With all the buzz regarding the reunion of one of the best all-time bands, Swervedriver amongst my nerdier friends ringing loudly in my ears, I’ve been thinking a lot about reunion shows.

I’m getting to the age where they are inevitable and conditions in the music industry are creating an opportunity for bands of a certain stature to make a nugget of cash. Apparently, reunion and “album set” shows such as the Sonic Youth “Daydream Nation” tour and the Built to Spill “Perfect From Now On” shows in which the band performs a classic album in its entirety pay very well. Even for a band like Sonic Youth, which is a consistent draw and can make a living, the “Daydream Nation” shows paid far and above what a normal SY booking would bring to the band. So we’ve seen a ton of reunion shows from bands that loomed huge in my musical upbringing coming around: Camper Van Beethoven, Pixies, My Blood Valentine, etc. So, inevitably and as it is wont to do, my head turns to fantasy.

What bands would I love to see reunited?

What “special set” shows would I love to witness?

I’ll write these up in the near future, but first, I’ll throw out my dream Swervedriver reunion show setlist (which will take place, in my fantasies, at Flex on a Friday night):

For Seeking Heat
99th Dream
Harry and Maggie
Pile-Up
MM Abduction
These Times
Sci-Flyer
Son of Jaguar E
Wrong Treats
Sunset
The Son of Mustang Ford
The Other Jesus
Sandblasted
Duel (with LONG middle section instead of abbreviated version they tend to play)

Duress
Afterglow

Up From The Sea
Rave Down

Analysis of the set. Long ago, I really geeked out on the art of contructing set lists. I played in a band and took pride in my obsessive attention to this small detail as well as tricked myself into believing it mattered at all. That being said, I’ve seen some pretty brilliant uses of set lists to enhance performances.

For example, once I saw the Pixies at Denver’s Gothic Theater. They came on with very subdued lighting, mellowly smoking cigarettes and lingering onstage. The audience was going nuts, and Frank Black was strumming his acoustic guitar. Eventually, the distinctive sound of Joey Santiago’s leads from “Wave of Mutilation” were in the mix, but everything was very low key. They played an extremely laid back version, then went into “Where is My Mind”, but, again, held back. By the end of the first two songs, when they launched into “Allison”, the crowd was absolutely beserk! So manipulation of the set for dramatic effect—especially among fans, is a cool thing. And so, my analysis of my dream Swervedriver set.

I thought long and hard about having Swervedriver build up to something, but instead opted for them to come out with guns fully blazing. “For Seeking Heat” is an absolute scorcher off of “Mezcal Head” that ends with a very subdued, long outro that speaks and smells of the seaside. Just to be sure nobody gets sleepy, the band would launch into another somewhat rocking but more swirling “99 Dreams”, which would hit a lot of fans in just the right place. And just to take it up a notch, “Pile Up”, off of “Raise”, is a relentlessly speedy romp with perhaps one of the coolest drum parts ever commited to record. After these three songs, the tone has been set: we’re here to blast ‘em out.

I mixed in tunes from every album including the legendary lost album, and tried to arrange the set list so that there’s a bit of ebb and flow—mellower and more melodic numbers are strung together in efforts to make the really insane, rocking numbers stand out more. But I think what makes my set list special are the two encores.

The first encore is a doozy. The band comes out and plays its ponderous, long track with subdued, sensual lyrics. It’s probably the tune most people push “skip” on from Mezcal Head. Following that, a B-side that nobody has ever heard, but rocks profusely. Then, they’re gone! WTF? chants the audience. Ah, but this is the genius of my set list, because the lads return and play two of their most treasured tunes to take us out to the canal.