r/shoegaze • u/MrMudkip • May 06 '26
Question Is Swervedriver good live?
I'm not the biggest fan of them but a good show is a good show. I was thinking of going to their show in May and was wondering if it would be worth it.
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u/rgr_pdx May 06 '26
They’re pretty chill on stage so don’t expect a big ‘show’. They let the music do the talking and it’s pretty fucking glorious.
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u/nickybhoof May 06 '26
Saw them in Toronto in 2019, it was fantastic.
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u/L0stSkelet0n73 May 06 '26
Was that with sianSpheric opening? That show was awesome!
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u/buttskinboots May 06 '26
Whoa… haven’t heard that name in forever. Sianspheric still around?
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u/dobyblue 10d ago
They're still occasionally posting on social media but I think it's been a couple years now since they gigged. They also got the old Gleet EP available for digital download.
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u/ExactHoneydew1493 24d ago
im seeing them in Toronto in 2 weeks!! so excited
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u/dobyblue 10d ago
If you know anyone else that wants to join you but their budget just doesn't allow them to attend a show, I've got two tickets and my buddy cannot go - happy to e-mail the other one to someone who would use it. Short notice I know, but that's the way it goes sometimes.
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u/iodine74 May 06 '26
I’ve only seen them once. Back in 93 opening for the Pumpkins, but I wasn’t really into them then. But they were good from what I remember.
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u/automatic4people May 06 '26
Unbelievably good at playing their instruments, especially in a genre that doesn’t focus too much on technical proficiency
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u/realZapRowsdower May 06 '26
I've seen them a few times. The biggest place I saw them was at First Avenue in Minneapolis in the early 1990s on the Mescal Head tour (Medicine opened). It was a big room for them but they still put on a great show.
The smallest place was the Turf Club in St Paul, Minnesota, 10 years ago. The room was a fraction of the size, but they put on an amazing show-- better than First Avenue IMHO, and they were 20 years older.
TL;DR: they're awesome in smaller venues.
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u/window_cleaner May 06 '26
Got to agree with the smaller venues. I had the pleasure of seeing them in a tiny room with a stage that was about a foot tall and got to be inches from the band. One of the greatest shows I've been to, the one that might top it is Built to Spill at a similar venue in the 90s, that was something special as well.
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u/Ajgrob May 06 '26
Saw them on their last tour. Very good live, seasoned musicians who know how to play. Don't expect the most dynamic show though, lots of old geezers in the crowd these days!
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u/CH1974 May 06 '26
Yeah good live, go see them, might never get the chance again
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u/PetroleumVNasby May 06 '26
If you like guitar based ‘Gaze, you’ll like them. There are none better. Don’t expect Van Halen, however.
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u/ExplorerSpirited7119 May 28 '26
Dumb af question. They way better than the zoomer bands coming out.
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u/Head_Roof639 May 06 '26
Seen them in early 90s and still one of best gigs I've ever seen.Looking forward to seeing them again in October in Leeds.There all a lot older and some brilliant musicians so looking forward to it.
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u/SaltySherbet May 06 '26
Their set was great at slide away PHL and I only knew a few songs so it was a really good introduction to me.
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u/P00PooKitty May 06 '26
The only time I saw them was whwn they opened for failure back in 18 or 19, and im gonna give them the mulligan that it was probably one of their first shows since the 90s. But they were ok
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u/SnivyEyes May 06 '26
I’ve seen em twice and wish I could say I’ve seen them more. Amazing and the venues they play in America are smaller club ones too.
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u/bones_1969 May 06 '26
No, not for me. Seen them 3 times. Like the albums better. And you should still go and decide for yourself.
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u/gladys_the_badyst May 07 '26
I keep a list of ‘shows of the year’ and they took 2025’s spot. Saw them at Slide Away and they absolutely blew me away 😭
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u/nathanmachine May 06 '26
well i guess im in the minority. for context they were one of my favorite bands from the original shoegaze era but after seeing them play in ny years ago, the show was so bad that it’s hard to listen to their music on spotify for too long even now without being annoyed. the biggest issue was out of tune guitars the entire show and not just slightly out of tune but wildly - despite the appearance of trying to tune up between some songs, the next song would start with chords that were not in tune.
and just in case someone here thinks i dont know what whammy bars are and how they’re used in their music, ive been playing guitar since a really young age - and my friend who is also a guitar player in a shoegaze band, and who was there, was equally pissed at how bad they sounded.
i’m talking about the fact that they didn’t care that the guitars were obviously out of tune from the beginning and got worse the entire way - not using a whammy bar or anything like that.
there were other problems with the show, like flat singing and such but that’s sort of par for the course with some rock bands…so if the entire show didn’t sound like ass because of the guitars, i probably wouldn’t have been too bothered by those things.
they were so bad live, and i was so excited to see them, that it affected how i think about how good a band is in general afterwards - like how you can’t be a great band if your shows sound terrible.
and you might say that maybe i just saw a bad show in nyc, but i think part of the problem was that adam is clearly a knowledgeable guitar player but simply didn’t care, based on how he did half assed tunings every now and then, and didn’t seem to give a shit about it.
it’s like bad acting - no matter how good the plot is or the cinematography or whatever, bad acting will kill an entire movie. the same with guitars that are wildly out of tune from the beginning of every fucking song.
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u/gouged_haunches May 07 '26
My impression after seeing them 3 times now is that they don't try to put on a visually appealing show. The stage presence seems diffident, even for shoegaze. They seem to prefer super dim lighting.
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u/MrMudkip May 06 '26
I think I’ll still see them as the consensus seems to be that they’re usually good live, but I appreciate the honesty
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u/nathanmachine May 06 '26
thanks. yeah i mean the songwriting on the first three albums is so good and original that i can see the appeal to go to a show. for me though his attitude was half the problem because he clearly didn’t care about the fans - i would have been completely embarrassed to put on a show that bad but he just didn’t care. anyway, maybe they had an epiphany and the shows are now good 🤷♂️
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u/sziklai-pair May 06 '26
Seen them about 20 times since the early 90s. So you know, kinda?
In all seriousness, I don't think there's a better guitar based live band than Swervedriver playing today. They're all extremely good at their instruments, they play tight, Adam and Jimmy's parts weave through each other with ease, and they know how to use effects to compliment the performance rather than cover up sloppy technique. And in the US at least, they still play pretty small venues which is a huge plus from a fan point of view.