REVIEW OF ASSWEET at the WORCESTER PARK CLUB 24th March 2000
Johnny Mogs (the little devil)
I must admit that when Woody first suggested going down for he Worcester Park gig I wasn't too sure about it. I knew a Friday would make the travelling a pain as I don't drive and there was no way the Old Trout could take me with the kids at school and all. For weeks Woody was sending e-mails containing links to all manner of sites of potential transport providers. As usual I left it until the last minute to arrange anything and as I went to click the button on the National Express site to order my ticket, I noticed the "Allow 4 days for 1st class post" note. So in the end the Trout had to pop up to Dudley and buy the ticket.
Time was going to be a bit tight though'. Leaving home at 07.50 in a taxi to get to Dudley to catch the 08.35 bus. A change at Victoria with a delay of over an hour meant I wouldn't be getting into Colchester until 15.40. In the event, with delays in traffic, it was 16.15.
At Colchester came another mode of transport change, as I leapt onto the back of Woody's Bonneville. Getting to his house just as the little Woods arrive back from the netball competition. Fourth transport mode change as we leap into the car to take Rachel to her piano lesson. Then on to the babysitters who are looking after the kids. A requirement because Woody's trout is off to Centre Parks for the weekend.
Time is getting a bit tight as we park on the M25. The gig was due to start at 08.45 and we still seemed to be miles away, and perhaps more to the point, having no idea where the place s. But with a bit of the usual 'if you're not sure where you're going, make it up as you go along', we get there before 20.00. Quite impressive really.
In the end, it was nearly 22.00 before the chaps started. They were brill as usual - especially once they'd got the Co-Co/Poppa Joe/Funny Funny bit out of the way. I've never been keen on that early stuff. For me Sweet really started at Blockbuster! I noticed that the set was made up almost entirely of singles, apart from Burn On The Flame (which was a flip) and AC/DC (though' Woody thinks this may have been a single somewhere?).
Every now and again I found myself closing my eyes, letting the sounds wash over me, and thinking of the Hammersmith gig in 1978. Unbelievably the only time I saw the fab four. What a show that was! And I couldn't help thinking how sad and inexplicable it is that, in the UK at least, they have slipped from favour. Woody tells me that AS Sweet play to crowds of 20,000 or so in Germany, and yet over here they're performing in small pubs to a couple of hundred. But it was a good show. Loads of the old classics. Each one jam packed full of memories (well, only for those who are as old as me).
Tomorrow I have my bus journey back to Dudley to occupy most of my day. Though' some, like Owen, have further to go - in Owen's case, Edinburgh. So I suppose while there are the likes of us around, Sweet will not be forgotten and the efforts of Andy to bring live Sweet music to British stages, will not go unappreciated.
Johnny Mogs - somewhere in Essex.