SWERVEDRIVER / DEARLY BELOVED | LIVE REVIEW
Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff, Thurs 14 May
It’s hard to look back on Swervedriver’s long awaited return to Cardiff without considering it a little anticlimactic.
It’s not that this was a bad show: the band clattered satisfactorily enough through a well balanced set, mixing new songs, from 2015’s warmly received comeback, I Wasn’t Born to Lose You, mixed with classics from their late 80s/early 90s heyday, like Son Of Mustang Ford or a passionately delivered Duel. The problem was more with the atmosphere in Clwb’s heavily undersold main room. Maybe it was down to the fact that it was a midweek gig, maybe the fact that it had been raining buckets all day, but, whatever the reason, the sparsely filled room felt decidedly flat and unexcited.
Swervedriver are not acrobatic performers, nor did anyone expect them to be, but there seemed to be a lack of energy to their set – drummer Mikey Jones, in particular, played as though he was afraid of upsetting the neighbours. Perhaps as a consequence, the chemistry between band and audience was lacking throughout, with the between-song banter falling as flat as many of the songs, which often raised little more than muted applause. The cumulative effect was to make the show feel something of a trudge at times, with just a few moments of real quality to remind the audience of what a great band Swervedriver can be, on their day. On the subject of highlights, Rave Down was unquestionably the highpoint of the show; it was dispatched early on in the set, but its powerful verse riff worked to shake some life into the otherwise glum crowd.
By contrast, tour support Dearly Beloved were an unstoppable ball of manic enthusiasm. Despite playing to about 12 people, the young Canadians threw themselves around as though this were the last time they’d ever play together. Their sound, a powerful blend of stoner rock, psychedelia and the raw vigour of hardcore punk, was elevated to a higher plane by the weird wizardry of co-vocalist Niva Chow – who flailed at a theremin, adding to the visual spectacle presented to the few people who’d made it down in time.
words HUGH RUSSELL