The Return of Swag 667
Oh my it was soooo cold last Saturday Night as I cruised the streets of Downtown Bako!!! Earlier in the week I had been torn as to just what show I was gonna try and catch on this freezing night.
There were punk rockers at the Silver Fox. The In Denial and The 28's...at the Silver Fox, how could I miss this show. O.G punk rockers, do I even need to drop their names? Dobbler, Shock, Pigeons...should I go on? From one classic band two have sprung and they were playing together? Or Stitch, American Standard and the return of Swag 667 at the back stage. Well the choice was hard but I opted for the Swag show. Here's my reasoning...
Yes, the 28's and the In-Denial are a phat line up. However I found out the In-Denials would be playing with the Filthies at their CD release show this coming Friday at B Ryders on White Lane ( Friday Night January 19th). So I can see Swag one week then the In-Denial with the Filthies, also a great show the next In the mean time I'll just keep my fingers crossed The 28's will play somewhere along with the In-Denials soon. Dude who said punk was dead, the O.G's are bringing it back!!
Okay now on with my story.....it was a cold dark night.....
20th and M where the hell is this place...oh the old Bam Bams my god I hadnt been in this building in years. Seems like it was just yesturday i saw one of the greatest shows in the history of the scene there...Mentu Buru/Lets Go Bowling. I remember walking out of that show with my shirt soaked in sweat breathing heavily grinning from ear to ear. That exhausted sense of euphoria rushing all through my veins you know the feeling if a live band has ever made you feel alive.
So there I was back in this old building where I first heard the sounds of the Bako scene so many years before. I was back on this freezing ass night though for the return of Swag 667.
Billy Von and his crew had been on hiatus for the past year or so. It's easily been two years since I'd seen them at the Dome. They had the heaviest sound in the world and just brought it like it was no one's business back in the day. But then like all other great Bako bands they went away. New members old members through it all I always knew Billy Von would be back with this band he loves. He's a rock star and there's only one place big enough for this dude and it's on the stage. And let me tell he Billy Von and the rest of his band are back and they kicked some serious tail at the Backstage the other night.
Their set moved right along flowing smoothly song after song. The creative samples spinning in between songs really helped keep the show moving. Made you feel like you had to pay close attention or you might miss something. The samples stopped about half way through though and I missed them for the rest of the show. The music itself was so great though. The crowd responded eagerly they requested songs by name and sang along. For a band who had been away for so long they jumped right back in as if they'd never missed a beat and the crowd received them like old friends anxious to catch up.
Going into the night I always would have considered Swag a heavy metal band though, but I'm not sure about that after the show the other night . Or you know, I'm not even gonna mess the whole thing up and start throwing genres out there how bout that? Let's just say Swag brought it with a power and sound I hadn' been expecting from them.
The music was loud and hard it just wasnt soooooo loud and hard to a point where it weighed itself down under its own sound. I think some bands in the mainstream have this problem. They get so caught up in just bringing it as loud and as hard and powerfull as possible they forget about just making music. I't's like the music is on steroids or something. This wasn't the case with Swag 667 though. You can easily hear all the pieces working together as one.
These guys have been working it behind closed doors and it shows.
There were punk rockers at the Silver Fox. The In Denial and The 28's...at the Silver Fox, how could I miss this show. O.G punk rockers, do I even need to drop their names? Dobbler, Shock, Pigeons...should I go on? From one classic band two have sprung and they were playing together? Or Stitch, American Standard and the return of Swag 667 at the back stage. Well the choice was hard but I opted for the Swag show. Here's my reasoning...
Yes, the 28's and the In-Denial are a phat line up. However I found out the In-Denials would be playing with the Filthies at their CD release show this coming Friday at B Ryders on White Lane ( Friday Night January 19th). So I can see Swag one week then the In-Denial with the Filthies, also a great show the next In the mean time I'll just keep my fingers crossed The 28's will play somewhere along with the In-Denials soon. Dude who said punk was dead, the O.G's are bringing it back!!
Okay now on with my story.....it was a cold dark night.....
20th and M where the hell is this place...oh the old Bam Bams my god I hadnt been in this building in years. Seems like it was just yesturday i saw one of the greatest shows in the history of the scene there...Mentu Buru/Lets Go Bowling. I remember walking out of that show with my shirt soaked in sweat breathing heavily grinning from ear to ear. That exhausted sense of euphoria rushing all through my veins you know the feeling if a live band has ever made you feel alive.
So there I was back in this old building where I first heard the sounds of the Bako scene so many years before. I was back on this freezing ass night though for the return of Swag 667.
Billy Von and his crew had been on hiatus for the past year or so. It's easily been two years since I'd seen them at the Dome. They had the heaviest sound in the world and just brought it like it was no one's business back in the day. But then like all other great Bako bands they went away. New members old members through it all I always knew Billy Von would be back with this band he loves. He's a rock star and there's only one place big enough for this dude and it's on the stage. And let me tell he Billy Von and the rest of his band are back and they kicked some serious tail at the Backstage the other night.
Their set moved right along flowing smoothly song after song. The creative samples spinning in between songs really helped keep the show moving. Made you feel like you had to pay close attention or you might miss something. The samples stopped about half way through though and I missed them for the rest of the show. The music itself was so great though. The crowd responded eagerly they requested songs by name and sang along. For a band who had been away for so long they jumped right back in as if they'd never missed a beat and the crowd received them like old friends anxious to catch up.
Going into the night I always would have considered Swag a heavy metal band though, but I'm not sure about that after the show the other night . Or you know, I'm not even gonna mess the whole thing up and start throwing genres out there how bout that? Let's just say Swag brought it with a power and sound I hadn' been expecting from them.
The music was loud and hard it just wasnt soooooo loud and hard to a point where it weighed itself down under its own sound. I think some bands in the mainstream have this problem. They get so caught up in just bringing it as loud and as hard and powerfull as possible they forget about just making music. I't's like the music is on steroids or something. This wasn't the case with Swag 667 though. You can easily hear all the pieces working together as one.
These guys have been working it behind closed doors and it shows.
posted by JR at 1:07 AM
2 Comments:
Sounds like I missed a good show... I ended up at the In-Denials and 28's show at the Silver Fox. :)
Great photos!
Bam Bams! So old school!
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