The 4 Members of Current Swell

There is something to be said when the impression of a band’s recording and live performances differ to a noticeable extent. What is said? I’m not sure, but maybe by the end of this article I’ll come up with something interesting. The recent performance at Great Scott of the Canadian vagabonds Current Swell and Rhode Island’s own Will Evans was a lesson in this variation and it deserves attention.

Will Evans, who opened for Current Swell is more than meets the eye. By “eye” I of course me his Spotify page. There his music is what I would call “radio friendly, acoustic frat boy pop” which conflicts very much with my tastes of lo-fi and experimental rock, hip hop, funk, reggae, and jazz. I feared packs of drunken sorority girls would endlessly roam the dancefloor and ruin my night. But Will Evans took his (in my opinion) over produced tracks and morphed them into something that was exciting, fresh, and full of passion. Apparently Evan’s last tour with a backing band lost too much money so this night he played alone. You could have fooled me. Will Evans masterfully handled his looping pedals and other effects to fill the room with the sound of a full rock ensemble.

His live rendition of “Easy Come High” was a three part journey of an opener. It began with upbeat riffing on his acoustic guitar, folksy in nature with the occasional harmonic pluck. Then with a bit of looped drumming on the guitar and some beatboxing into the mic the song segued into the country styled vocals, which rose and fell while the chords danced about the neck of the guitar in a mid tempo drive before finally the song climaxed on a bluesy, fast paced, Led Zeppelin III kind of hammer on and pull off shredding. It was mental instrumental madness. As he re-tuned his guitar, Evan’s playfully bantered with the crowd of about a dozen in front of the stage; “We got a fan of F-sharp in here?” he jokingly asked a talkative audience member while prepping for the next song. “Eagle Front” had a fine, funky reggae rhythm (again backed by beatboxing and guitar drumming loops) that reminded me of State Radio. Evans managed to get the crowd to clap and sing along with him and his looped vocal harmonies in a joyous spirit. The song “Windward” was introduced with a more guitar loops, and, out of no where, a dijurido whose blast filled the bar with a Disney’s ® Rescuers Down Under drone. My beanie was off to Will Evans for the diversity. Evans had a casual yet professional stage presence and sincerely seemed to enjoy his time on stage. When he closed it off with a strong cover of Outkast’s “Hey Ya” good times were had all around. Evans name dropped Allston into the lyrics and finished on a sweeping solo of personal flair, class and grace that skied down the mountain of Outkast.

I had written off Current Swell as a “discount Dispatch” after listening to some of their Spotify hits. However, once again I was shown that a energetic live performance compensates for (again, my opinion) passionless production. The crowd around the stage grew to about 30 when Current Swell appeared, backed by some Motown funk walk in music. They opened with “Cursed” and the song’s fast bass drum stomp and sliding guitar intro hinted how the night would be filled with straight up high octane rock. The fans were excited. Chins flung up and down and arms rose and fell. If there’s one thing I know about my fellow white twenty-somethings, when you can get them dancing, you’re doing something right. A nimble guitar solo suddenly broke into a crawling jam before climbing back up with speed to a false ending before finishing with a bang. The next song “I Wanna Bird” slowed things down a bit, moving from rock to country, with an anthem of a chorus that opened the hi-hat cymbal, with the bass guitar plucking deep, fat notes, and the harmonica wailing alongside the vocals. Each of the 4 members of Current Swell sing, and on this song, and many after, they made use of enchanting 4-part harmonies that brought about a sense of charming folklore. Things got funky with fan favorite “Chesterman’s Valley”, the drumming had a disco beat at points that helped get the crowd moving. Definitely a good sign when you can get a group of white people shuffling around enthusiastically with no regard to how they look. The audience sang along with such power that one member of Current Swell complimented with a “You guys are fucking killing it! Better than a James Brown backing band”. The next several songs shifted between slow folk tunes and more fast walking tracks. The slow tunes had a strange mix of Americana and Canadian essences. The rockers tended to break out a slick and quick slide guitar. “Rollin’” especially got the place rowdy, and the band remarked that the night’s audience was giving “Denver a run for its money!” On the emotional side, “Who’s With Us”, a road song about being away from home, reflected the true pain and yearning of touring if their falsetto howls were any measure.

I am a sucker for vintage looking guitars and was pleased to see for “Man of Maps” one of the guitarists break out a sexy orange Gretsch semi hollow guitar to speed along with the psychedelic bass line and capped off with a blazing solo. As the night was rising to an end, Current Swell thanked the audience, and the venue, and Will Evans, for help putting on a memorable night that came at the tail end of a month long tour. It was Current Swell’s second time, and first headlining gig in Boston, and they were truly excited by the reception they got. Many fans in the crowd seemed overtly pleased and happily exchanged remarks with the band. The bass player jokingly told one fan to “fuck off” about some drunk ramble. The band finished with “Desire”, a crawling blues riff heavy song that sounds like a sand worm working its way through the deserts of the West before being cheered on to do two encores. “Flesh and Bone”, a homesick love song written for and performed on one of the guitarists’ wedding day and “Nail ’em Up,” which stomped and smashed and had a harmonica that called out the soul and sound of Louisiana bayous to break down and repair the music in front of the very eyes and ears of the audience.

I thought I was going to be bored this night, but by the end I had been schooled by Current Swell’s performance. Like Will Evans, their recordings may not be to my liking, but now when I listen back to I relate to their concert that was anything but a letdown.