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Archive for the ‘Swervedriver’ Category

Swervedriver (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, August 27, 2026)

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Slow Fiction, Swervedriver, Underground Arts on August 28, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[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. (more…)

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Slow Fiction (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, August 27, 2026) [SWERVEDRIVER]

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Slow Fiction, Swervedriver, Underground Arts on August 27, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 27, 2026] Slow Fiction

Slow Fiction opened for Vundabar a few months ago but I missed the show.  When I read about them, I was really excited that they were opening for Swervedriver (especially since they mentioned that Swervedriver was an influence).

When I arrived there was a lot of room near the stage but people were standing in that spread out way that prevents one from getting next to the stage.  Which is fine, unless the people you choose to stand behind are very mobile and phone abusers.  I thouht I had a really good spot, but once the band came out, I realized that I couldn’t see as well as I wanted (which is crazy when you are second from the stage).  But whatever.

The band came out and I was in front of Ryan Duffin on bass and one of the guitar players (Joseph Skimmons or Paul Knepple).  The other guitarist was on the far side of the stage.  Singer Julia Vassallo was up front and Akiva Henig was in drums in the back.

I love Underground Arts, but sometimes when a band is mixed a certain way, it’s really easy to miss something.  So for this show I was right in front of one of the guitars which was really loud (it did get turned down later) so I hardly ever heard the other guitar.  And the vocals were kind of muted for the first half.  It was fine when the guitars were quieter, but that didn’t happen all that often.

They opened with Dollhouse–a bouncy bassline, great washes of guitars and Vassallo’s delicate (too delicate in the early mix vocals).  It was like being in the 90s!  When it was over, someone shouted “shoegaze is back, baby!”

It was much easier to hear Vassallo when the guitars were playing a quieter section, but I never really got a good vibe on the lyrics.

I loved the drums (a simple snare pattern that reminded me of old school alt rock) on What the Night Told Me.

By the end of the set, the balances were better and I could hear everything pretty equally (except for that far guitar).  Interestingly, when they played the penultimate song, Heavy Metal, a much quieter song of picked guitar notes, the far guitarist sat down.  I’m not sure what he was doing, he seemed to have muted his guitar strings and may have been playing something.   Or he was just sitting there, chilling out.

I really enjoyed their set a lot and would definitely like to see them again, with headlining, or opening (again) at Union Transfer.

 

  1. Dollhouse ∏
  2. Junior Year ∏
  3. Satellite ∏
  4. What the Night Told Me ∏
  5. bottle episode ∏
  6. ninetynine ∏
  7. Suitcase Ψ
  8. Brother §
  9. Heavy Metal ∏
  10. Turning Down Flowers ∏

Ψ new (2026)
∏ Dollhouse (2026)
§ single (2024)

 

 

 

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Supergrass (Webster Hall, New York City, NY, May 17, 2022)

Posted in Heaven, New York City, Supergrass, Swervedriver, Webster Hall on May 18, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 17, 2022] Supergrass

There are few bands that I will travel to New York City to see anymore.  Supergrass was one of them.  

In It for the Money is in my Top 5 greatest albums of all time and I could listen to it again and again.  I Should Coco is up there pretty high as well.  And while I didn’t love their later stuff quite as much, there are still some great songs on those records. 

Supergrass last played Philadelphia is 2003 (and weren’t going to play there this time) and last played NYC in 2008.  They broke up in 2010 and reunited in 2019.  So this was my chance to see them.

The crowd was also pretty excited.  One guy near me in particular was out of his mind and talked about seeing them in L.A as well (did he really travel across the country for them?).

The lights went down, “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” played out of the speakers and the guys came out.  Supergrass were always presented as a trio even though singer Gaz Coombes’ brother Rob Coombes was unofficially a member for a pretty long time.  It was nice to see him getting proper recognition on this tour.  Even if, really all of the love was for Gaz, the face of the band. (more…)

[ATTENDED: May 17, 2022] Supergrass

There are few bands that I will travel to New York City to see anymore.  Supergrass was one of them.  

In It for the Money is in my Top 5 greatest albums of all time and I could listen to it again and again.  I Should Coco is up there pretty high as well.  And while I didn’t love their later stuff quite as much, there are still some great songs on those records. 

Supergrass last played Philadelphia is 2003 (and weren’t going to play there this time) and last played NYC in 2008.  They broke up in 2010 and reunited in 2019.  So this was my chance to see them.

The crowd was also pretty excited.  One guy near me in particular was out of his mind and talked about seeing them in L.A as well (did he really travel across the country for them?).

The lights went down, “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” played out of the speakers and the guys came out.  Supergrass were always presented as a trio even though singer Gaz Coombes’ brother Rob Coombes was unofficially a member for a pretty long time.  It was nice to see him getting proper recognition on this tour.  Even if, really all of the love was for Gaz, the face of the band. (more…)

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Heaven (Webster Hall, New York City, NY, May 17, 2022) [SUPERGRASS]

Posted in Heaven, New York City, Supergrass, Swervedriver, Webster Hall on May 17, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 17, 2022] Heaven

There are few bands that I will travel to New York City to see anymore.  Supergrass was one of them.  

I didn’t care who was opening.   I didn’t even care if I saw the opening band.  Except that I knew I would be getting there very early to see the band as well as I could.

I had never been to Webster Hall before and didn’t know where the band would be.  I walked past the merch (which was totally sold out by the time the show was over) and looked around for any signs of where to go.  I was early and people were milling about.  Finally I figured out the stage was upstairs (!)

So who was Heaven?  Well, back in the 80s there was an Australian heavy metal band named Heaven who released a couple of albums including a cover of “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.”  It seemed REALLY unlikley that it was them (especially since they officially broke up in 2012).  But who was this other Heaven? (more…)

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Swervedriver (Milkboy, Philadelphia, PA, October 21, 2019)

Posted in Asbury Park, NJ, Milkboy, Milly, Philadelphia, PA, Swervedriver on October 21, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 21, 2019] Swervedriver

Back in the 1990s, Swervedriver’s “Son of Mustang Ford” was one of my favorite songs.  I consistently put it on mix CDs at the time.  I still love it and it was the thought of hearing Swervedriver play it live that inspired me to check out this show (which I literally just found out about a few days ago).

The show was at Milkboy in Philadelphia.  I had never been to Milkboy before and really didn’t know much about it–except that it was pretty small.  It’s got a capacity of about 200.  The venue is upstairs from a bar, which looked quite nice.

I arrived early because I didn’t have a ticket (the ticket fee was over $8 for a $25 ticket!).  I arrived just after 7:30 and found a parking space right across the street from the venue (and did my worst driver’s side parallel parking job ever).  I actually couldn’t find the place at first and when I did, I wasn’t even sure which was the entrance.  So I wound up going in the wrong entrance and then having to ask where the band was (I could hear them upstairs).

The nice bartender pointed me the way and said they were running late.  It was actually Swervedriver still doing a soundcheck.  And the stairway to the venue was blocked by a chain.  The bartender said it wasn’t near sold out so not to worry about the ticket.

When the soundcheck was done, they opened the doors at a little after 8 and I went upstairs and was the first one in the venue… (!) [So much for an 8PM start time]. (more…)

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Milly (Milkboy, Philadelphia, PA, October 21, 2019) [SWERVEDRIVER]

Posted in Milkboy, Milly, Philadelphia, PA, Swervedriver on October 21, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 21, 2019] Milly

It turns out that there are two bands named Milly that are currently active.

One Milly is the musical project from Seth Milberger and Johnny Grushecky. (The Composure, The I Drive).  The two formed Milly in 2014 in Pittsburgh, PA. After a few years of crafting their songs and cutting their teeth on stage, [they released] their debut album Place In My Mind in 2018.

Milberger describes the band: “Milly is a little more simple and pop-driven with overlays of some oldies meshed with a fresh, modern, familiar sound.”

This is their logo on the left.

The second Milly is from Los Angeles.  This Milly is the lo-fi slowcore project of Brendan Dyer, and they’ve released two singles via Dangerbird Records with a new EP out in November.  (That’s the EP up on the right).

It was this second Milly that opened for Swervedriver, and they were an excellent choice (not the least of which was because the rhythm guitarist was wearing a Swervedriver shirt. (more…)

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Daniel Alarcón–“The Idiot President” (New Yorker, October 6, 2008)

Posted in Acting, All Songs Considered, Daniel Alarcón, New Yorker, Political Humor, Prison, Screaming Trees, Short Story, Swervedriver, Weed on August 16, 2013| Leave a Comment »

TNY 10.6.08 palin cvr.inddSOUNDTRACK: WEED-“Silent Partner” (2013).

weed-deserve-0f8161c881e522aba0f28701cda87e9a558f9727-s1This song started off a recent All Songs Considered podcast and it starts with a bang–a big wall of fuzzy guitars and the vocals mixed way back in the song.  It has a very early 90s vibe–a slow song despite the loud buzzy guitars.

It reminds me of a lot of bands from that 90s era–Swervedriver, Screaming Trees–although it has a few moments (bridges maybe) in which the guitars plays faster, almost a heavy metal riff.  And yet the chorus is expansive (if still distorted)–bringing together a lot of interesting elements.  And I love the way the song ends with nearly 30 seconds of feedback.

I definitely want to hear more from these guys.

[READ: August 9, 2013] “The Idiot President”

This story seems to be referenced in Alarcón’s recent short story “Collectors.”  In “Collectors” we meet Henry, the author of the play “The Idiot President” and we hear how he was jailed for performing the political piece.

In this story, apparently written five years before “Collectors,” we meet an actor who has worked with Henry and who has acted in “The Idiot President” (which was well received by audiences, especially the big reveal at the end).  They were in an acting troupe called Diciembre and for this “tour” three of them–Henry, the narrator and Paralarga–went to small villages to perform the play.

While Henry and Patalarga were in Diciembre for real, the narrator knew he was going to be leaving the country soon.  His brother lived in California and promised him a visa…soon.  So the narrator just assumed that nothing he did had any real consequence.  And while traveling around and acting seemed like a good idea, doing it in the winter with very little in the way of provisions was not the best idea.  He lost weight and was always chilled and sickly.

There are a number of brief episodes in this story (which I assume is actually an excerpt). The first involves Tania.  Tania is Patalarga’s second cousin and Henry’s ex-wife (from many years ago). After their performance in Tania’s city, she sings for them during the after party (with a beautiful voice that the narrator falls in love with).  It is clear that the narrator is bewitched by her–while the other two just seem bemused by everything.  She takes pity on him and walks him back to his bed.  And just when he thinks she is “interested,” she makes it clear that she was just walking him to his bed. (more…)

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