The Madeira, The Cocktail Preachers-Champaign, IL-May 30

Surfabilly · Posted: Sat May 30, 2009 12:25 pm Post subject:

OH BOY! I checked my checking account balance, and discovered that with my recent paycheck, I've got plenty enough to indulge myself in a trip to this event! So, I'm printing out my driving directions, gonna jump in the shower real quick, and head out toward Champaign soon after I send this reply. Oh...gotta make sure the Pinto has plenty of oil and coolant, as well...shouldn't be any problem, there (drove to Columbus, OH and back, summer 2008, to Hot Rod Hula Hop IV).

I'd better stop typing, and get to gettin' ready...

Matt
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DannySnyder · Posted: Sat May 30, 2009 12:58 pm Post subject:

You drive a Pinto? Better be careful:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Glcj0szvevU
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Brian · Posted: Sun May 31, 2009 8:38 am Post subject:

WOW!

I still have to drive 4.5 hours to get home, but I will be smiling the whole way!

A big thank you to Jet and the entire Surfabilly Freakout crew for putting on an incredible event! He went way above the call of duty. Both bands put on killer sets in front of probably the most enthusiastic crowd I've ever been in, plus there was great lighting, sound, and a giant Corn Tiki who breathed smoke (and kept away the downpour in time for the show).

I'll post more when I get home.

It was so great seeing the guys in the Cocktail Preachers and Madeira again. And Surfabilly Matt made it out after all!
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Surfabilly · Posted: Sun May 31, 2009 1:00 pm Post subject:

I'm glad I was able to make it out, even though the Pinto ended up having an issue on the way there; not as bad, on the way back, but I knew what I was dealing with. When I did get there, I offered that "it's a 28 year old (29 actually) car...things can happen." Brian and I, along with Ivan, Patrick, Todd and Dane of The Madeira and Ivan's buddy Kristen (sp?) from Wisconsin were at the Cowboy Monkey when the downpour happened, to the point we ended up paying our tabs inside. It had stopped by the time we walked back to Mike & Molly's, where we found out that, according to radar, it was still a go for the show being outside.

After The Cocktail Preachers had performed, I told Phil of about 8 - 10 passersby that had stopped outside the fence during their set. If they didn't know what surf music was about before they walked by, they got a good example of it when their curiosity caused them to stop for a bit. Phil told me that, during The Madeira's set, he'd walked down to the end of the block (to Main & Market, I'll guess), and said he could hear the music from that far. This was the first time I'd seen The Cocktail Preachers without Bruce on rhythm guitar, and with his lap steel, but Phil had brought his theremin, and The Cocktail Preachers proved that there can be a place for theremin in surf instrumental music. From one of the threads here, about non surf songs as surf instrumentals, we (the audience) found out that the Beatles' "Please, Please Me," and the White Stripes' "Fell In Love With A Girl" can work as surf instrumentals.

Having missed seeing The Madeira in Cincinnati (Covington, KY), last month, I'm glad that I was able to make this show, being their last in the U.S. before their tour of Italy. From the last couple of times I've seen them, and this time was no different, it seems that the intro to "Sandstorm" at the beginning of their set is a "warning" of the musical "assault" that's about to ensue. Sure, one could grab onto something, at that point, and hope the "assault" don't get them, but I'd be willing to bet that, by the end of the song, you'll be dancing along with everybody else...even if it's just moving one's hips a bit, or tapping a foot side to side, like me (I've never been known for an ability to dance). Maybe it's the Middle Eastern influenced rhythms that mesmerize people, I don't know, but once The Madeira "gets ya" with "Sandstorm, they don't let go until the end of their set. And, of course, we're "dumb enough" to ask for more...but we got one more out of The Cocktail Preachers, as well, so it was all good. Smile

Jet_Sterling · Posted: Sun May 31, 2009 2:57 pm Post subject:

My quick review of the show...

Very Happy

I have got to get the synapses firing again and sort through my pics to see if I got any good ones. I am hoping that others got some good pictures and video.

Great to see Ivan, Patrick, Todd and Dane from the Madeira; Steve, Phil, Larry and Jack from the Preachers (Bruce could not make the trip so Phil moved to guitar. Larry, who plays with Phil in Wraygun, played bass); and Brian and Matt from these parts.

It was a great night. After almost making it through the day with no rain - we got hit with a short cloudburst right after load-in. It was the only blip on the radar screen (with nothing behind it as far west as Wyoming). So we tarped over the PA and the lighting and rode it out. Luckily, it did not scare off the crowd.

What a fun night - both bands absolutely blew it up! The club owner was grinning from ear-to-ear and running around with a video camera. And yes, you could hear the music for blocks!

Thanks to all that made the trip to Champaign! I look forward to seeing the video/pics to re-live the show. But for now, I think I need another nap.
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Brian · Posted: Sun May 31, 2009 3:11 pm Post subject:

You deserve it my good man. I need one too, but I want to unload these pics from my camera.
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Brian · Posted: Sun May 31, 2009 4:09 pm Post subject:

Okay, so I have some time to kill while these photos unload.

I got down to Mike & Molly's about the same time the Madeira arrived. I did not know it was going to be an outdoors show until I arrived in Champaign and read this thread. Mike & Molly's is a small bar in an old building, but they have an outdoor beer garden in the form of a missing building next door. I was truly impressed at the stage and the giant Tiki head mounted above it when I first saw it.

It was great seeing old friends the Madeira and Phil & Steve from the Cocktail Preachers. Also Surfabilly Matt had just arrived, apparently barely due to automobile trouble. I also met Kristen, who drove down from Milwaukee. She was apparently the original Space Cossacks super fan from back in the day, and has seen the Space Cossacks tons of times.

I got to meet Jet again. I saw him last a few years ago in Chicago. I had forgotten how tall Jet is. He literally is 10 feet tall and he towers over everyone like he is on stilts. And he was truly a king among men for the show he organized that night. More on this.

So the Madeira, Matt, myself and Kristen wander in search of food, and there are many cool and trendy hip restaurants in the area. So we ended up at a Mexican place called Cowboy Monkey. We ate outside under an umbrella, and had a lot of fun talking. But then the feared rain hit, and soon it was absolutely pouring. It started coming through the umbrella, so we had to scurry inside. Luckily the rain soon subsided, and just in time because a blues band that Zak would have loved was about to start playing at Cowboy Monkey. Next time guys.

The Cocktail Preachers and Surfabilly Freakout crew had put tarps over their gear, and the radar said no more storms were coming through, so the show went on outside.

Now about the stage. As I said, there was a giant "Corn Tiki" above the stage, and his eyes lit up and smoke bellowed forth from his mouth at opportune moments. Awesome! And the stage was lit with these really cool LED light panels, so they got a ton of nice effects going. Everything looked and sounded so freaking great. Nice job to Jet and crew!

Phil told me the Cocktail Preachers were doing something different tonight. My first clue was not seeing Bruce (Vitamin-B). In fact there were 2 new faces. Apparently the drummer and bass player from Phil's side project Wraygun were sitting in tonight. I missed the drummers name; I think the bass player was Larry. These guys were great! Larry was quite impressive actually on the bass. Anyway, the Cocktail Preachers really put on a killer set and had the crowd going nuts. I got a lot of photos and will hopefully post them soon.

The Cocktail Preachers played a slightly different set than when I had seen them last, which was a few years ago. It was a really raucous set, and the highlights for me were Quiet Surf, Black Sand Beach, and their originals Highball Holiday and Jimmy's New Board. But I really, really dug their version of Moment of Truth! Oh and Yuzo's Twist!!! Larry was really great on this. (BTW: what is the original name and origin of Yuzo's Twist? I know the Ghastly Ones covered it, and it is a Yuzo Kayama song of some kind). The crowd would not let them go without an encore. Great job!

A word about the crowd. Apparently the Surfabilly Freakout crowd has quite a devoted following (including, gasp, women), and in addition there was a bachelorette party in attendance, so it was wild crazy fun ALL night. I was actually somewhat worried how the crowd was going to react to the Madeira. The CP's were playing lots of fun danceable tunes; would they actually dance to the sonic onslaught of the Madeira?

Well the Madeira took the stage and being the big surf geek that I am, I parked myself front and center. Within minutes of Sandstorm starting (aptly described by Matt as an assault) I am surrounded by drunk happy party goers. They danced to the whole Madeira set! It was amazing. They LOVED them! It was hilarious to see people slow dance to Tangaroa. Corn Tiki was pleased!!!

And it was indeed a great set by The Madeira, they were having a lot of fun up there with the smoke, the lights, the crowd. Stand outs in their set for me were The Saracen, The Victor, Burning Mirage, Transatlantic Orbit, Tsar Wars, Planet of the Apes, Dilmohammed, Wreak Havoc, Rogue Wave, and well, pretty much the whole set actually. They ripped it up on the Fender IV's Everybody Up!! YES!!!

One of the inebriated girls wanted Ivan's guitar pick, so he gave it to her after the last song. But then the crowd demanded an encore, so he had to ask for it back! Ha-ha. Ivan only carries one pick? Who knew? But he did give it back to her after the encore of Dick Dale's Nightrider...!!!! AWESOME, AWESOME, AWESOME.

What a fantastic night, certainly one of the best shows I've seen. It was so great seeing everyone again. The friendship and camaraderie are so great. It's nice to actually be so shockingly reminded why I like surf music and bother with this website every once in a while Wink

And Jet!!! Jet my man! You are the man! You should be very proud of what you and your posse did! Worship

THANK YOU. THANK YOU.

Pictures and maybe some video soon!
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StevieMartini · Posted: Sun May 31, 2009 4:13 pm Post subject:

Jet you & your friends did such a great job with the stage setup. The 20ft tall tiki torches and humungous smoke belching corn tiki was just outstanding. The crowd in Champaign was spectacular like always, in a great moode and ready to party. Again thanks for setting up this show, we had a blast. It was great seeing Brian again, dude you are a real trooper driving that distance and hangin out all night. Matt nice seeing you as well. Sorry to hear about the ride, but glad you made it home in one piece. With the full PA and lights that was the best sounding Madeira show yet. The sound last night beat the hell out of Melody Inn or Phyllis’ Musical Inn anyday. Spectacular job by the Madeira, I’d say they are well rehearsed for Europe. Good luck guys.

IvanP · Posted: Sun May 31, 2009 5:15 pm Post subject:

Hey, thanks for all the nice comments, everyone! We had a legendary time! Thanks so much to Jet and Andy for putting together the best stage that I think we'd ever played (it was truly stunning! so freakin' cool!!!), and for organizing one of the best shows we'd ever played! Jet in particular really put in a ton of work - and we deeply appreciate it! An unforgettable show!

Great to see all the old friends again - thanks so much for coming, Brian and Matt! There was also Corey from Oshkosh, Wisconsin (in addition to Kristen from Milwaukee, Winsconsin!), and he checks in here once in a while (he posted some reviews of the Indy show from last month). That's a long ways to drive for a surf show! But we really appreciate it. And so great to see and hear the Cocktail Preachers again! They truly have a knack for getting people into the fun mode and on their feet - few other surf bands can do it anywhere close to this well! (Really, only Los Straitjackets come to mind right off the top of my head.) We're very grateful for getting the audience into that vibe for us!

T
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IvanP · Posted: Sun May 31, 2009 5:17 pm Post subject:

(I'm having some problems with my browser, so I have to continue here.)

Anyway, everybody else covered everything - so thanks again! Hope to do this again soon, and see all of you again!

(And Brian, I do carry more than one pick, but they were all in my guitar case, and I didn't want to go fishing for it. But that *was* pretty funny... Smile

)
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Brian · Posted: Sun May 31, 2009 5:39 pm Post subject:

Introducing, CORN-TIKI:

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CaptainSpringfield · Posted: Sun May 31, 2009 6:21 pm Post subject:

Wow, sounds like a really fun show!

wooza · Posted: Sun May 31, 2009 10:50 pm Post subject:

Nice! Great review Brian. This sounds awesome. I'm totally envious.
... Ready for pictures!

Brian · Posted: Mon Jun 01, 2009 6:59 am Post subject:

No pictures yet, but I managed to get 3 Madeira videos uploaded last night:

The Saracen

Everybody Up! / Wreak Havoc

The Victor

I was so stunned by these I was in IRC with a couple people last night just looping them over and over. Smile

I hope you like them. The picture quality isn't super great, it was just my little digital camera and not a real video camera or anything.

I still have "Intruder" to upload too. Razz

And I got 3 Cocktail Preacher vids that I can upload with their approval. I'll work on the pictures too.
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Ruhar · Posted: Mon Jun 01, 2009 8:11 am Post subject:

Awesome videos Brian! Thanks for taking them. I've also been watching those things numerous times and honestly can't get enough! Ivan's playing is very inspired and I *love* their version of Everybody Up. The Madeira sound fantastic. It amazes me how great they sound with very little rehearsal time, shows etc. Its a real testament to all the players' incredible skill and devotion to the band. Very inspirational indeed Worship

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