Andy Scott’s Sweet tore the roof off Shepherd’s Bush Empire last weekend. It felt like a full-blown arena show packed into a theatre, and honestly, worth every second of the wait. I’ve had them on my must-see list for years, and now I get it.
At 75, and after a tough run with his health, Scott still showed up and delivered. He’s not leaping around the stage anymore, but watching him stand there and let rip with those classic Sweet riffs was something else. The man is the last original member still with us, and you can feel the weight of that every time he hits a chord.
The current lineup sounded huge. Guitars filled every corner of the room, lights blazed, and the volume hit you square in the chest. They jumped between the poppy, glittery stuff from their early days and the harder glam bangers that inspired everyone from Kiss to Mötley Crüe.
“Fox on the Run,” “Burn on the Flame,” and “Broadcast” hit like they were made for stadiums. “Wig Wam Bam” was sugary as hell and still totally irresistible. “Windy City,” from the undercelebrated 1976 classic Off the Record, felt like watching the band that gave Cheap Trick their early sound. The riffs in that song were massive. I still have that verse chugging in my head as I write this.
Even the newer tracks landed. Big riffs, big choruses, all attitude. This wasn’t some sad oldies set. They’ve still got fire. The crowd was loving it. You had older fans who saw them back in the day standing next to younger ones yelling every word of “Teenage Rampage.” That kind of mix doesn’t happen unless a band still matters. And on that stage, they really did.
Sweet have always been a bit underrated when people talk about glam rock legends, but this show made their legacy impossible to ignore. It was loud, flashy, completely over the top, and absolutely glorious. In a venue the size of Shepherd’s Bush Empire, it felt like getting hit square in the chest by a wall of Marshall amps.
