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‘Are we there yet?’ Dunc’s foot is down. We are some miles north of Birmingham on a very quiet motorway heading for the
toll booth. The staff there are bound to be able to point us in the direction of Wolverhampton.
‘Yer grate, mate’ says the attendant. ‘Juiced tack the T8 eggs it!’ We are heading for Bilston’s
infamous Robin 2 live music venue. Good parking (free) and an excellent set of eateries across the road awaits weary travellers offering the full range of pre-show cuisine.
The Sweet have the most marvellous
support band to warm up the audience tonight. Harlan the Jester are a local band with a near residency status at the Robin, supporting acts such as Roy Wood, Trextasy and Jean Genie.
Jonny Ched
(drums), Alex Slide (bass), Nick Drew (keyboards), Andy Abberley (guitar) and Thomas Harlan (lead vocals) make up the band and play a fine set of quirky self-penned songs. Tom Harlan, dressed in standard issue 1967
Procol Harum stage gear with accompanying sideburns, has a great voice and is a talented frontman. Their set ends all too soon.
The Sweet take the stage. Free from the expectations and limitations of the
‘hits only’ format of last year’s ‘Glitz Blitz’ tour with The Rubettes and Showaddywaddy, tonight’s gig showcases the rockier material culled from the band’s many fine studio albums from the last 30
years.
There are highlights aplenty including the excellent riff work on songs like ‘Cockroach’ from 1976’s ‘Give us a wink’, ‘Burn on the flame’ from ‘Sweet Fanny Adams’. Dunc’s
favourites are ‘The Six Teens’ and ‘Lost Angels’.
The band are pleasantly taken aback by the warm and appreciative reaction from the Robin 2 audience. They give it all they have, turning in a great
rocking show climaxing with a home run which includes ‘Action’, ‘Blockbuster’ and ‘Fox on the Run’. The encores are ‘WindyCity’ from 1977’s ‘Off the record’ and ‘Ballroom Blitz’.
Cresset, Peterborough set-list: Hellraiser; Cockroach; You are everything; Crazy; The Six Teens; Lost Angels; Burn on the flame; Teenage rampage; Dream on; Love is like oxygen; Action; Wig Wam Bam / Little Willy;
Blockbuster; Fox on the run; [Encore: Windy City; Ballroom Blitz]
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