3 good bands is enough IMHO, more jams and some presentations and the rest of the time for browsing vendors and chatting. $.02

Danny Snyder

"With great reverb comes great responsibility" - Uncle Leo

Playing keys and guitar with Combo Tezeta

Formerly a guitarist in The TomorrowMen and Meshugga Beach Party

Latest surf project - Now That's What I Call SURF

DannySnyder
3 good bands is enough IMHO, more jams and some presentations and the rest of the time for browsing vendors and chatting. $.02

+1 to Danny's $0.02

Three or four bands is plenty...more seems to lead to sonic overload...
I really like the part where unexpected Wronski's show up and totally wail...

Y'know there are state beaches with stages, RV parking, and campsites.

Dean(aka Moondevil)
deanmatherly.com

moondevil
Y'know there are state beaches with stages, RV parking, and campsites.

There's my "Secret Beach": Jalama Beach...we could rent the whole campground for the event...

If people fly in from all over the country and potentially the world.. I am sure most would want to see a good amount of bands.

I know this is incredibly late, but I wanted to say some things about Sunday on the big convention weekend.

We got down to the HB pier area at about 10am. We didn't try hard to find parking, we just ducked into a parking garage that was right off of PCH. Just like last year, it was hazy at this time in the morning. And again, just like last year, this would burn off by 11:30 or so and the sun would be blazing the rest of the day.

We walked around a bit before the show started and met up with the Surge guys along with Carol and her son. Mitch Matrix told us that he was going to take a dip in the ocean before the day was out. He had come all this way and he had to do it! Ha-ha!

Even before the sun came out we knew this was going to be a fantastic spot to see some music today. With the ocean and the pier in the background, who could ask for a better place for surf music? A big thank you to Linda Miller and the HBISM for putting on these shows, it is greatly appreciated by these out-of-state'ers. You have something really special here.

We walked on the pier and spied Big Wave Dave Becker taking photos. I had a nice chat with Dave; this was the first time we really got to talk and say hi (since Saturday was so nuts). Somewhere I have a photo of us, I'll try to dig it out and post it.

The Verbtones were the first band and they played probably their best set of the 3 times I caught them. With the sun now out and the ocean behind them, who could blame them? And Kyle and Marie had brought their cute kids along, who were soon dancing in front of the stage, mimicking Marie's moves. Great fun. The crowd really reacted very well and the band played a few encores. Kyle even leaped off the stage and strolled around a bit thanks to his wireless unit (that was no small leap either -- it could have ended quite badly... glad he and his guitar made it!).

The Surge took the stage next, all wearing SG101 shirts, which actually put a bit of a lump in my throat. These guys were also quite moved by their location that day, and mentioned it a few times from the stage. And once again WoodyJ joined them for their Astronauts tribute, which was totally killer once again. The Surge got to play a really long set, mixed with originals and great Ventures covers. I was really digging it and I think they made yet another huge impression on the California crowd.

By this time we were being burned up and were hungry, so we went over to the snack bar next door to eat while the Reventlos played. They really had the crowd going with their funny banter. Everyone was smiling during their set. We also went down to the water at this point and checked it out. Just amazing. Quite a few people were having trouble in the waves that day and the lifeguards were quite busy.

We returned to catch The Eliminators for their set. John Blair is playing with them now, and I was really eager for this. They did not disappoint, playing tons of upbeat and catchy tunes, along with some cool spaghetti western type songs. John was just having a blast up there, and I was in heaven when they played a few Jon & The Nightrider songs with John on lead. Man I would sure like to catch the J&TNR reunion show that is coming up soon. Another great moment was having original Chantay Bob Spickard come up and play Pipeline. Bob was just grinning ear to ear the entire time, it was quite a moment. The Eliminators put on a great set! They have a huge sound with diverse instruments: sax, acoustic guitar, and extra percussion provided by the sax player.

The Glasgow Tiki Shakers were the last band. I had heard many good things about this band but had never really listened to their stuff or heard them before, but I was quite blown away. They played some really cool moody and slow songs, but then they also did some really loud and upbeat fun stuff like a killer "Intoxica" cover. The guitar player is quite powerful, as is the drummer, who plays lefty and kicks ass. Joyce on bass was bouncing around with a big smile the whole time. It was a lot of fun and the crowd was very appreciative.

It was sad to leave the pier and the ocean, but the next stop was Don the Beachcombers. This was a perfect way to end the big weekend, and thanks to Jeff for conceiving this part of the plan. Don's is a great tiki bar complete with all the trappings and my favorite pufferfish lamps. We got to talk with some people finally, and we had a great time chatting with Tena, her daughter, and Sean (who I only learned later was KickTheTank!). Paul Johnson and Gil Orr are the Duo-Tones, and I was just totally in heaven while they played. Maybe it was the Mai-Tai and the Reverb Crash, but I don't think so. I really, really enjoyed hearing Paul and Gil play so many great surf and pre-surf instrumentals, it was just fantastic. They played with the movie Endless Summer on the big TV screen behind them. Good music, good friends, and my wife by my side. Wow, what a great weekend.

Thanks to everyone we met and got to see again. Thanks to the bands, Linda Miller, and of course Jeff "BigTikidude" for the great vacation. I have to say when I started the yahoo group and then later this site, I never would have imagined I'd be going to California and meeting so many site members in person. It's quite a thrill and honor to see the real people behind the screen names and share such a cool experience with them. THANK YOU!!!!

Site dude - S3 Agent #202
Need help with the site? SG101 FAQ - Send me a private message - Email me

"It starts... when it begins" -- Ralf Kilauea

As much as I loved Saturday.....Sunday was surf guitar heaven. The pier show was incredible with the Pacific in the background.....great bands playing......good friends all around.....the sea breeze feeling like air conditioning. Then off to Don's Sunday night. Having The Endless Summer playing was perfect, especially since (A) I have a strong emotional connection to that movie and that song; and (B) 'cause I was in the back room and didn't realize they had it playing on a tv until I heard Gil & Paul start playing the song and ran out in mid-conversation to watch.

It may be the first vacation that I haven't gotten hugely depressed at the end of, primarily because it couldn't get any better than it did. (not that I would have minded a few more days)

Will

"You're done, once you're a surfer you're done. You're in. It's like the mob or something. You're not getting out." - Kelly Slater

The Luau Cinders

diceophonic
Heres an interesting review that Danny found and forwarded to me this morning. Danny, thanks.
The Verbtones, The Tomorrowmen, The Secret Samurai Friday July 31, 2009 @ "Bar Pink" Review, this was one of the 2 SG101 pre-partys.

Kyle, that's "interesting" with quotes around it.

Danny Snyder

"With great reverb comes great responsibility" - Uncle Leo

Playing keys and guitar with Combo Tezeta

Formerly a guitarist in The TomorrowMen and Meshugga Beach Party

Latest surf project - Now That's What I Call SURF

Brian

diceophonic
Heres an interesting review that Danny found and forwarded to me this morning. Danny, thanks.
The Verbtones, The Tomorrowmen, The Secret Samurai Friday July 31, 2009 @ "Bar Pink" Review, this was one of the 2 SG101 pre-partys.

Ha-ha. I love it when people who have no idea what they just saw attempt to write about it. But it sounds like she had a good time!

These crack me up but cool though

The Verbtones set
"At one memorable point, the lead guitarist stalked off stage and into the crowd. Like Moses parting the Red Sea, the crowd moved to accommodate this spectacle."

The Tomorrowmen set
"At one point one of the guitarists was playing like a siren screeching in the dead of night, while the drummer, wearing an orange suit decked out in glow sticks, was the heartbeat to the moving tunes, an awesome climax to a very strange night."

The Secret Samurai set
"Their guitars sang and whittled through their competitors egos, something the Don King wannabe would have to take note of when presenting the winner"

now that's what you call Hollywooding it

-Kyle

Beyond The Surf YouTube channel
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The Verbtones @ bandcamp

I like how The Verbtones and The Tomorrowmen were referred to as being psychedelic.

Jeff(bigtikidude)