123 replies to this topic

[Pavement Ist Rad]

And the encore of "Never Lose The Feeling" and "Kill the Superheroes" was just about perfect.

So Dan and I had to leave before the encore to make the 12:40 Metra train back to the suburbs.

And to that I have to say, "FUCK US." Seriously. What the fuck.

But hey, I got Adam Franklin's setlist:



That's a shitload of Raise. Six songs from that album? Surprising. Fantastic, of course. Bobzilla, unless it was during the encore, they didn't play "Feel So Real." Maybe you're thinking of one of the other Raise songs? Anyways.

Bill is right, no "Harry & Maggie" is sort of heartbreaking. Still. Still. "99th Dream"? That was pretty fucking great, wasn't it. The first three tracks from Mezcal Head? Uh, yeah. "Duel" was definitely the one song where a bunch of the people there completely lost it. I sure did. Dan and I were front and center, by the way. I was watching Adam's foot pedal work the whole time. This middle aged drunk lady kept groping me, it was awesome. I tried to lead people into getting excited about the "Blowin' Cool" intro and "Last Train To Satansville," but man, "Duel" was the real crowd pleaser that night. Makes sense, of course. What an amazing fucking song that is. Sounded fantastic. There was this chick a couple people down to the left from me and she had hair down to her ass and was just freaking the fuck out, it was great. "Rave Down" and "Son of Mustang Ford," how about those for some jamz, oh my god. Great show. Old guys playing ballsy guitar rock that puts to shame all of the other meek and feeble guitar rock bands in existence? Fuck yeah.

Seriously, though, "Kill The Superheroes" and "Never Lose That Feeling." What the fuck. Whatever. Fuck everything.

Again, fantastic show. They brought it. It all seemed very real and genuine, I don't know. I felt it. Good job, dudes.

And the openers! They mostly just looked awkward and sounded like Swervedriver. I totally called Terra Diablo's "Tomorrow Never Knows" cover from the drumbeat/one note bass riff. The Life & Times was actually really cool, except the drums sounded way louder than everything else in comparison to the wonderfully mixed headliners.

Sickpup, were you standing about four yards back from the left (your left) side of the stage? I'm pretty sure I spotted you. We saw Bobzilla a few rows back, too.

Again, great show. As Sickpup said, "The songs are just too good." OTM.

[The Good Dr Bill]

I guess we had different openers than you guys. Ne and my roommate didn't show up until halfway through the second openers (heresy maybe, but I wanted to actually be able to enjoy the main act for once), some dudes named Dirty on Purpose, but they actually seemed pretty awesome. Vaguely Swerve-y but not redundantly so. Not doing the "Never Learn" section of NLTF was worse than them not doing H+M, I think. Doing just the main song just felt like a tease, since it feels so incomplete to me now without the full 11 and a half minutes. Best comment of the night--one of the dudes (Jez maybe) goin' "Is that shoegaze enough fer ya??" after the end of the main set.

[Simakos]

...some dudes named Dirty on Purpose...

they have some great singles... check 'em out.

[Sickpup]

Now, that I'm finally back home and can form coherent sentences, a few thoughts: 1. this show was absolutely top-notch. well exceeded my expectations. 2. am i completely crazy or was "99th Dream" the highlight? apparently paves might be in agreement, so maybe i'm not out of my head. the guitar work on that one was just phenomenally blistering. 3. bizarrely, the worst song of the night was "never lose that feeling." i think the guitars were too high in the mix or something because it all sounded a bit muddy. it's the rhythm that drives that song. more drums, please. 4. i never saw them back in the day, but i think this is one of the few bands that might actually be BETTER now than they were during their commercial peak. if you watch some of their old youtube clips, adam often sung terribly off-key during live performances. not so last night. i think working on more folk-based material over the past several years has helped him better understand how to use his voice -- how to be more expressive while still working within its limitations. for example, i was initially horrified when i heard the opening bars to "99th Dream" because my first thought was "oh no, falsetto. this is going to be a disaster." but he never even attempted the high notes. and you know what? i didn't even miss them. 5. yeah, paves, i think i saw you and dan too. i was on the side of the stage with the bassist, near the stack about four rows back. 6. glad to hear everyone liked the encore. those were the only two songs i requested. heh.

[Sickpup]

P.S. - Bobzilla, I think they may have played the opening bars of "Feels so Real" as the intro to "Sunset" because I remember having the same reaction: "whoa, they're playing 'Feels So Real?'" I think that song might actually be my favorite off of Raise...

[Pavement Ist Rad]

Agreed about "Feel So Real." Definitely the most solid hook on that whole record, which makes it an obvious standout for me.

2. am i completely crazy or was "99th Dream" the highlight? apparently paves might be in agreement, so maybe i'm not out of my head. the guitar work on that one was just phenomenally blistering.
4. i never saw them back in the day, but i think this is one of the few bands that might actually be BETTER now than they were during their commercial peak. if you watch some of their old youtube clips, adam often sung terribly off-key during live performances. not so last night. i think working on more folk-based material over the past several years has helped him better understand how to use his voice -- how to be more expressive while still working within its limitations. for example, i was initially horrified when i heard the opening bars to "99th Dream" because my first thought was "oh no, falsetto. this is going to be a disaster." but he never even attempted the high notes. and you know what? i didn't even miss them.
5. yeah, paves, i think i saw you and dan too. i was on the side of the stage with the bassist, near the stack about four rows back.

2. No, you're definitely not out of your head. The highlights for me were "Duel," "Rave Down," and this song. Something just really clicked during "99th Dream." During the awesome guitar intro, I found myself thinking, "Oh, man, this is one of the best parts of any Swervedriver song. I mean, the rest of the song is good, too. But didn't I come see a Swervedriver show to experience the driving rock rhythms of 'Son of Mustang Ford' and 'Last Train To Satansville,' not this sunny Britpop jingle jangle crap??? Can they even pull that sort of thing off here?" Then somehow the rest of the song lived up to the awesomeness of that intro. The lady behind me had her arms reaching for the ceiling due to the song's gorgeous anthemicity washing over the audience. And every time that low E string riff would come back... man, they were on during this one.

4. Accurate statement. There's a clip of them playing "Duel" on 120 Minutes. They all look ridiculous and if any of them has any stage presence, none of those presences belong in the same band. Adam is a bored looking dreadlocked shoegaze guy, the drummer has a ponytail and looks like he's "rocking" a little too hard, the bassist has ridiculous goth makeup and fishnets... well, maybe that's inaccurate, but it's what I remember. Last night, they completely pulled off being awesome old people, and it fit the music better. They looked weathered, scraggly, and hard-edged (all in the coolest way possible), and it was all the more appropriate for the ballsiness of their music.

5. Here is an artistic rendering of the person whom I concluded was you:



Before we left after "Duress," I went up behind this person and sort of loudly said your name and then "SICKPUP!" It was crowded, so maybe these interjections were drowned into the background. But the guy didn't turn around. Had he turned out to actually be Sickpup and introduced himself, I may have handed over the setlist. So I'm glad I gave up and left when I did.

[Sickpup]

It was crowded, so maybe these interjections were drowned into the background. But the guy didn't turn around. Had he turned out to actually be Sickpup and introduced himself, I may have handed over the setlist. So I'm glad I gave up and left when I did.

based on that artistic rendering, i have no idea whether you saw me or not... ha.

Either way, I was deaf at that point. My bad for not wearing my earplugs...

[Sickpup]

one other confession: while i don't find it to be a bad song, i'm rarely in the mood to hear "Duress." I usually skip over it when I'm listening to Mezcal. Just a bit too pensive for my taste. But last night, it was perfect. Totally mesmerizing. Probably my second favorite song of the night. If you had told me in advance of the performance that "99th Dream" and "Duress" would be my favorite songs, I probably would have braced myself for a crushing disappointment. It's strange that I thought the band was so good despite the fact that I seem to have most enjoyed songs that wouldn't even make my top 10 songs of theirs on record. Or maybe it's just a testament to how deep their catalogue is...

[Badger]

Recent Boston show is up here for the time being.
Audience recording and song-by-song rather than zip but anyway.
http://www.bradleysa...om/blogger.html

Will probably come down at the end of the month.

[Chicken Invaders!]

Listening to this band for the first time right now. Mezcal Head. "Last Train To Satansville"

Yep, this is fantastic. I can hardly think of a better song title ever, either.

[Ent]

Listening to this band for the first time right now. Mezcal Head. "Last Train To Satansville"

Yep, this is fantastic. I can hardly think of a better song title ever, either.

Listened to a clip of that song and it sounded pretty good. Gonna check out the whole album soon.

[Simakos]

okay this is fucked up... i'm "discussing/arguing" music with you fuckers and you're only now hearing Swervedriver?! what the fuck.

[vurt]

okay this is fucked up... i'm "discussing/arguing" music with you fuckers and you're only now hearing Swervedriver?!

what the fuck.

I hadn't heard Swervedriver until I came to this forum...

Or Archers of Loaf.

Or The Grifters.

Three reasons why I owe the SOMB a beer.

[Vivian Darkbloom]

I am listening to the awesome compilation set from a couple years back Juggernaut Rides and have decided that much as I love Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's debut, all they're really up to is trying to graft Swervedriver with JAMC.

[Sickpup]

much as I love Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's debut, all they're really up to is trying to graft Swervedriver with JAMC.

true statement. well, it was on the first album anyway.

they expanded to oasis with the second.

not sure what they're trying to do anymore, but it certainly isn't very good whatever it is...

[Bee OK]

i have seen Swervedriver around seven times, most shows were good to great. in fact i loved them so much that i went to see them open up for Soundgarden but left to go to the Roxy in Hollywood to see none other than the Boo Radleys headline. what an amazingly electrifying night the Giant Steps tour was but i regress.

i happened to see Swervedriver one night at the Whiskey a Go Go and it still ranks as one of the most lifeless shows, (Ejector tour), i have ever seen. they seemed finished as a band, so surreal, in fact after the last song the audience barely clapped and it died off real fast. no encore, Alan McGee was also there, saw him outside, and they were dropped from Creation Records soon afterward.

still love this band, but they have one major black eye. missed them when they reformed this last year. still think the first three EP's is the best this band gets, though Mezcal Headis my favorite album of theirs.
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[poopinmybutt]

i might have to pull mezcal head out of my to sell pile after reading this thread i liked them a lot back in the day but have not aged particularly well for me...

[Simakos]

still think the first three EP's is the best this band gets, though...

truth

[Sickpup]

after seeing that show in june, i really hope they make another album.

[Sickpup]

so did anyone else hear about the remastered reissues of Raise and Mezcal Head (with bonus tracks) that were released today?

http://www.swervedri...news/index.html

pretty sweet if you've never managed to score a hard copy of these albums. i've heard the Mezcal Head remaster and, for someone who has the original version, well, it's pretty inessential. ok, i admit it's nice to have "the hitcher" on the same disc, but the album proper is virtually indistinguishable from the original master. what's a band to do when you already had the best mix/master job money could buy courtesy of Alan Moulder?

I'm VERY curious, however, to hear the Raise remaster, because they could have done quite a bit with that one given how many different studios they used and how uneven the recording was (not the songs, the aural quality). if anyone purchases it, please post thoughts.