Thee Swank Bastards at Red Dwarf's Sunday Surf Brunch, Sunday 2-12-23

 Red Dwarf hosts a Sunday Surf Brunch every weekend and while the musical guests are usually Thee Swank Bastards, at times other local surf combos, such as the Surfers of Mercy may fill in (among others). It's hard for us to carve out time on a weekend as we are usually jam-packed with chores and errands and sometimes our own gigs, but yesterday we made the effort (and ignored some household chores) to get out to see our fave incarnation of the Bastards with the lovely Heximers as the rhythm section behind guitar maestro Jesse Del Quadro. 

Denise has certainly come a long way since she first picked up the bass to play with the now-defunct Melanie and the Midnite Marauders and she is a rhythmic force to be reckoned with these days, especially when backed by hubby Clay. We got to Red Dwarf probably during their second set and while the Super Bowl Day crowd was a bit skimpy (thankfully, there are no TV sets in the bar! So civilized!), the Swanks put on a terrific show of their huge repertoire of classic surf mixed with their versions of the likes of Black Sabbath and Dead Kennedys! Jesse loves his wireless and too advantage of it to interact with everyone seated around the bar (that is centered in the space) and even in the outside patio!

Among the audience were several members of the Bastard auxiliary so folks like Mark Bartschi occasionally took over the drum kit, Jeff Murphy played both guitar and bass - he plays bass regularly with them but also knew the guitar parts for several numbers (he is a superior guitarist in his own right, as well) and Jesse moved to bass for a tune or two! I even got to solo a bit (quite poorly, I might add) when Jesse handed me the guitar for one number.

The Swanks are always a good time and we don't get a chance to see them often enough - usually just if we play a show together - so it was fun to get out and about and have some good pizza, as well! Thanks to the Red Dwarf for hosting and for Jesse for being up'n'about even after playing a late night set at the Red Dwarf just hours before!