According to the official Rentals mailing list, Matt Sharp will be doing four “really low key shows acoustic style/solo style” shows at Cafe Tropical, a Cuban bakery in Silver Lake, Los Angeles. He will be performing two shows per night on Sunday March 17 and March 24 at 7pm and 9pm.

This will be the first time Sharp has played out since some Rentals shows in Japan in 1999. According to a note from “fifth Weezer member” Karl Koch, Sharp made “an album in Nashville, in 1999, I think, but I dont think he’s on good terms with [Rentals label] Maverick for a variety of reasons, most of which appear to be his fault at the core. I think he’s in the bad position of being on a major label that won’t help him because he made them mad, but won’t let him go either as they probably consider him capable of making them money at some point. But all that is just speculation really.”

Hopefully, these new live dates mark the return of the Rentals at a time when we could really use them…

Update… From Matt Sharp via the mailing list: “I’d appreciate it if these shows weren’t bootlegged. I know there’s not much we can do about it, but we can ask. There are going to be a ton of shows down the road which I’ll be into that whole thing.”

Update #2… For reviews of these shows and tons of other Rentals/Matt Sharp information, head on over to Overlee, a site formerly hosted by Glorious Noise…