Tricks on the Road Sweet Crisis UK Tour

Sweet Crisis UK Tour

Review By Stewart Filbey

One rainy night in Nuneaton there I was carrying out my usual duties for the known band Romeos Daughter on the 2nd night of their UK tour in 2021, The question was asked “Who are the support band for tonight?” the answer I got was Sweet Crisis…… being completely unfamiliar with their work and debut album Tricks on My Mind I didn’t really give it a second thought and carried on. Then 5 young guys arrived at the Queen’s Hall in Nuneaton, and I introduced myself. I offered to help them with their set-up and offered to sell their merchandise as I do for Romeo’s Daughter anyway, again I was not really paying too much attention to the start of the support set. until…. (the intro of Misty Haze catches my ear) “What is this epic introduction?” and “Who is playing this intro?” and “Who is that singing?” that is the very first time I listened to Sweet Crisis!

The set concluded and I could not believe what I had just heard from these 5 exceptionally talented guys from Cambridge, the fusion of Blues, Rock, Funk and Indie was just all too good! We continued the rest of the Romeos Daughter Tour with Sweet Crisis as the support act and my friendship and relationship grew. We played in Newcastle, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Stoke and Blackpool and the set and the music just kept getting better. Epic track after epic track was played with variations of Blues, Rock and Funk. A modern feel to some truly nostalgic riffs and soulful vocals. The ability to freestyle and improvise solos and breaks on the spot giving each participant to have their time to shine with a drum solo or epic guitar part really gave each member of the band their identity. The short 40 min support slot that Sweet Crisis had I felt was too restricted, so at the end of this support tour with Romeo Daughter I then made the offer “Would you like me to see if I can book you some more shows, with you as the Headline act?” Why not?! They said.

So with that, I began to sell Sweet Crisis to every promoter, venue and festival contact I knew and before we knew it we had a first full UK headline tour booked, multiple dates across the entire UK! It was now time to showcase Tricks on My Mind in its full glory! Misty Haze, Ain’t Got Soul, Living Life on The Edge, This Guitar, Love Me Like Sugar and some truly incredible covers of Fleetwood Mac’s “Oh Well” and Dua Lipa’s “Don’t Start Now” have only been improved by Sweet Crisis. They are vastly superior to the original versions and deserve far more credit than they get. The rest of the one 80-minute set list is made up of the Tricks On My Mind debut album. The title track of the album has so much energy and is so much fun to perform and listen to live that is works just as well as an opening track to the set or the final track as it will leave you wanting more! The other tracks on the album all stand up on their own without the need to be a filler or a loss in the momentum of the live show, every single track completely smashes it out of the park. There is dancing, fist punching, foot stomping and most of all a glorious chorus to get behind and sing your heart out to! with Leo on Vocals and Piers on guitar you can tell this is a duo that has grown and developed all their creativity and heart into what they produce and have brought all their own influences that really shine through.

The debut Tricks on My Mind album is one of the best I have ever heard from a new band with their own original music. Not just in terms of the content and banger after banger of tracks but also the production values and the quality of the product. The artwork is stunning, the LP disc in acrylic deep red is beautiful (now sold out) the production by Piers Mortimer at Headline Studios would rival any of the bestselling albums of the last 50 years and it was mastered at Abbey Road…. Need I say more?

Since the 2021 Tour with Romeos Daughter, I have become a part of Sweet Crisis I have seen something in them and the music which told me they’re not destined to fail they are just too good! So, over the last 3 years and 3 UK tours, I have done my utmost and dedicated myself to getting Tricks on My Mind out there, we have taken the album around the UK 3 times on full UK Headline tours and covered thousands of miles from Cornwall to Glasgow and Llandudno to Dover and many festivals and venues in between (too many to mention them all). We have shared the stage with the likes of Skunk Anansie, the mighty FM, Laurence Jones, and the aforementioned Romeos Daughter. We have sung every song on the album hundreds of times, Piers has played the solos hundreds of times, Joe Taylor has drummed every beat and Matt has played those bass lines until his soft fingers are raw. Now we find ourselves 3 years down the line and as previously mentioned covered 3 UK tours and it is now time to (for now) put Tricks On my Mind to bed. We had a great last show of the year on Saturday 23 March at The Bourne Music Club, Rockin The Blues event in Kent touring this true modern masterpiece and it is with heavy heart we say goodbye.

Tricks on My Mind probably will mean more to me than most as it has a whole story to tell over 10 years since its conception to its release in 2021 during a pandemic. It is the reason I have gained 5 new brothers from Cambridge, it is the reason I have worked as hard as I can in my spare time to promote and sell this piece of fine musical art and it is the reason I do what I do, to live and breathe live music. The album is the very essence of what it is to be a modern blues rock band, it is fun, it is soulful and packed with meaning heart and most importantly talent. I have been incredibly proud to be on this journey with Sweet Crisis and I can only hope this is just the start of it.

The final thing I want to leave with any Sweet Crisis fans who happen to be reading this is a simple fact, we are only retiring Tricks On My Mind for now….. Sweet Crisis is now heading into the studio for the remainder of 2024 with a whole fresh body of music to record brand new riffs, beats, funk, rock and fun to be made with the same passion as the debut album with all the same values and heart and if at all possible, a more epic and passionate sound and the plan is to have something to look forward to in 2025. A 2nd album release as a brand new product! We will hit the road hard in 2025 with festivals and UK Tours galore! We hope to see everyone we have met on this journey and thank every single person who has sung or air guitared along with us and most importantly taken the time and money to purchase this truly unbelievable debut album.

The hope is that the fans do not miss us for too long and they can start to get excited about something new and fresh! If there is any where we have not toured yet in the UK we will do our best to get there in 2025.