Some things seem meant to be – that's how I feel watching Swamp Thing play.

I've seen them several times now, most recently at a festival in Northland a couple of weeks ago. It was one of those sweltering summer days we're getting so used to and the location was beautiful, right on the water's edge with a backdrop of boats on the silent shimmering harbour and the sun slowly setting.

But there was a problem. Instead of the expected few thousand the festival had attracted only a couple of hundred. In front of the band where there should have been packed crowds of dancers there was largely empty space.

New percussion

Did that make the slightest difference? Not that I could tell. Swamp Thing delivered with as much energy and excitement as at every show, even adding some elaborate new percussion to Michael Baker's already extravagant drumming rig. But more on that later...

This was full force Swamp Thing, a reminder that the band never let up, never give it less than 100 per cent, and that's when I couldn't help but think that some things just seem meant to be. Like Michael Baker and Grant Haua meeting and forming a musical partnership.

That was reinforced when I got a press release this week ahead of their big local show at the end of the month. (In case you're in a hurry and don't want to read to the end, it's on Saturday, January 31 at 8pm at the Mauao Performing Arts Centre on Totara St at the Mount).

Succinct summary

Although I general try to avoid quoting such promotional documents this one had quite a succinct summary of the band's genesis: 'The band was formed by Barker in 2010 on his return to Rotorua after living in Melbourne since 1985. Drawn to the two man blues format Barker fortuitously met Tauranga's Grant Haua, a man with true blues grit in his voice and fire in his belly”.

The word that gets me is 'fortuitously”. Because I can't imagine anyone else fitting the role that Grant Haua fills so exactly.

Prodigious songwriter

He's a great singer, an extraordinary guitarist, both electric and acoustic, a prodigious songwriter and plays the kind of full throttle rhythmic blues that fits Barker's percussion style like a fist in a glove. As much as that, he's a man with real drive and desire and the work ethic that goes with them.

And that's important – the work ethic. Michael Barker is also driven. He's not close to being yer average drummer and he's also a fine piano player, singer, songwriter, promoter and seriously hard-working perfectionist.

Indeed, together, the two of them work harder than any band I know. And it is paying off.

In April they head off on their first American tour, invited by The Tipitina Foundation as artists in residence in Baton Rouge for the month of April. There the band will appear as featured international artist at The Baton Rouge Blues Festival ahead of a tour through Louisiana's juke joints and bar circuit. Then, although not performing, they have Access All Areas backstage passes as guests of The New Orleans Jazz Festival. Damn!

The band also have a new album out, a double pack called ‘Let's Get Live', comprising a CD and DVD culled from a gig they did at The Okere Falls Store near Rotorua last June. Expect a review in a couple of weeks when I digest it more fully.

What isn't on the CD is that new percussion I mentioned earlier, which I saw for the first time in Northland. Two kettle drums. These are huge and must be an absolute pain in the ass to set up and transport. And they used them for one song. That's all, one song in front of a minimal crowd.

Extreme effort

Most bands wouldn't have bothered. The effort for just that one song was extreme. But it was a stunning way to open a show and it struck me as emblematic of how Swamp Thing operate – nothing is too much work if it makes the show or the music better.

See for yourself at MauaoPAC. Advance tickets are $20 from Eventfinder, The Rock Shop or Music PlPlaPLanet. PLanet.Planet. They're $25 on the door (no EFTPOS).