Playing their first show outside of the US less than an hour away from my home I was not about to miss seeing the Swami and his Bed of Nails for the very first time, not even when it’s taking place in a venue that’s really not suited to this kind of show.

Tonight, it’s not the only show in the venue either as in the main hall we have Elvis Costello and Steve Nieve reinventing that singer’s back catalogue (a show I’d caught a few nights earlier and found to be very interesting indeed) whilst here in the smaller Lantern side room we have John Reis (like you didn’t know he’s the Swami) ploughing through a set of tunes that whilst not a million miles away from his more fabled days fronting Rocket Front The Crypt are really drawn from a much wider influence gene pool. One listen to the band’s latest ‘All This Awaits You…’ record will prove this, as in the words of the man himself, they are “fanning the embers of rock n roll music.” So, you best stand back, because this five piece really are about to explode, and its only gig number one.

Before all that though, and warming things up nicely for the headliners are local trio The Mudd Club who only found out they had landed the gig a few days ago, not that they let it phase them, playing a set of at times Cramps-y influenced garage rock they utilised their 30 minute slot well, plugging their ‘Give Me A Thrill’ record and winning over some new fans in the process.

By contrast as John Reis comments late into his band’s set tonight, most of the people here to see Bed Of Nails have probably been with him for over three decades now, and the show actually ends with a song by the band I last saw him playing in Bristol with, ‘All Hits’ by The Night Marchers. That was God only knows how long ago. This is certainly no nostalgia set though, and a Sultan’s cover aside (the glorious ‘Just a Fool’) tonight’s set list is all about the frontman’s last two Swami records.

Kicking off with two tracks from 2022’s ‘Ride the Wild Night’ (the title track and ‘Do You Still Wanna Make Out?’) the band sound anything but jaded after their long trip over from the US, in fact if anything a slight timing misunderstanding with the sound guys ahead of the five piece taking to the stage only seems to fire the guys up even more.

It must be difficult for any band to promote a new album when it isn’t officially available in the country they are playing (the vinyl is available at the merch table folks for a very modest £25) but that doesn’t deter the guys as they rip through all the album’s  nine tracks with the keyboards of Joe Guevara really adding that extra dimension to the band’s distinctly rock ‘n’ roll missive. Highlights are aplenty but the furious ‘Ketchup, Mustard And Relish’ is the best Ramones song da bruddahs never wrote, and in ‘How Are You Peeling?’ Reis has possibly written one of his best songs ever…about fruit. Ha!

Outside of the new album there’s a further (I think) three belters from the Swami’s debut record with ‘Vape In The Dark Alone’ seemingly not complete without our leader’s hilarious preamble that fully explains the influence behind the song.

There are another eight shows on this tour (it all rounds off at the Oslo in London on the 28^th of September) for you to not only discover this vape related secret but also pick up a copy of the band’s fantastic ‘All This Awaits You…’ record.

Don’t sleep on this one, because you will be seeing one of the gigs of the year if you do pick up a ticket or three.

Just do it!

Author: Johnny Hayward