I wasn’t expecting too much at the Swami & The Bed Of Nails show last night at the Casbah. Haven’t not heard too much of them, I didn’t even know they had an album out! This despite seeing and hanging out with John Reis lately at various shows and some parties. And what I did hear had been bad sounding live clips online that certainly didn’t capture the onslaught I was about to witness this night. To tell you the truth, John Reis is (and has been) in so many bands (Drive Like Jehu, Rocket From The Crypt, The Sultans, Night Marchers, Hot Snakes, and others), it’s really hard to keep up. But my wife and I were in the mood for some more live music, so what do we have to lose by heading down to the Casbah?
They came onstage saying that they could’ve picked any day to play, but chose a Monday night because it “weeds out all the posers who stay at home” so the real people can rock out and kick some ass. And kick ass they did. I was completely floored. Knocked out. Blown away. WOW! This was full on kick ass rock action along the lines of vintage Rocket From The Crypt, but with keyboards instead of horns. And well done keyboards, which didn’t overwhelm the other instruments. This was a full on high energy blast of riff rockin’ guitar driven catchy songs. With at least one cover (“Too Many Balls” from Rocket From The Crypt).
Swami & The Bed Of Nails are in the middle of a tour. They taking a week break before going back on the road to the East coast. They have a couple singles, the aforementioned album (Ride The Wild Night), and a new album coming out either in June or August, depending on whom you talk to. All I got to say is “bring it on” and let’s hope this project continues for a very, very long time.
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