Gig Review: The Swellers

So, I've been following The Swellers since 2010 and have not been able to see them once since until late last month at their last ever UK show in Brighton. It's so bittersweet to even be writing this. After waiting all that time just to see them live and it's at their farewell show! Well better late than never I suppose.

The first of the three support acts was a local band from Brighton called River Jumpers. A four-piece of homegrown pop punk goodness. I really enjoyed their set. The sound wasn't great but you could hear the potential of the tracks nonetheless and I particularly liked their single "All Our Histories". I'll definitely be keeping an ear out for these guys.

Second in line was three-piece US punk band The Gamits. I hadn't heard of them before and to be honest it was hard enough to track down their Facebook page but I'm glad I did because they were interesting. Face paced and engaging tracks. I'd advise checking out their bandcamp for some of their jams because if you like pop punk they should be up your street. Cool band, cool guys.

Finally, supporting was Only Rivals. I actually caught Only Rivals supporting on the Pop Punk's Not Dead Tour a while back and so was looking forward to watching them smash it again. Unfortunately I had to step out during their set and so did not catch the entire thing but I have no doubts that they impressed. If you haven't already, give these guys a listen - hardworking and entertaining band.

To be honest, even as I'm writing this now, I slightly can't believe that I got to see The Swellers live. It was all so surreal, and fast paced. Everything just happened and before I knew it the show was over. They opened up with the first song I ever heard of theirs - "Runaways" and from that moment onwards, I was just elated. Killer tune and of course even better live. When you've imagined a song live so many times in your own head it's nice to actually see what it looks like in real life. There were a couple of songs that they played that I was less familiar with but for the most part, they played a setlist jam packed with favourites. I do wish that the crowd was more into it or maybe just a little bit more expressive. It was their last ever show and I was expecting a party vibe. At one point Nick even said that the crowd seemed full of people in "the industry" that were a bit "too cool" to get hyped up but then I suppose there's only so much that you can ask of less than 100 people. This didn't phase me too much though, I was just standing at the stage, overwhelmed. Some favourites that they played were "Do You Feel Better Yet?", "Got Social", "2009" and "Ups And Downsizing" and the fact that they ended with "Running Out Of Places To Go" and "The Best I Ever Had" just sealed off that chapter perfectly. I am going to miss this band sorely but at least they've left us with lots of classic albums to listen to in their absence. Very special farewell show for me. Swellers... thank you.

Overall Rating - 8/10


Here are some pictures from the night....