The Sweet Robin 2, Bilston, Wolverhampton.
12 February 2005.

Having returned to my old drinking holes in Camden to see The Sweet on Friday night, buddy Al ‘Hellraiser’ Howard and I set off for The Robin2 to see the second night of Sweet’s pre ’Glitz Blitz’ tour.

The Robin has had an extensive £500.000 refurbishment including restaurant, bars and viewing area. It looked superb and worth the extra 50p a pint. At 10pm the return of the ‘stripper’ music heralded the arrival of the band and on came the boys looking fresh and ready to kick arse. 

Andy looking slim and sporting a new, more suited hairdo, just shoulder length. They powered through ‘Hell raiser’ and ‘Burn on the Flame’, my favourite live track ‘The 6 Teens’ followed by the classic ‘Cockroach’ from the album ‘Give us a Wink’.

Everything from the ‘Sweet Life’ album was introduced by Andy as a song written for somebody, referring to his ex-wife. A slight cock-up by the guitarist during the intro did not spoil a great song, sung with feeling by Tony O’Hora. This was followed by ‘Lost Angel’ and the ‘Wig Wam Bam / Little Willy’ medley which had the crowd singing at full throat.

‘Teenage Rampage’ was followed by ‘Live for Today’ a track never played live by the original band and only rehearsed that afternoon! A real treat for diehard fans and performed brilliantly. Bruce’s thumping drum beat as well as Steve Grant’s guitar work a treat to see and hear.

Before ‘Love is like Oxygen’ a very emotional Andy paid tribute to Brian and Mick. ‘Action’, ‘Fox on the run’ and ‘Blockbuster’ finished a storming set and the packed house screamed for more.

Encores followed as Tony with his ever thickening American accent set in! ‘Peppermint Twist’ from ‘Sweet FA’ started the encores as Andy watched to see if Tony would cock up the second verse, but not tonight!

Crowd favourite ‘Set Me Free’ followed and then onto the old classic ‘Ballroom Blitz’. It was a fantastic gig, much better than the performance they gave last year in the same fabulous venue. Let’s hope we don’t have to wait another year for a trip to Wolverhampton, now much improved and better than ever!

Set List: Hellraiser; Burn on the flame; The Six Teens; Cockroach; Everything; Lost Angels; Wig Wam Bam / Little Willy; Teenage Rampage; Live for today; Love is like Oxygen; Action; Fox on the Run; Blockbuster; [Encores] Peppermint Twist; Set Me Free; Ballroom Blitz.

Reviewed by Duncan Springall, pictures by Alan Howard.
 

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