The Swimming Pool Qs, 1211 Park Street: 12 September 2026 no comments
The first time I saw The Swimming Pool Qs would have been around 1978 at the 4th of July celebration at USC's Bell Camp. If you were facing the lodge, the band set up to the right of it, at the bottom of the hill leading to the lake, and the audience was on the grass up and down the hill in the playground area. I had only discovered rock music in 1976, and hadn't made it to New Wave yet, so it was very memorable to hear these pulsing sounds & "Your baby is a big fat tractor, riding down the rows in the dust!" echoing out over the crowd & pond. I didn't quite know what to make of it, but it certainly left an impression!
Over the years I picked up all the Qs albums -- Their A&M albums remain the peak of New Wave, and it's just criminal that they didn't break huge. I guess The Captain & Tennille's label might not have known what to do with them...
I have seen the band many times over the years, probably most recently before this in the former Rockafella's space in Five Points, and before *that* at The Tin Roof, but I had never been in The Art Bar before Saturday. It's an interesting space, with a lot of vintage SF movie posters, and some of the Torbor robots like the Christmas robots from Forest Drive. Just as I got out of the car up on Assembly to walk down to the club, the bottom dropped out, and I had to go back for my somewhat water-proof windbreaker, so I spent the show half dry/half wet and gradually getting hot & clammy. Vocalist Anne Richmond Boston got caught in the storm as well, commenting that she thought she could get away with polyester, but not when it got wet!
I have to say that the mix has been better in other venues where I have seen them. Perhaps I was just standing in the wrong place, but it seemed to me that Jeff Calder's vocals were noticably low in the mix, especially compared to Ms Boston's. I was standing in about the second row on the left side of the room, where I could lean on the merchandise counter and lament a bit that standing for two hours is not as easy as it used to be! You can see in some of the videos that the folks in front of me were very enthusiastic dancers, so not everyone was feeling middle-aged! (Though Ms Boston was offering ear-plugs for anyone who needed them!)
The show lasted about two hours and hit a number of the band's high points. I didn't film everything as I wanted to enjoy the show in the moment some, plus I was having some camera issues such as those which led to me missing recording half of my favorite song "Some New Highway", which I have left in anyway, because, as I say, it is my favorite.
Jeff Calder is working on getting the band's 2003 "Royal Academy of Reality" out as a double-LP, though you should not wait for that to pick it up, and Anne Richmond Boston's second album "I Should Be Happy" is finally out: I picked up a copy as you can see in one of the pictures.
To anyone who said "hi" and got back a vague wave: Sorry, my facial recognition circuits are never good, and especially not when I'm in a crowd or thinking about something else. Thanks to commenter Chris for calling out the show, and providing the link to the Free Times story.
Bonus Track: 1984 Studio Version!:
