Monday, May 12, 2008

A delightfully sweet show

By Sarah Poulton

Saturday before the show started at Cedars, I was on the patio and Sean “David Muffin” Tress of The Sweet Delights walked over to me and thanked me for coming out.

He then told me that they were in the process of writing the worst song ever.

“Obie wrote all the music, and he doesn’t play any instruments,” Tress said.

That statement makes the next one even better.

“Obie lost his voice this morning,” Tress said.

Obie “Return of the Jedi Burger King Collector’s Cup” Savage is the band’s vocalist, who flew in from New York for Saturday’s show.

But the show went on, complete with Savage, hamming it up on-stage. Off the Rocker’s Joe Stilson filled in for Savage on vocals, and Savage sang as much as he could.

“Joe did a fantastic job, he carried his parts, my parts, everything,” Savage said. “My voice is kinda back today. I was upset that I couldn’t sing last night, but I think everybody did a good job. I was happy with the results. I love my band.”

If The Sweet Delights’ goal was to put on a hilarious, light-hearted and overall fun show, then they succeeded.

Opening band Guitar Bomb set the mood of the evening. Formerly a solo-act, Guitar Bomb, from Brooklyn, N.Y., added a drummer and electrified the stage with his hot mix of punk and blues.

Right around midnight, dressed in formal attire, a heard of local musicians known as The Sweet Delights took the stage. Throughout the show, many of them appeared to be wondering the stage aimlessly, which works with The Sweet Delights’ satirical songwriting.

Dave “Crazy Fingers” Woodard, formerly of Finding Mike Vagas, joined the band on keys and Justin Arroyo of User Sets Mode+ played guitar. Luke Lenz, who is only 14 years old, played drums.

“SD Soul Sisters” Bridget Gauntner and Aspasia Lyras as “Leisl and Moetta Diggins” serenaded the crowd with their back-up vocals and gorgeous pink dresses. Joining them from time-to-time was Brendan Gauntner of Death Crazed Teenage Superheros.

The lyrics to their songs are anything but serious, but they are enjoyable. On their CD, “Sweet Sweet Delights Baaadassss Songs,” is a song titled, “The Ballad of Willie ‘Flip’ Williams.” Williams was executed in 2005 for killing four men in 1991, and his son, Stoney, was recently convicted of aggravated murder.

“The Williams family, they have inspired us,” Savage said.

One thing The Sweet Delights are serious about is having fun, putting on a great show and making sure everyone in the audience has fun.

“I still think it was a great show, I had a blast,” Savage said. “I’m glad I was here for it.”

If you missed The Sweet Delights’ show Saturday, they said they probably won’t be playing in Youngstown until the end of the year. If you don’t mind taking road trips, they said they’re going to try to branch out and play shows in Cleveland, Akron, Columbus and New York.