The Sweet at the Gramercy Theatre

Vocalist Brian Connolly and drummer Mick Tucker had played together in the mid 1960s in a British soul band called Wainwright's Gentlemen. In 1968 they formed a new band called the Sweetshop. They recruited bassist/vocalist Steve Priest, and called the band's name to the Sweet. Over time, they merged the band's early bubble gum pop with harmony vocals and hard rock, prefiguring what would become glam rock in the 1970s. After many personnel changes, the classic line-up of Connolly, Tucker, Priest and guitarist Andy Scott until 1978 enjoyed a series of international hits including "Little Willy", "The Ballroom Blitz", "Fox on the Run" and "Love Is Like Oxygen." Popularity waned and the band split in 1981. Beginning in 1984, Scott, Connolly and Priest each formed their own version of the Sweet, such that there were as many as three versions of the Sweet co-existing simultaneously. The two surviving members are still active in their respective versions; Scott's is based in the UK and Priest's in the US.

The Sweet celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2018. Steve Priest's version of the Sweet headlined tonight at the Gramercy Theatre, and Priest, along with Brooklyn-born vocalist Paulie Z, guitarist Mitch Perry, keyboardist Stevie Stewart and drummer Richie Onori reprised the band's hits from the 1970s and extended them with hard rock flourishes. Glam was still present: Priest, now 70 years old, sitting in a chair for the entire performance, wore a cape and two-color eye make-up; Stewart wore a leather top hat and a kilt; Z changed wardrobe twice, ending in a gold lamé suit. The performance felt similarly dated; while the original recordings of "Fox on the Run" and "The Ballroom Blitz" have been revived in recent film soundtracks, the band's performance of these songs and others were now better suited as toe-tappers than as fist-pumpers. Perry's stinging guitar work, leaning a bit on the heavy metal side, was the most gripping aspect of the performance. Otherwise, the concert was meant only for rockers nostalgic for the 1970s.

Visit Steve Priest's Sweet at www.thesweetband.com.

Setlist:

1. Action
2. Hell Raiser
3. Teenage Rampage
4. Love Is Like Oxygen
5. Set Me Free
6. No You Don't
7. Sweet F.A.
8. Done Me Wrong Alright
9. Little Willy / Blockbuster / Wig-Wam Bam / Little Willy
10. Fox on the Run
11. AC/DC
12. The Ballroom Blitz