The show was part of the Queens golden jubilee celebrations and featured a T Rex tribute band called T.Rextacy and the band formed for the film The Commitments, though only one guy in the band actually played a part in the film. They were the headline act.

First on the bill were T.Rextacy with a guy who looks a lot like Marc Bolan. They went down pretty well, though he was having problems with the accoustics in the place. The event was taking place in an old RAF hanger left over from the second world war and the echo in the place was massive. Later on in the show we moved closer to the front and it was a lot better. I've always been a bit of a fan of T Rex and knew all the songs that were played, but I did feel that they all sounded a bit the same. My friend even commented that there were only about two songs that he could remember by T Rex that they hadn't played and he was surprised to learn that they HAD been played, so I guess he thought they seemed the same too.

Second on the bill were The Sweet. Of course, this is the band I really wanted to see. I was a bit worried cos I didn't know if the band was going to be Andys band or the remnants of Brians band, but I needent have worried cos there on the stage was the man himself. A little bit paunchier than he used to be, but his guitar playing and vocals, especially his high pitched ones, were instantly recogniseable. The rest of the band were Steve Grant on keyboards, rythm guitar and backing vocals, Geoff Brown on lead vocals and bass guitar and Bruce Bisland on drums.

They opened with Action, for which the intro seemed to last an age before even the first synth lead came in. That was followed by Hell Raiser which started and ended with several explosions instead of the usual single one. I'd moved closer to the front of the arena by this time and the echo wasn't booming quite as much. The band were playing good and heavy though.

The band introduced the next series of songs as some early hits and then proceeded to play Coco, Funny Funny and Poppa Joe. I was surprised by this as I'd read that Andy was keen to distance himself from the bubble gum stuff. I was pleased though that they still sounded great. Next up was Wig Wam Bam and this was the cue for the dance floor at the front to fill with revellers, then the last of the "bubble gum" stuff, Little Willy, was played. Of all the songs by Sweet, that is probably my least favourite, but even that sounded good to me.

I can't remember the exact order of the rest of the songs that were played, but they included Teenage Rampage, Blockbuster and Fox On The Run. The highlight for me though was when they played Turn It Down. I took this as my cue to join the revellers in front of the stage and I'm sure I saw Andy see me joining in with it and thinking something like "Oh gawd, we got a real sweet fan here who knows this song!" Hehehe. Love Is Like Oxygen was also played and there was an instrumental bit just like there is in the album version of the song, though this time it was mainly a rendition of Fanfare For The Common Man, interspaced by a few riffs from the album versions interlude. The band also played one of the songs off their new album called Sweetlife.

All too soon the concert was in its final minutes as they said their goodbyes, only to return again (before actually leaving the stage) to play the much requested Ballroom Blitz. I think they were on stage for about 90 minutes which was excellent, though there's so many songs I wish they'd played as well as the ones they did. Notable exceptions were Sixteens, Lies In Your Eyes, ACDC and Set Me Free, plus I was kinda hoping they'd play Fountain as I'd been told that Andy performed that song at a concert recently.

After the show I shook Andy's hand and then bought a signed copy of Sweetlife. I had a bit of a chat with the great man himself and asked him if he still kept in touch with Steve, to which he replied that he did. I told Andy that I was once in touch with Steve via the internet and Andy suggested that Steve shouldn't use the net when he's been drinking.

I suppose it would be churlish to finish the review of the concert without a mention of the headline band, The Commitments. They didn't play my kind of music it has to be told, but they had a good sound. Perhpas I'd have enjoyed it more if I'd actually known more than about two of the songs they played. The thing that stood out for me about them though was down to the lead singer on about 8 of the songs they did. He looked a bit like Donald Pleasance and had a great voice, but I really couldn't understand why when other people in the band were doing the lead vocals, he just sat on a box at the back of the stage looking totally disinterested. At the end of the show he was asking us if we'd had a great time. Somehow I don't think he really cared whether we did or not.

I know I'd had a great time, but that was simply because Andy's band had been on. I hope they come back again to the area. If they play near you, go see 'em. They're excellent.

Ewan