Wednesday, Mar. 3rd 2010

Show Review: Swollen Members

By Tom Blodgett

It took an extra bit of effort to see Swollen Members perform at Neumos free last week; but it was well worth the wait. Of the opening bands, I thought Tacoma’s, JAY BARZ were a little too self-deprecating and self-promotional, with lines like “F*ck JAY BARZ”, to gain my interest. The group, Potluck, didn’t perform; but Cool Nutz , from Oregon, did a decent job of warming up a full house with more of an old school flow and some danceable stuff. THEN the wait started, at 11PM on a Thursday night, for Swollen Members. No announcements.

By the time Swollen Members hit the stage at 12:15AM (their scheduled end time) much of the crowd had left and the band offered little explanation other than Canadian border problems. Is this a common delay for bands in Seattle; I’ve heard it several times before, but isn’t that something you would normally account for? I read they performed for the Olympic Village the previous night (being from Vancouver).

My frustration faded quickly as the band fully invigorated the shrinking crowd. Rarely do you see a whole Neumos crowd jump around for a solid hour. My friends were unfamiliar with the songs, but had no problems getting into it. The sound was perfect (the sound guy had a long time to prepare I suppose). The fun energetic vibe that came from the stage did not seem to represent the gangsta tone of their last album. The MC’s moved around the whole time, into/onto the crowd, and even allowed the audience onstage to breakdance or sing along. The lyrics were crisp and the beats loud, original, and moving; better than the actual albums (which I admired for those same reasons). Prevail laid down one of the best and longest freestyles of the whole night with a lot of respect for Seattle.

I left very sweaty (who’s sweat?), very tired, and feeling pretty good. Often I’m disappointed by bands which I started listening to ten years ago and finally get a chance to see them perform; this was not one of those times.