Photo by Randy Krhut

After being engulfed by the musical world these four fellows created, it became gently clear that even more sound was coming from of the hodgepodge of costumed musicians.

Thursday night at Ale House presented one of those fun and, for some of us, rare mid-week opportunities to let loose and get happy with none other than local and regional band Swamp Wompus. With no opening act, the funkiness started with no delay and ended with no disappointments.

Swamp Wompus began by getting into their groove together. They seemed to just jam together until they were in accord with each other’s musical spirit. The whole first song, more like jam session, was held together effortlessly by drummer John Wnek. Then shortly after Douglas Robertson’s funky bass grabbed the audience’s attention, a flock of dancers crowded the stage. To add, Bobby McAlister and Jackson Woods greatly enhanced the funk experience with their smooth synthesizers and guitar.

After being engulfed by the musical world these four fellows created, it became gently clear that even more sound was coming from of the hodgepodge of costumed musicians. Samuel Huey created the subtle and crafty sounds of the bongos and waterfall-like chimes, creating an even smoother funk sound.

The lead singer for Swamp Wompus, Locke Bowers, gives the band a fantastic performance point in his animated, admirable stage performance and vocals. Their cover of The Beatles’ “Helter Skelter” gave him the perfect opportunity to unleash his fluidity as a vocalist.

The band not only cared for their audiences’ level of fun, they included the audience by letting a freelance rapper by the name of Freshly Pipes perform a rap to the band-provided beats. Swamp Wompus is certainly a band to see if given the chance as they have yet to cease to please a crowd. Tour dates and other information are listed on their MySpace page: