SWEET + T REXTASY @ SHEPHERDS BUSH EMPIRE 5TH APRIL 2025
When Sweet played at the Rebellion Festival in Blackpool, I missed them, and everybody I spoke to who did see them told me how good they were, so I was determined not to pass up another opportunity when it arose. I didn’t need to think twice about seeing them at Shepherds Bush.
First up, though, we have T Rextasy in support. I used to have a real downer about tribute bands. My general opinion was that they were lazy and didn’t have the imagination to compose their own music. However, this opinion was, to say the least, somewhat harsh and at least a tad misguided. Some of the tribute bands that I’ve seen have been excellent. Also, I suppose with a tribute band, you know exactly what you’re going to get. The flip side of the coin is that tribute bands, without exception, have large boots to fill. There is an expectation, and indeed a reputation, that they have to live up to. This is something that T Rextasy achieve with no little aplomb.
As far as the material is concerned, they can’t go wrong, as the setlist is essentially a cavalcade of T-Rex classics. They’re performed very authentically, with vocalist Danielz being almost the double of the boppin’ elf. He sings and plays like him too. It’s really difficult to select highlights, as essentially, every song is a highlight. However, the standouts for me personally were Telegram Sam, Metal Guru, Solid Gold Easy Action, Children Of The Revolution, Jeepster and Get It On. So that’s about half of the set! In all seriousness, though, they’re about as close to seeing T Rex as you’re going to get.
Headliners Sweet (note: no longer The Sweet) are in an interesting position. They feature amongst their line-up the last surviving member of the original band: Andy Scott on guitar. They’re still a current, operational band, having released their latest album, Full Circle, last year. However, they bear very little resemblance to the original band, either sonically or in the way they look. How could they, and why should they? They’re not specifically trying to recreate history here. They’re not a tribute band, but they’re not quite the original band either.
Sweet were always a heavy rock band in pop star’s clothing, as was evidenced by many of their B-sides and album tracks. However, despite all this, the hits are very much present and correct. Hell Raiser crops up second song in. The Six Teens, Teenage Rampage, Love Is Like Oxygen are also duly despatched. Some hits appear in medley form: first off Coco, Funny Funny and Poppa Joe, followed later in the set by Wig-Wam Bam and Little Willy. Naturally Blockbuster and Ballroom Blitz are saved for the encores.
However, there is far more of interest than the hits lurking in the setlist. The third song in is Circus, the single from their most recent album. The material on the album sounds more than anything like 1980s MTV rock. The key thing here though, is it’s good 1980s MTV rock. Don’t Bring Me Water from the same album also features There are a couple of songs from 1977’s Off The Record album, which was virtually ignored at the time. Being released during punk’s year zero probably didn’t help.
Essentially, Sweet have a question to ask themselves: do they want to be a nostalgia act or a viable current band? Quite honestly, I personally could do without the hits medleys. I wouldn’t mind if I never heard some of those six songs again. I would rather have heard a couple more songs from the new album: Burning Like A Falling Star for example. Perhaps some of the more obscure album tracks: White Mice from Give Us A Wink would have been good to hear. Also, Andy Scott must be bored sick with playing The Six Teens and Teenage Rampage by now. Saddling themselves with a tribute band as support doesn’t help either, as it fuels the audience’s expectations: nostalgia a-go-go. Ultimately, they’re a really good Saturday night out, but Sweet could be a lot better than that.
WORDS: MARK KELLY PHOTOS: ROBERT SUTTON
