Mood of the crowd??

Spot on Dad...its a really big plus if the crowd is half... or even fully pissed.....(British for drunk).

Paisley

spskins
Shit Sandwich and Godfather.

Interesting you mentioned that one; I used to do a breakneck-speed Surf version of Speak Softly Love (Theme from the Godfather).

Went over like a lead balloon, but geez it was fun to play!!

Breakneck-speed----I wonder if that's the problem? The genius of the Pilgrim's version is in the dynamics I think. The audience gets into the arrangement of fast/slow loud/soft and the building of momentum. Just a thought . . .

Awhile back at the annual car show here, there was a band that kicked off their set with Walk, Don't Run and Pipeline. Vanilla as can be, right? Well, being as starved for surf as I am in this little burg, I'll take it!

Unfortunately, the third song was a bad cover of "Born To Be Wild" and it was all classic rock thereafter. Too bad , because the crowd was into the instrumentals and I realized that people around here really would enjoy a surf group if given the chance.

Yep...'Pissed Off' in UK is very very bad..violence around the corner..

while simply'drunk'...also see... Pissed....Sleged..

or my all time favorite..Rat Arsed...

Agree 100% about low brow....most crowds are TBF somwewhat challenged.

Many years ago at the height of the Sitar boom..a large audience gathered in London to hear a top performer...he came on stage played around for a few minutes and the crowd went mad clapping and cheering his performence.....

It turned out he was only tuning the bloody thing up!!!!!

Heres another great instrumetal....Honky Tonk

Since most of the people at our shows are not necessarily hard-core surf fans, the usual seem to get them going:

Misirlou
Pipeline
Penetration
Wipe Out
Squad Car

plus our own:

Giant Cow
Radarmen
Zombie Road Trip

are sure fire crowd pleasers.

Rev

Canadian Surf

http://www.urbansurfkings.com/

Pipeline always seems to be well accepted. I don't know if it would work with a hard-core Surf audience. I do Secret Agent Man as another crowd pleaser but I do it with my Johnny Rivers inspired vocals and then take it through as an instrumental ending up with the last verse vocally.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.

Stray Cat Strut and a compliation we called "BatWipe" - Batman Theme into Wipeout back to Batman and then into Secret Agent Man

Ralph
The Storm Surfers

Be at one with the universe. If you can't do that, at least be at one with your guitar.

DNAdude
Stray Cat Strut and a compliation we called "BatWipe" - Batman Theme into Wipeout back to Batman and then into Secret Agent Man

i'd like to hear that!
might even get me dancing

Folks like something that they know. If your band has a following that recognizes your originals that's the best of all worlds. If not, audiences may choose a favorite that we personally find distateful.

I've never personally done Mustang Sally (and would probably prefer giving up the guitar to playing that tune) but a lot of audiences love it. My advice if you get a request is to feign inability to master the song. I personally can play Classical Gas in perfect synch with Mason Williams but there are 2 chord tunes I just can't seem to master.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.

elreydlp

synchro
I've never personally done Mustang Sally (and would probably prefer giving up the guitar to playing that tune) but a lot of audiences love it.

Biggest problem with "Mustang Sally" is that most bands don't master the nuances of the orignal. Steve Cropper's rhythm is; as usual, perfect and his octave fills on the verses while subtle, are glaring in their absence in most bands covers. Add Duck Dunn's Bass and Al Wilson's drums and you've got a masterpiece. I get tired of hearing bands butcher it, but every time I listen to the original, I learn something.

I think that's common of all covers of popular tunes. I've heard it in Surf, one hears it a lot in Country and certainly in all sub-genre of Rock and/or Roll. At one time in my life I used to get called for any number of Gountry gigs and in many cases the guys looking for a hired gun lead player had now concept of how to play the songs right. In more than one case my lead playing suffered because I was spending so much effort trying to keep the song duct-taped together at the seams. More than once did a band leader come away puzzled when I didn't bite at an offer to join the band but at the time I didn't see the point. These days I would jump at the chance if the guys in the band were nice because I love a challenge. It's fun to watch how a band improves with just a little bit of help in the arranging department.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.