Was Friday 13^th unlucky for me?  I should say not.  I must be one of the 300 luckiest people alive to have been witness to what has been called the finest show ever put on by Andy Scott’s Sweet.  And who am I to disagree with some of the most loyal and knowledgeable fans from the small crowd who qualify as professionals for their sheer enthusiasm and persistence?

 

My long drive to Bilston lasted a few minutes longer than it should have done as I got lost near the venue, but I later learnt I was not the only one.  I parked up behind the Robin 2 and could hear some stray guitar noises, but nothing recognisable.  I made my way to the Sir Henry Newboult and quickly met up with Neil, then found Woody, Johnny Mogs, Lost Angel, The Man at the Back, Mad Dog, VC10, etc, etc.  An hours happy drinking, gassing and eating followed.  VC10 swore he had heard Lost Angels and Windy City being rehearsed, and with this news the excitement grew.  Someone then had the great idea of going over to the Slade pub (the Trumpet) for a laugh, so a dozen of us invaded this holy grail of Slade fans and displayed our T shirts, programmes, tickets and scarves in provocative fashion – several photos were taken which I am sure will become available unless the appropriate blackmail fee is paid! 

 

With the time at 8.15, a group (including me) set off for the Robin, leaving the hardened drinkers (like Woody) behind to irritate the Slade fans.   No time was lost in pushing to the front of the auditorium and Gill, LA, VC10 and I positioned ourselves just Andy-side of the centre of the stage, ready for the action. 

 

If you’ve never been to the Robin, your life is missing an important experience.  It’s an intimate, hot, pressure cooker of a venue, full of the excitement that live music on a regular basis brings. 

 

The support action (8.45 to 9.30) was from a five piece rock outfit called Harlan the Jester, who were excellent and played a set of about 10 lively numbers.  No going to sleep whilst they were on the stage! 

 

A “clear the stage” break of 15 minutes followed before Steve and Tony were seen hovering in the wings and the James Bond theme came on. 

 

And then it was all systems go for a cracking gig.  After Hell Raiser, Tony said “If you’ve come to hear stuff like Blockbuster, that’ll be along later, but for now we’re here to rock.  Andy said, “this gig nearly got cancelled as I fell downstairs – well, down a stair – yesterday and hurt my arm.”  There was a cry of “aahhhh”.  Then, showing us a nasty red weal, he continued, “but my wife told me to get on with it, so here we are”.  Then he turned to Bruce and said “shall we surprise them?” and Bruce kicked off the drum intro to Cockroach.  The number was so heavy that I worried if the floor was strong enough to support it, but so clear and precise.  I have to say I’ve never liked Cockroach all that much, but it leapt into my top 10 of Sweet tracks because of the Bilston rendition. 

 

At this point, there was clearly some consternation about something, and it turned out that Steve’s rhythm guitar was broken, thus forcing a change in the programme order.  Two numbers from “Sweetlife” followed – Everything, followed by You’re Crazy.  Both were hard hitting and played with bite.

 

One of the best things about this gig was the sheer enjoyment and pleasure emanating from the band as they played.  It sure is hard not to enjoy the fruits of their labours when they are constantly smiling, laughing and joking. 

 

Andy moved to the mike and said “you know, I don’t think the original band ever played this number live, amazingly, so this is different.  It’s called Lost Angels.  The crowd went wild – although they were never really tame.  Steve kicked of the historic moment, but it was Andy’s growling guitar that dominated a wonderful rendition of this classic number, with all the right harmonies and twiddly bits in all the right places. 

 

The rhythm guitar was now fixed and the song that had to be delayed – The Six Teens – duly followed, delivered with style and punch.  The next song needed the inevitable audience participation to get it going – “we want Sweet” – and Tony left us to fill in the “but they don’t care, no, no, no, no, so…” which, being seasoned and experienced fans, we took in our stride.  Teenage Rampage complete, Andy wasted no time is setting Burn on the Flame on its way.  That song is an absolute cracker live. 

 

Andy paused after this to reflect a little on what a sad time of the year it is for Sweet fans, with the anniversaries of Brian and Mick’s deaths in quick succession.  He alluded to some of the amusing conversations he’d had with Brian, but left us guessing precisely which ones he meant, before dedicating the next song, Love is Like Oxygen, to Brian and Mick.  No surprises in the delivery here, except that just before launching into Fanfare for the Common Man, Steve decided to play a few bars of the Emmerdale theme, much to the amusement of the other three who were towelling themselves off and taking on board some much needed water.  And why not – the programme’s been good to his wife.  He also stuck in a few bars of what sounded like “Jaws”, before Andy restarted the Oxygen riff. 

 

When Bruce left the drums, and he and Tony left the stage, and Steve went for the Keyboard whilst Andy was clearly only going to be singing, I had an inkling of what was coming.  Sure enough, Andy said, “we haven’t played this for a while” and launched into Dream on.  This was beautifully and sensitively delivered and towards the end Tony and Bruce shared the centre mike for some great backing harmonies.  Proof, if proof were needed, of the versatility of this band. 

 

Action and Blockbuster were delivered with the usual aplomb, then it was back to the early days – but not too early – for the fabulously rocky Wig Wam Willy medley. 

 

We knew the end was nigh for two reasons – an hour and five minutes had passed, and Andy started to introduce the band.  Everyone was rapturously received by the enthusiastic Bilston crowd, including Tony on the “four string guitar” (Andy said he’s a guitarist, not a bassist) but the largest cheer was reserved for the man who is, was and always will be The Sweet, Mr Andy Scott. 

 

The synthesiser kicked in for Fox on the Run and there was plenty of dancing, pogo-ing and singing along during this number.  The Bilston crowd certainly knock the spots off the Leicester audience (2003 Glitz Blitz and Hitz live) for singing “foxy on the ru-u-u-u-u-u-n” – but then a mouse with a sore throat could do that, so it’s not a great achievement.   

 

The boys duly left the stage and immediately a wave of “we want Sweet” started from the back of the crowd and swept forward.  Loud and persistent, it continued for at least forty five seconds before Andy lead the band back.  I know I was not the only one who was expecting Ballroom Blitz, but I was in seventh heaven as the growl of Windy City emanated from Andy’s guitar.  Wow.  They played this mean and heavy.  It was absolutely brilliant.  And what’s more, we got Ballroom Blitz as well. 

 

What a gig!! 

 

The band appeared afterwards in the front bar to sign memorabilia and they were relaxed and chatty.  There were plenty of people there who had not seen this band before who were mightily impressed and it took about 40 minutes for all those who wanted signatures to get them.  I sold a few of my Peterborough programmes, which have a good page for taking the band’s signatures. 

 

I must have been on a high because, despite having been up since 5.30 a.m. Friday and driven nearly 300 miles in the day, I didn’t get sleepy once on the return journey to Peterborough, where I arrived at just after 2 a.m.

 

The only questions that remain to be answered are, “have the band peaked too early for Peterborough” and, “Are there any other surprises for next week?”  Only time will tell.