Somewhere, out of the trenches of the early 70s, Sweet loaded up the ice cream truck and began dolling up the neighborhood with sugary treats. It started out innocently enough with “Funny Funny” and “Little Willy.” Then the music grew rougher around the edges on “Fox On The Run” and “Ballroom Blitz.” Listening to the pulsating riff behind “Action,” the group fell in seamlessly with the hard rocking glam bands of the day — Queen, T. Rex and Mott The Hoople — and scorched the charts on both sides of the Atlantic. The hits and deeper album tracks come alive on Live! In America, recorded on August 30th, 2008 at the Morongo Casino in California by what’s regarded as the 21st century U.S. version of Sweet.
There are actually two bands using the “Sweet” name, each with one member from the hit-making Sweet band of the 70s. Guitarist Andy Scott, who actually replaced original guitarist Mick Stewart in 1970, has his own Sweet band playing the European circuit. Meanwhile, original bassist Steve Priest has an American version of Sweet, with top-drawer players and support from the likes of Los Angeles morning radio personalities Mark and Brian. The jury is out on Andy Scott’s Sweet, but one listen to Live! In America from Steve Priest’s Sweet, and you’ll be hard-pressed to believe these songs could sound any better.
Joining Priest are singer Joe Retta, guitarist Stuart Smith, keyboardist Stevie Stewart and drummer Richie Onori. Together, Sweet tear through 16 of the band’s most well-known tunes. A double shot of “Action” and “Fox On The Run” gets things off to frantic pace. “Hellraiser,” an early single from the 70s, is a perfect example of the band’s unique brand of bubblegum with balls. “Love Is Like An Oxygen” throws a wrench into the set, and would have been better left for the encore. Still, there’s no denying the instrumental finesse on what was to be the group’s final hit of the 70s, especially in the interplay between Smith and Stewart, clearly seasoned musicians with chops to spare.
Onori pounds out the beat with a similar veracity of the late original drummer Mick Tucker, while Priest holds down the bottom as ably as ever. Retta possesses the pipes and the attitude to bring the songs to life, going the extra mile to imbibe the spirit of late vocalist Brian Connolly. For the most part, Sweet sticks to the power rockers, many from 1974’s Desolation Boulevard (aka Sweet Fanny Adams in Europe) — “The Sixteens,” “Sweet F.A.,” “AC/DC,” “Set Me Free” and “Ballroom Blitz.” Throw in one-off singles like “Wig Wam Bam”
and “Little Willy,” and you have all the makings of a complete Sweet performance.
Where previous Sweet live offerings, even with the original lineup, have been dodgy and fallen short, Live! In America is a slick, well-executed blueprint of some of the 70’s most infectious songs. In you can get past the politics and personnel differences, the time and space of almost 40 years, you can relive the days when Sweet was something more than just a flavorful after-dinner treat.
~ Shawn Perry
