THE SWEET play The Canyon Aug. 12 and The Coach House Aug. 18; press photo
The Sweet shall soon be coming to sweeten Orange County’s music scene. The iconic Glam rock group invites music lovers old and new to come and listen to them when they play live at The Canyon Aug. 12 and The Coach House Aug. 18.
While it might be viewed as a fun excursion for concert goers, Steve Priest, the founder for the group, not to mention its lead vocalist and bass player, also views the event as a standard business venture.
“We’ve played there before so we’re going to play there again,” Priest states in a serious tone.
Founded in 1968, The Sweet has established itself as one of the leading innovators of Glam rock. Musically, Priest says its best described as “hard rock with a pop feel.”
But what truly makes this style of music well-known is its trademark visual style of outrageous garbs, hairstyles and platform shoes its performers don. The Sweet became one of the first groups to utilize this flamboyant style when performing live and for music videos. Their unique fashion and musical style helped influence further artists and made glam rock a staple for much of 1970’s.
Today, the music style of The Sweet remains intact but the classic flamboyant look has been replaced with a more contemporary style: something Priest admits he’s glad of as he no longer has to tolerate wearing platform shoes.
“They were a pain in the butt and it was very easy to fall over on stage,” Priest recalls. “They were like wearing diver’s boots.”
Besides its look, The Sweet’s lineup has also changed. Priest’s group is the fourth and latest incarnation which was formed in 2008. Besides Priest himself, the group includes Richie Onori (keyboards), Joe Retta (drums), Stevie Stewart (keyboards) and Mitch Perry (guitars).
Priest is proud of his current lineup and happily proclaims that they live up to the legacy of the group’s initial and most famous lineup of himself, Andy Scott, Mike Tucker and Brian Connolly.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve been with the first band,” Priest says. “But this band performs as well as I could possibly expect.”’
Priest adds that the most ideal place to hear their music is still at places that adhere to the old phrase of “the bigger, the better.”
“We enjoy playing places like the Canyon Club, but we also like doing festivals in the summer.”
Crowds still love hearing the Glam rock of Priest and his bandmates. This is not just due to nostalgia but also due to the genre finding newfound popularity within the 21st century. Classic music from the genre is being reintroduced in all sorts of different mediums which Priest hopes continues.
“Resurgence in popularity is always a big plus so, what can I say, I love the idea.”
The Sweet itself has been privy to this resurgence when their most famous song “Ballroom Blitz” was featured in the trailer of the 2016 film “Suicide Squad”. Another of their iconic songs, “Fox on the Run”, has also helped revitalize the group. This is due in large part to its attachment to the recent box-office smash hit “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2”.
“The producer of Guardians of the Galaxy [Kevin Feige] is a big fan of ours and he liked the song,” Priest reveals. “He didn’t use it in the movie but he used it in the soundtrack.”
Though not featured in the actual movie, the song’s use in an official trailer for the film, not to mention its official soundtrack album, caused it to spike in popularity. “Fox on the Run” rocketed up to #1 on the iTunes Top 40 U.S. Rock Songs chart and became one of the most downloaded songs last December.
The group has another upcoming accomplishment with next year marking their 50th anniversary. Besides celebrating with live performances, Priest reveals that he intends to make such a memorable occasion more memorable by creating a new studio album: the first since the group’s previous 1982 studio album, Identity Crisis.
“We’re going to try and write a new album, CD, or whatever you want to call it and see how that goes,” Priest states firmly.