Friday June 6, 2008 @ the Railway Club

Expectations were running high for this CD release. Swank’s epic new CD/Karaoke DVD release Campfire Psalms has been greeted with banner press all around. Punters filled the Rail early, imbibing at a liberal pace. There was a buzz in the room. A glorious campfire greeted the peeps as they entered the club. A huge…I mean frickin’ MASSIVE videoscreen covered the whole of the stage. These Swank fellas had some aces up their sleeves and were going to make sure the fans saw something special.

Beginning the evening with a twisted acoustic hootenanny campfire set in front of the stage, Swank regaled the audience with tales of deceit, devils, drinking and dames…I mean, all bases were covered. And the crystal-clear sound and down-home, almost gospel-revivalist nature of this opening set had the crowd singin’ along in all the right places. Kudos to the band for revving up the evening slowly, and ensuring that each and every person in the club felt that intimate attachment that would carry through the evening – making this a very special night indeed.

Next up we had a chance to witness the glorious Swank-e-Oke [tm] DVD which you get with your purchase of the 16-song Campfire Psalms (can you say ‘value,’ kids)? The extra-cool aspect to this particular evening’s Swank-e-Oke [tm] as that the band had lined up 10 of this city’s most entertaining and beloved guest vocalists to offer up some of the best tunes from their CD. Kick-ass contributions from the Subhuman’s Brian Goble; the Grange’s Brad Beard; Shiloh Lindsey and Beatric Smartt. This reviewer was even fortunate enough to be allowed to rip through a crowd-pleasing “Shoot At the Devil” (thankyouverymuch)! I tell you – this was an A+ production – Swank members Kirk Douglas and Spencer McKinnon taking roughly 200 hours to complete the vids. Can you say ‘drinking game?’

Not to bow out and grab a beer yet, Swank took the stage for a completely inspired set of full-on gospel-cowpunk-roots-soul-punk-hoedown fun! They even played a few well-deserved (and heartily-demanded) encore selections to end their give-the-gift-that-keeps-giving record release. They just wiped the stage raw. The very packed Railway patrons were as well-oiled via getting their par-tay on and getting Swanked as the band was as a machine of entertainment and pure, unadulterated rock-and-roll joy!

Some loose-n-boozy cowboys closed the night to a fine selection of drunken hippies, air-guitar superstars, Grease-n-Grind revelers, and completely satiated Swank devotees.

EPIC! Posted: Jun 25, 2008