I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: August 27, 2026] Swervedriver

I saw Swervedriver back in 2019 and I was really excited to finally see them.  I was especially excited that they played the one song I wanted to hear (the rest was great, too).

So here it was seven years later (insane) and they were playing their debut in full.  This album was in such heavy rotation when it came out.  I loved their propulsive shoegaze as well as Adam Franklin’s voice.

Swervedriver has had a lot of members over the years, but the two guitarists (Franklin and rhythm guitarist Jimmy Hartridge) have been there the whole time.  Last time I recognized the bassist (their third) and it was still him–Mick Quinn from Supergrass! (he’s been with them since 2016).  Like last time, the drummer (their fourth) was Mikey Jones–he’s been with them since 2011 and man was he good–pounding the hell out of the kit–I never realized how many fills Swervedriver songs have.

The theme from Twin Peaks began and by the time it wrapped up, the guys came out on stage.  I haven’t listened to Raise in a while, but as soon as the opening notes of Sci-Flyer came out, the whole record came flooding back.  And it sounded great.  I loved watching Franklin easily play the recognizable riffs.  Obviously they played the album in order, so Pile Up was next and it was cool watching them generate the album sounds live–the way the guitars almost seem to fade away during the verses.

Son of Mustang Ford is the song I really wanted to hear last time and they played it next.  I was super psyched to hear it again.  Frankly, they could have played it for five more minutes and I would have been happy.

Things slowed down for Deep Seat, and I appreciated the quiet guitar and prominent bass–I should have watched Quinn more but I was so focused on the guitars.

Sometimes it’s easy to forget that that later songs on an album (or in this case Side Two Track One) still rock.  Rave Down is such a killer song with a great chorus and rocking verses.  Last time, they ended with the song, so even they know it still kicks.  Sunset has this nifty little guitar riff at the end of each chorus that I love and it was cool watching him play it right up close.  They played this and Deep Seat last time, but not much else from this record.

They didn’t play Feel So Real, another great song with super fun guitar parts–I’m sure it’s a simple pedal, but I’m not even sure what he does to change the guitar sound like that–even seeing it up close.  They did play Sandblasted last time–interesting deep cut to pick.

After finishing the album, they took a short break and came back to play a bunch of other stuff.

They started with a really deep cut–a B side to the Son of Mustang Ford single.  And then two more deep cuts from the 1991 Sandblasted EP, Out and Flawed.

They moved on to the other albums, with two songs from The Birds from Ejector Seat, The Birds and How Does It Feel to Look Like Candy? with it’s cheeky refrain of Do you know the way to Santa Fe, bop bop bop bop (done to a slightly different melody).

And three from Mezcal Head (which got the biggest reactions).  I saw them play Never Lose That Feeling last time and I was psyched to hear it again.  I didn’t recognize MM Abduction, but I liked the way it jumped back and forth between quiet guitars and then explosive sections–it worked really well live–the way the loud section faded out before Franklin played the quiet part again.

They ended the set with Duel, one of their catchier songs (I’m going down down by the marketplace). It runs over 6 minutes on record with a cool instrumental coda that the band jammed out for a nice long while before ending the set.

I’m really glad I got to see them again.  I could have seen KulfiGirls tonight instead and while I kind of regret it, I’m sure KulfiGirls will be around again soon where as Swervedriver probably won’t

‰ Son of Mustang Ford EP (1990)
⇑ Raise (1991)
Ξ Sandblasted EP (1991)
ϖ Mezcal Head (1993)
€ Ejector Seat Reservation (1995)
‰ 99th Dream (1998)
Ø I Wasn’t Born to Lose You (2015)
⊗ Future Ruins (2019)