January 17, 2009, Swampluck, Lach, Otis

Some quick notes from Saturday night....Sidewalk was jam packed for the debut of Swampluck the group featuring Jordan Levinson, Isaac Gillespie, Ariel Bitran, and Alex P. Swampluck has a kind of loose, rootsy sound and they played a very enjoyable set. It was so crowded last night that I was perched on a corner of the divan behind the sound booth and couldn't really see everything, but it seemed as if Jordan, Isaac, and Ariel were concentrating on guitar, switching off on bass depending on the song, and Alex P. focused mostly on piano--although Alex did at one point pull out a steel guitar. Isaac's brother Chris also joined the group for a song on banjo, as a ceremonial send off before leaving for China. Swampluck was followed by Lach who also played an enjoyable set, featuring a lot of his newer songs. He did work in some of his older tunes, including Former President Bush, which I've heard on numerous occasions, but I don't think it's ever had the same cathartic effect as it did last night, at least for me. I heard a bit of the group "Otis" which followed Lach. From what I remember they featured two guitarists, bass, a drummer and a percussionist. They seemed to be playing some pretty groovy funk/rock type stuff. Last night's was the last of a series of shows they played at Sidewalk.