on a huge stage, but on the Leinie Lodge. That was kind of a small stage, wasn’t it? And surely the rather unassuming Matthew Sweet, of all artists, wouldn’t thumb his nose at a big outdoor festival and continue playing past his allotted time? And surely Summerfest brass wouldn’t cut the power on the stage? This wasn’t GG Allin at the Odd Rock Café or whatever.

I suppose I could fact check my memories (does any of this ring a bell, Nicki?) but, like Bill Pullman says in Lost Highway: “I like to remember things my own way. How I remembered them, not necessarily the way they happened.” For me, the time Matthew Sweet played Summerfest ’97 and was essentially kicked off the stage absolutely ruled. Take me back!

Postscript: Sweet suffered a devastating stroke in 2024. A GoFundMe for his recovery currently sits at nearly $650,000. Despite the outpouring of support, his health and future career remain unclear. I wish him nothing but the very best.

I saw Sweet again at Summerfest, 21 years later, in 2018. The BMO Pavilion crowd was on the small side and there were no post-set theatrics. Sweet didn’t keep playing. Summerfest didn’t cut the power. But you know what? Sweet sounded great, and I was, once again, beside myself. My memories of that are crystal clear.