The Sweet Live In Sydney Review - Glitz, Blitz & Hits! Live On Stage

 

 

Legendary UK rockers The Sweet are currently in Australia at the moment to peruse their ongoing "Farewell Tour". Say it ain't so!

It may not be the same line up old school fans may remember back in their 70's heyday, but Andy Scott's version of The Sweet has been around for longer than the original band's line up. Guitarist, founding member, Andy Scott has done a great job of keeping the band alive for an incredible length of time. Despite a couple of personnel changes along the way. The original line up, featuring Brian Connolly on Vocals, Steve Priest on Bass, Andy Scott on Guitar and Mick Tucker on Drums, went around for about a decade creating these incredible hits like "Action", "Teenage Rampage", "Blockbuster" , "Fox On The Run" and of course "Ballroom Blitz". Now this modern version of The Sweet features vocalist Paul Manzi, Bassist Lee Small, guitarist and Keyboardist Tom Cory, and drummer Adam Booth , who recently took over the kit from Bruce Bisland who retired in mid 2023, before their new album Full Circle came out.

Despite the varied line up changes, I am happy to accept this version as the modern day Sweet. Paul is a  fantastic singer, very energetic performer and hits the high notes just as they would back in the 70s. 

It wasn't all peaches & cream for The Sweet's original line up. Lead vocalist Brian Connolly suffered from severe alcoholism in the late 1970's which really damaged his voice, and he struggled to hit the proper  notes live, leaving the rest of their band mates very displeased. Several times they tried to reform the original line up but it just didn't work. In the early 80's the band continued without Connolly and acted as a three piece, featuring Scott, Priest & Tucker and recorded very contemporary Sweet sounding albums "Water's Edge" and "Identity Crisis". While Steve Priest and Andy Scott went their separate ways, Andy has continued to be in arguably the most successful and modern version of The Sweet. 

Approximately 500 people attended the sold out show at the Factory Theatre in Sydney, on November 21 2024. Their support act was Ronnie Simmons And The Red Back Spiders, of Rose Tattoo fame. They played a very good and energetic punk rock filled set for about 45 minutes, did a bunch of original songs and ended with Elton John's "Saturday Night's All Right For Fighting", not sure if that was a nod to the fill in Sweet guitarist, Randall Waller who had indeed toured with Elton John occasionally on his Australian tours. 

Ronnie Simmons & The Red Back Spiders' high octane energy set opening up for The Sweet at the Factory Theatre in Sydney , Australia 21/11/24.

After a brief intermission the lights went out and The Sweet kicked off their set with "ACTION", and it was performed brilliantly. However, someone was missing. Andy Scott wasn't there. 

Unfortunately guitarist Andy Scott had come down with a mysterious illness in Hamburg, Germany a few months ago and was instructed to stay home from the Australian leg of the tour. Filling in for Andy at such short notice was local Australian guitarist Randall Waller, who was personally chosen & approved by Andy. Randall's performed for artists such as Elton John, The Backstreet Boys and Shania Twain, to name a few.

At first I was disappointed that Andy Scott wasn't going on the tour, but I decided to go anyway. I am honestly glad I did because we ended up having a really great time. Randall is a great guitarist and he put his own spin on things rather than copying Andy flat out. It was a really great and rare version of The Sweet i'm glad we witnessed.

Australian Guitarist Randall Waller filling in for Andy Scott while The Sweet tour Australia in 2024

There was only one time after a song and a few people in the audience must not have gotten the online messages and asked "Where's Andy?" and Paul had to explain the story. Thankfully, there were no punch ups in the audience and the crowd was very understanding and applauded when they said if this tour does well  they will return again to Australia with Andy in 2025. But after the next song the audience seemed to accept Randall very quickly. He was a perfect fit.

The set list was mainly a "Greatest Hits" retrospective but we also were awarded a few new songs such as "Don't Bring Me Water" and "Circus" from the newest album "Full Circle", and a couple of rare Deep Cuts like "Windy City", "Set Me Free" and "A.C.D.C." There was also a couple of nods back from their late 60's and early 70's with "Peppermint Twist" being a highlight, and the classic medley of "Wig Wam Bam / Co Co / Funny Funny / Little Willy". "Teenage Rampage" was also another highlight and hearing the audience chant "WE WANT SWEET!" live at the beginning was truly something to behold, as that's how the original song starts with a tape recorded crowd on the album. 

The main set ended with a quite epic version of the 1978 hit "Love Is Like Oxygen" with a really nice importu jam in the middle. Following it up was "Fox On The Run" and they bowed out for a brief encore break. I was in front row and there was no crowd barrier so our arms were basically on the stage and all of us up front decided  to start banging on the stage for them to come back out. They came back with "BLOCKBUSTER" and that is one of my favorite Sweet songs of all time and at this point I lost my voice when we were singing the chorus but it was bloody great fun. Lastly , it was time for "Ballroom Blitz!" and the show ended on a great high. 

After the concert they held a free meet & greet with the fans who wanted to stay back. I had a chat with them all and they're all very lovely people. I told  them how i've been a fan of The Sweet since I was a kid and that was the first time i've seen them live and they were amazing. Also got to tell them I really liked their new album and said to Randall that he was really great and did a good job. The band signed my tour poster as well which was really nice of them. It was loads of fun. Naysayers beware, The Sweet are sticking around for a bit longer. And even though it's dubbed as their "Farewell tour", it really doesn't seem like it. We look forward to them coming back  to Australia in 2025 when Andy Scott gets better. Who knows maybe they should invite Randall back for a jam or two as well! That would be Sweet !
 

 

The Sweet - Live In Sydney, Australia 21/11/24 
Where: Factory Theatre, Sydney
Review & Photos: Cameron Hons

Setlist:

01. Action
02. Hell Raiser
03. Burn On The Flame
04. The Sixteens
05. Don't Bring Me Water
06. Peppermint Twist
07. A.C.D.C.
08. Circus
09. Set Me Free
10. Windy City
11. Teenage Rampage
12. Wig Wam Bam / Co Co / Funny Funny / Little Willy
13. Love Is Like Oxygen
14. Fox On The Run

-encores-

15. Blockbuster
16. Ballroom Blitz