What is time? Ode to Swervedriver
Today, TIME IS the space between this and the previous Swervedriver show...
This little bloggie contains time-capsule pics of Los Swervies drivin' it home in Virginia in 1998(i think--so long ago)...wait--just found this - http://swervedriver.com/newsarchive.asp so yes, 11/01/98 - Fredericksburg, VA
anyhooooo...if you get bored of reading this, skip on down to the pics...been wantin' ta give Swervedriver these pics for nostalgia's sake for years, but good scans of high-speed bw film are hard, and these have issues, but whatever...could just send prints like it's 1998...
They're comin' back...again...(2012...SEATTLE TONIGHT!!!!!!) to treat us to the happiness i've been enjoying steadily since 1990 when I first heard "Sci-flyer" and nearly died, staggering in the streets, high as a kite on love...LOVE I SAY!!! (any friend of mine will tell you i'm lost to this day in AF's songs)...was un-like anything I'd ever heard...there were some audible influences like with any band, but they were divin' deep and truly made space-gazin' a reality within the punk, pop, guitar-rock realm (ain't no shoe-gazin' lazy zine writers)...diving deep...and many of us were divin' deep...still am
In 1998 I'm sittin' in Reading, Pennsylvania, displaced from Seattle, with my wife, and an 8 month old Francis, tryin' to be an editorial photographer by taking pictures of Reading's lost souls...(go there now and you'll still see who I'm talkin' about--Reading is where NYC's homeless go to rent a flat--no offense to Reading Railroad, i love it to this day...as much as anyone who lived there could)...news comes down the wire...beep beep bd bd bd beep beep beep..."calling all units, Swervedriver spotted, will tour east coast, all units respond"...so it goes, and so we go. Having a sinking feeling this may be one of their last tours of the US, no hesitation--who can afford it?--we're there and there and there
...The wifey-pooh and I hit the road...saw 'em in Philly, NYC, and Virginia...I'm not gonna say i drug her along, because who jogs while listening to Swervedriver in 1995? she did, that's who--but i drug her along...but only after the first show in Philly--can't blame her--8 month old. I have to admit, i could've been considered in neglect considering, but alas, I took him too--but only to Virginia ;-O...yes...I said it...and did it. but not to the show--we found a 90+ year old man to watch The Francis in the suburbs of Virginia--The Francis LOVED Pops...but don't get the wrong idea, he wasn't our grandpa (God rest his soul--thanks Pops!)
...All Swervedriver shows i've seen have been amazing (even the one i had to listen to from outside "Under the rail", in the rain, in Seattle, in 1993, because I was only 20...every time that stage door opened, it was like heaven hearing more clearly that Jazzmaster sinking ships and driving clouds underground - http://guitarsquid.com/Latest/10-great-songs-featuring-a-fender-jazzmaster.html - give it up f/Duel!)...where was i?...All Swervedriver shows being amazing, I hate to compare, but that Virginia show took the cake and rubbed it all over the other shows. Here's why...
1. hardly anyone was there (fools), which practically gave 'em to me...i'm selfish...was a far cry from the vibe at the previously un-matchable NYC show, but i gotta say they took the opportunity to pull off a great performance
2. for some reason they decided it was time to play songs I'd not heard live previously (had seen 'em 4 times at that point--missed 'em while i was in Africa--should i have gone to Africa? hmmmm...can't say i didn't think about it...i know, i was, and am still, head over heels--how could you not be with 'Never Lose That Feeling' in existence)
3. After they played 'The Birds' (one of the top 5 pop-songs of all time), i said out loud "that's one of the top 5 pop-songs of all time", and Steve stares at me affectionately and in the british "language" says, "thank you"...and everyone heard it...we stared at eachother a few more seconds, and I was like "uhhh, well it is" as if he was arguing with me...I'm an idiot
4. I was free to roam and take these photos, which I LOVE
5. rating disclaimer...this is only 5 because like any run-in with someone you ridiculously idolize, you sound and look like an idiot...I didn't disappoint...we met a roadie in Philly, who then saw us in NYC, and then saw us in Virginia, so he invited me and the wifey-pooh (name is Rachel, i just love writing wifey-pooh) into the bus...by the by, there were others i saw at every show, so to you if you read this, i know what you went through when they dis-banded; luckily we've had Adam's music to keep us company through the years (the show at the Comet in Seattle last year was even more intimate than Virginia, and i apologize for my drunk brother who at some point had earphones from the woman recording the show, on his head as he pointed to his ears with thumbs up (oh boy)...then after the show said directly to Adam, (picture drunken and loud) "I couldn't hear anything, but he likes it, so i like it! so when you gonna send me the recording!!!"...i apologized letting him know that this was his first non-arena show, and i'm apologizing now--but i gotta give it to my bro; he really tried and meant well...he made up for it by purchasing a bunch of college kids hot-dogs at 2:30am...what a kind drunkard)
anyhoooooooooooo...we enter the bus, and someone asks Adam if he wants somethin' special. Adam declines. Adam then asks us if we want somethin' special. I decline, but what a nice guy to ask us if we want somethin' special. The La's one album is playin' over the loudspeakers and I can't help it, but I start mimicking the La's singers crazy voice...at this point, i'm certain I'm an idiot, but it gets better, then worse, then better, then worse...Adam says "yah, yah, yah, I can't understand him, but that voice is crazy" (better)...I say "yah, i come up with my own version of what he sings cause they almost sound like something but can't make it out...kinda like in Girl on a Motorbike when you say 'it's like an incessant fox-hunt...', i thought you were saying 'it's like a princess fox-hunt...' " (uhhh worse - did i just say that?)...Adam " 'hmmm. that works too, i just might use that next time' " (better)...silence (worse)..."uhhh, well we should be going"...we go.
fate tends to play little jokes on me over the years, like the motorcyclist we saw crash in front of us while rushing late to a Toshack show straight from the airport--we had to stop and help of course (give me some credit). But it wasn't helping that my friend chose to roll slow in his caddy from the airport in the first place (oh boy...was jumpin' out of my seat, practically ready to walk)...I've managed a few more convos with the man over the years, and each time, i find some way to make an idiot out of myself, or, something like by brother occurs. But! if i play my cards right, he won't know it's me in the band that opens for 'em the next time he happens upon seattle after tonight--i have goals...just sayin'
.....addition...a fellow swerv-e-file let me know they were at that show and recalled me saying that, and the sign outside that said "Students - $1, Non-students - $2". hahahaha. I remember thinking how the big tour bus, and that sign somehow had to find a way to go hand in hand. This also reminded me of one of the best parts of the show...they still did the dramatic entrance to 'a change is gonna come', but there was no room to come from, so they were coming from a wall curtain or something.....this was one of the things that set them apart--was truly about the music, and that's why they deviated from the set they'd been playing at the bigger shows.
I just saw them in Seattle tonight with my good friends Darb, Ed, Terry, Zoran, and Chris, and our faces are currently in a puddle on the floor due to the melting they just provided them--that jazzmaster sung sweetly!!!. This time I told Steve 'Never Lose...' was the 2nd best pop song ever. he asked what #1 was, and of course it's 'The Birds'--he nodded as if he approved...it's moved up the list.
all images copyright Greg Nyssen 1998...and only members of Swervedriver can use them whenever, wherever and however they want without my written permission. BAM! HA! take that world!
www.gregnyssen.com +
www.thebrownarchives.com
