Fiery Revival Swamp Witch returns for another go-round BY JOE S. HARRINGTON
	SWAMP WITCH REVIVAL with Loverless + Rock City Crimewave + A Moment of Glory: The Story of Swamp Witch Revival | at Geno’s, in Portland | Friday, Sept 23

Those who were around Portland in the early days of the new millennium (okay, four or five years ago) have memories of the original Swamp Witch Revival spreading their unique brand of wine-chugging reverie as if they were a good, old-fashioned medicine show. They used all the tricks of the trade, from bombastic stage settings to gyrating females, to make you consume their magic elixir. Their life was short, roughly the stretch between Y2K and 9/11, when both nightlife and the economy to support it were a little easier to come by. The Skinny was roaring, and clubs were still smoke-filled dens of iniquity — a decidedly raunch n’ roll environment with a touch of incestuous redneck pride.

Swamp Witch Revival were never less than righteous, and that’s why their unholy stomp resounded throughout Portland like a bunch of guttercats shooting guns off in the backyard.

Dwellers of downtown Portland in that era remember their ornate flyers — psychedelic, but with a touch o’ good old evil — and they remember the shows, which took on the aura of a religious experience, with singer Reuben Little exhorting the crowd to "get naked," and a flank o’ bearded men with axes arched mightily toward some metallic apocalypse. And don’t forget the presence of the female sirens who augmented the line-up with titty-bar abandon and single-mom determination. The sound, while incredibly influential on the future of Portland’s heavy-rock scene — from direct spin-offs like Eldemur Krimm and Super Soul Challenger to Swamp Witch-influenced behemoths like Ogre — was unique in that, despite the obvious metal, satanic, and even gospel connotations, good old rock and roll was the gorilla glue that kept the monkey in motion.

This was also the era of the Hellacopters, AntiSeen, Nashville Pussy, and other high-octane fuse-busters, but at the same time the golden age of such stoner kings as Nebula and Kyuss. Swamp Witch enveloped all of these things, and, although it seems almost unbelievable now, they did it right here in Portland.

Shit happens. A year-and-a-half goes by — members quit, get fired, bad blood boils, but blood is thicker than even whiskey, and the essential psychic knot that is Swamp Witch Revival remains intact. Although the group broke up, all the members remained local fixtures, in and out of the music scene. And as the scene declined in their absence, memories of a wilder time prevailed. The members of Swamp Witch realized that perhaps it’s time to conjure that black magic vibe once more. With a new Geno’s now located in a strangely familiar setting, and with no members having yet boozed or impregnated themselves into total obscurity, a reunion seemed inevitable.

And so it has come to be that, just as the autumn equinox takes effect, the original crew will once again mount the stage, only this time, as if to emphasize the familial thread running through all incarnations of SWR, past and present, every member who ever passed through the group will be present: vocalist Reuben Little; guitarists Tony D’ Agostino, Angus McFarland and Fred Dodge; bassist Jason Jolley; drummer Greg Arnold; and vocalists Gina Branch, Sarah Coggeshal, Jessica Borelli and Melynda Amann. What’s unique is that although, in the tradition of the kind of white-trash family they are, all of these members have interacted on a deeply personal level many times, some of them have never stepped onstage together before. For this reason (and many others), it promises to be a hoedown of estimable proportions, like a strange marriage of Spinal Tap and The Beverly Hillbillies.

As far as the musical end of the spectrum goes, has it been hard rekindling the chemistry? Not according to lead throat Reuben Little: "The chemistry is no problem. There’s so much fucking tension, just like the old days."

Interjects Jess Borelli: "Just like any other white-trash family."

Adds Sarah: "It’s like all white-trash families."

Jess concludes: "It’s a white-trash family reunion."

Part of the Swamp Witch charm, besides the family vibe, was always the duel guitar assault that made them so much more than an arpeggio-laden wankfest. As Angus says after a recent rehearsal in preparation for the show: "I’d forgotten how well Tony and I played together, it’s just been so many fucking years since we’ve done it, and I can sit down with him and get these guitars plugged in again, and it’s fantastic."

So will there be any props? An exploding hypno-wheel Jesus by any chance? According to Reuben: "This show is going to be a spectacle to end all spectacles. We have big plans."

So what’s the legacy of Swamp Witch Revival? As Jason Jolley says: "The bands play better and the girls dress sluttier. And that’s because of us."

I just wonder if the stage can hold it.

Joe S. Harrington can be reached at jharrington5@maine.rr.com. Harrington is the publisher of Kapital Ink.