John Reis, best known as the guitarist for Rocket From The Crypt, brought his brand new band Swami and the Bed of Nails to Chicago’s Subterranean. In support was Meat Wave, the Chicago group riding a massive wave of acclaim. It was a night of double delight.
Swami and the Bed of Nails, is making its new band debut with a series of shows. Though John Reis is mostly known for being a member of Rocket From the Crypt, he has also been a part of Drive Like Jehu, Hot Snakes, The Sultans, and Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, just to name a few groups in which he has played an integral role
In SATBON, he is joined by other well-known punk veterans: bassist Tommy Kitsos (Night Marchers and CPC Gangbangs); Lady Dottie and the Diamonds’ Joe Guevara on piano and synthesizer, session player Richard Larson on drums; and Mark Murino (of Radio Wendy and Dirty Sweet) also guitar.
The band entranced the crowd with a set including, “Do You Still Wanna Make Out?,” “Rip From the Bone” “When I Kicked Him in the Face,” “Vape in the Dark Alone.” While all of those songs are off of Reis’ solo album, Ride the Wild Night, the group also performed its first single, “How Are You Peeling?“
Swami and the Bed of Nails’ lively performance inspired hope in me, and I’m sure in many others in the crowd, that we will be enjoying more music from this group of punk vets.
Chicago’s Meat Wave was founded in 2011, its name inspired by a 2003 story in The Onion, Dozens Dead in Chicago-Area Meatwave.
The band kicked off the night with a raucous performance. Sutter’s growling vocals and guitar playing were complemented by Ryan Wizniak’s pummeling work on drums, and Joe Gac’s fierce bass playing.
The band was runner-up to the legendary Naked Raygun in the 2022 Chicago Reader’s Poll Best Punk Band category. That same year it released Malign Hex with the driving single “10k.” The combination of the two introduced the band to even more listeners, no doubt growing its number of fans.
If you have yet to check out Meat Wave, I recommend you do so soon. The band is just another reason why Chicago’s punk scene stands strong.
This show was a lively and fun one and on a night when the city hosted concerts all over the place, SubT was a pretty good place to be. Thanks and Cheers!