Mmmmm think I saw and heard a totally different band tonight, than I did friday last week.
It was more than great,
Andy did the leads in AC/DC tonight, and the medly they use to have on the set list Tony Mills did only the leads, no guitar,he
seem to enjoy him self alot, and the rest of the band to, and ANDY was nearly all the time one big smile.
For me, it
was really swinging tonite, Tony didnt need the back up from Andy and Steve as he did friday and as Preben said they did saturday.
The
hole place was just rocking and rolling to the music first from Slade and next from Sweet.
Sooo looking forward to
satuday now.......
Hope to hear what other as Cybersweet think of the gig
As I have said before, being offered a position with The Sweet playing bass guitar
and singing lead vocals, filled me with apprehension. Not just because of having grown up with the fanaticism of the band,
but because of the lack of time to learn a complete show and having to carry out a dual role.
I did advise Andy Scott that I was more than probably not the man for the job.
I was pretty confident that I could have carried out either role quite confidently, but not both; he was more confident than
I was.
As the dates loomed closer, Tony O Hora was a godsend in that he gave me his personal
time to assist with how the bass lines ran in conjunction with the vocals and I was very grateful for that. With regard to
rehearsal time with the actual band, I had booked two sessions that totalled to 11 hours. Actual rehearsal time with everyone
playing as a band ended up at 6 hours. Not much when there were 18 tracks to familiarise yourself with before embarking on
a tour in front of thousands of passionate fans that live and breathe the band.
The opening show started well in Copenhagen, but the pressure of lack of rehearsal
took its toll and I was less than competent with regard to the songs.
This sparked a change of plan from Andy Scott and a clever one at that. The bass
playing for half of the show went to Steve Grant, the keys man, freeing me up to concentrate on the vocals as a front man,
which Andy was pleased with; it added another dynamic to the show, he agreed.
I expected the responsibility of the bass to drift back in, night by night, but
it didn't and it seemed that it was then the intention to complete the Danish leg of the tour with the show staying in it's
temporary state until we finished in Denmark.
The Sweet are a very professional outfit, not least by the way their crew handle
them; I have rarely worked with two crew (Damien and Adam) who have made sure your every need was fulfilled, before, during
and after the show took place. After working as a musician for 25 years, I would say that these guys would be the envy of
every pro band.
I was in many respects, expecting to play some of the heavier material that The
Sweet are capable of, rather than the pop music 70's medleys that I was never really interested in. Indeed, my voice
struggled with some of the keys of these songs, as they were far too low for my natural register. By the same token, it was odd to have to sing the 3rd harmony above the lead vocal to accommodate
the other vocalists as the actual lead vocal during some songs.
While I was playing the shows, I had a distinct feeling that I would welcome more
private rehearsal time with the band, to really knuckle down and iron out problems that wouldn't go away. I remember saying
to Andy Scott that before SHY ever went out on tour, we would always rehearse for 3 months solidly. I didn't get much of a
response. Whether or not he appreciated this, I will never know. I think we are very different animals.
I know in retrospect, that it is better that we dont continue to work together.
We have very different understandings of what is needed and how it can be achieved. I thought many times , that the musicians
in this band were so professional. But it only occurred to me later, that they had been playing the same show together for
many years and I hadn't really been given much of a chance to get to grips with anything. Andy's words 'kill or cure' came
home to me in the end and it began to feel like a non - starter before I'd really even got a chance to get into it.
The drummer - Bruce Bisland, ( who was a great drummer, I have to say ! ) became
an ally to me and was one of the few human beings that I encountered, a man who understanded what hurdles needed to be jumped
and demonstrated compassion throughout the experience. I will miss working with him.
Anyway. That's that. I sat and scratched my head in Randers, Jutland, after signing a
pile of SHY albums and thought, Mmmmmmm........ this has been an experience, but not life changing. It's time to go home
and consider how we can get SHY out to Europe and play to the people who want to see us. After all, they haven't really had
the chance for the last few years.
When I got home, I was contacted by a management / record company from Berlin,
who have every intention of furthering SHY's career across Europe and the Eastern Block. And do you know ? I'm bloody glad
to hear it. Coupled with a three page article in Classic Rock with a song on a CD that comes with the magazine this week,
SHY will go from strength to strength; we are a tight unit and an exciting and current band to consider.
I may not have been the ultimate 'Hellraiser', but there is still time to 'Break
Down The Walls'.
Tony Mills.
