This past Monday in a small town in Virginia, the Los Angeles-based band Louden Swain played three shows at The Heist, a new music venue owned by their friend and musician Jason Manns.
Fans waited outside in the rain for the band’s first solo show back since the pandemic. Louden Swain played three sets, with one set specifically set aside for the musicians in the band to play some of their solo music as well as to jam and play some covers for the fans in attendance.
The first set saw Swain play some of their fan-favorite songs including “Poptart Heart”, “Trigger Finger”, and “Taxi Driver”. Billy Moran, the lead guitarist, opened the second set with three original songs: “Coyote”, “Broken Fool”, and “The Good Ol’ Days”. After some covers including “California” by Phantom Planet and “What It Takes” by Aerosmith, Billy invited the rest of the guys on stage, including Jason, to sing covers of “Into the Great Wide Open” by Tom Petty and “Wagon Wheel”. They also played some songs from The Station Breaks, the band Jason Manns, Rob Benedict, and Billy Moran started together.
The third set was also played for fans online via StageIt and the energy was palpable throughout. It felt like a pre-pandemic show, with everyone fully energized, out of their seats, and enjoying everyone’s company. The guys played a new song, “Gimme Some”, for the first time during this set and it was incredibly well received. The band also played “There’s the Rub”, another new song, as well as some of their fan favorites “Eskimo”, “Silverspoon”, and “Wave”.
Being surrounded by friends, and listening to the musicians that brought you all together in the first place after three years of no live shows in music venues, made the entire evening so special. While Louden Swain and Jason Manns play at Supernatural conventions, there is something so different about being in a music venue, and getting to see them really rock out to fans who know every word to every song. It was pure magic.
