2 bands / 3 sets on Friday night, 8 bands / 9 sets on Saturday, 2 bands / 2 sets on Sunday. Man, I’m bushed. Cue the children’s story ending: “And they all went home, tired but happy.”

Friday night at the Sand Bar it was the Cocktail Preachers, followed by the Cocktail Preachers backing a rockabilly singer, followed by Roger and the Wraybands. The first time I saw the CPs a few years ago, they had a drunken feel-good vibe. Friday night they were impressive and tight. Ever-stronger new original tunes. The rhythm guitarist switches to steel guitar for some numbers, like the opening tune, a great cover of Santo & Johnny’s “Slave Girl” (the tune that later became “Latin’ia”). Roger & the Wraybands were pretty good for an all-cover band (though no bonus points for closing with “Wipe Out”).

The setup Saturday was well done. The stage was outdoors, on a blacktop lot adjacent to Fitzgerald’s night club, in the middle of a city block. The stage and audience were shaded by big awnings. Plenty of seating, maybe 200 in the crowd. It was warm, but bearable with a frosty or frozen drink, and there was almost enough breeze. Food options weren’t too overpriced. In the back of the lot were six or eight vendors of tiki paraphernalia. (Don’t tell my girlfriend, but I bought her a grass skirt.) Jet Sterling from SG101 was spinning discs between sets. I especially appreciated the choice of “Exolumina” from the Space Cossacks. Sorry I didn’t come introduce myself, Jet, but you looked busy.

The music on Saturday actually began at 2pm, as scheduled, with the Bikini Beachcombers, three ukuleles plus upright bass. Lotsa kitchy fun. All they lack is a singer who can carry a tune. Second up were the Astronauts, a six-piece show band (think Blues Brothers Band without the Blues Brothers). Not bad. Repertoire was all covers, ranging from Memphis soul (“Last Night”) to television kitsch (“I Dream of Jeannie”). They also played a second set in the #5 slot. Third slot went to the Reluctant Aquanauts. (Trivia I picked up only this afternoon: the band’s name is a play on the Don Knotts movie “The Reluctant Astronaut”.) Excellent Chicago surf trio playing stylish original material. (They also played on Sunday; see below.) Fourth up, The Concussions. Man, they rocked! Beyond the Man-or-Astroman?/Los-Straitjackets-style schtick (they wore rubber skeleton-head masks), they played catchy original tunes with awesome tone (one guitar clean, one fuzzy). After the Astronauts second set came personal faves the Volcanos, still masters of the craft of trading lead guitar parts within the song. They played a great uptempo set, finished too soon. If I had one complaint it would be that the guitar tones were a little too piercing at times. Next came the Neanderthals, Eddie Angel’s caveman-frat-rock side project. The crowd loved it -- the previously empty area in front of the stage filled within ten seconds of their taking the stage. Dancers then entertained while the stage was set for the legendary TRASHMEN. Yeah, they did a passable “Surfin’ Bird” as a closer, but more important to me, they did excellent takes on “Malaguena” and “Tube City”. And their lead singer still has the voice we all loved on “King of the Surf” and “Kuk”. While the Trashmen signed autographs afterward, a last act went on indoors at the nightclub. It was Los Santos, a Chicago area Los Straitjackets tribute band(!), complete with the four proper Lucha Libre masks. Eddie Angel donned his LS mask to join them for a few numbers mid-set, so we had the unique treat of twin Eddie Angels trading licks. They finished a little after 12:30am. I staggered back to the motel and slept well.

This afternoon was a final brunch at a tiki-style Polynesian / Chinese restaurant, with encore sets from the Bikini Beachcombers and the Reluctant Aquanauts. The Reluctant Aquanauts played a completely different set for the low-volume venue, this time mostly very tasteful covers from the Ventures and Paul Johnson catalogs, with the bass player on a Fender Bass 6.

I could not make it this time, and I'm pretty crushed about it. Sounds like another great time. Did anyone get any photos? Thanks Moon Dawg.

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Brian
I could not make it this time, and I'm pretty crushed about it. Sounds like another great time. Did anyone get any photos? Thanks Moon Dawg.

Brian: Given how much the event has grown since the last one I went to in 2004, I'm sure you'll have another chance next year.

Lotsa people were snapping photos, including the Volcanos drummer Bill, but not me. Surely some of those folks are here on SG101 ...

Rick_Volcano
Yeah, yeah, yeah! What a cool event. We had some fun. Great to see all the SG101ers: The Reluctant Aquanauts, Moon Dawg, Jet Sterling, Midwest Surf Guy... and I think some of those mystery men in Los Santos may be lurking here.
It was a thrill for me to be in the same room as the Trashmen, let alone see them play. Tony's a solid surf guitarist and his '57 Strat sounded great.

Yeah I echo what Rick says about Tony. He plays like he hasn't learned a lick since 1964, and I mean that in a really good way. I know he does a bluegrass thing and I'm sure he has progressed a lot as a musician since 1965, but they really didn't let anything "modern" creep into their sound at all, and you rarely see that from any artist who's playing what they did 40 years ago. When they did My Woodie and Dal hit the backup vocals it sounded just like the record.

"as he stepped into the stealthy night air... little did he know the fire escape was not there"

https://www.facebook.com/reluctantaquanauts/
https://www.facebook.com/TheDragstripVipers/

StevieMartini
Dualing Eddie's

That was great! Big fun.

The Volcanos

Here's another shot of Los Santos with Eddie Angel.

The Volcanos

What an absolute blast! Great to see so many fantastic bands over one weekend. Had a great time talking with so many SG101'ers who were there. I felt truly honored to be a part of the event!

MoonDawg_
I especially appreciated the choice of “Exolumina” from the Space Cossacks.

Ahhhh yes. Truthfully, it was my intention to lead off with it - but there was such a lounge/exotica vibe going on at the beginning, I rolled with that. I brought a ton of raucous surf that I did not end up playing outside. After we tore down, and Los Santos were over, I did slip a mix of it in the CD player inside the bar.

MoonDawg_
Sorry I didn’t come introduce myself, Jet, but you looked busy.

No problem, hopefully we can meet at Exotica 008!

Jet Sterling, Cosmic Spy
www.surfabillyfreakout.com

Thanx to everyone who came out and battled the heat and humidity on Saturday. Although it was really frickin' hot, folks came out in droves to see this years main event, which was absolutely Fantabulous. The performers all deserve a huge Mahalo, you guys are the best! We have some photos we'll try and post them later!
Thanx Again,
BambooLodge