Posted on Aug 09 2018 07:11 PM
Sat, Aug 4 - Alpine Village
We all realize we are not as young as we think we are as we drag ourselves out of bed on Saturday morning for the Convention. A Mexican breakfast and many coffees later we head to the Bavarian styled Alpine Village for some surf n schnitzel.
There are some many great vendors with so many great recordings that I fear I will spend all of my future earnings on merch. Got a lot of cool stuff that you will hear on my NSSR radio show: Great White Surf from the Great White North.
So many great bands played, not a weak one in the bunch.
FCOTD - For me, this band captured what I imagine the feeling you get while riding the waves is like.
King Pelican - Great trio with a really rocking sound, and very cool arrangements.
Black Flamingos- Another Great three piece. The guitarist’s playing really had me sit up and take notice. This band has such a tight and solid groove.
Les Agamemnonz - Wow! This band is as good as it gets; the players, arrangements, and show are all top notch. Their songs are not your run of the mill surf tunes, but complex and very original. If you have their releases, multiply that by 10. See them if you can.
Urban Surf Kings - some band from Canada. LOL
Tribute to Paul Johnson - The set started off with a video message from Paul that was inspiring and moving to watch. He has such great strength, and we are all pulling for him. The show was a rotating cast of great musicians who have been inspired by Paul playing his compositions and favourite covers. There were too many highlights to mention so I will just mention the players I can remember: Matt Quilter, John Blair, The Mach IV, Dave Wronski, Pete Curry...
Tribute to the Sentinals - This was another highlight for me, being a big fan of this First Wave band. The group featured John Blair, Matt Quilter, Jonpaul Balkan, and Pete Curry. OMG- Big Surf, Exotic, a history lesson on the band, and so muck more.
Frankie & the Pool Boys - OK to start off this was their fill in guitarist’s (Fritz) 6th or 7th time playing in front of an audience, and he sounded like he has been with the band for years. Hats off to you. This band is so melodic; with great songs and arrangements. What really stands out for me is Amber’s keyboard playing. She has such great feel, and does not just play background parts. Her playing really helps elevate this band to an even higher place. So much has been said about Ferenc’s excellent playing, and it is all true.
Kaiser’s of Kalifornia - Even better than Thursday night, and they were great Thursday night. A great mix of Los Kahunas, the Finks, and Huntington Cads songs. Everyone in this band is super nice!
Surfer Joe - I actually stood/danced in “the pit” for this entire set. This incarnation of the trio were really tight, and grooved really well. It was nice to hear songs from all stages of Lorenzo’s career. He just keeps getting better and better.
Sadly we checked out before the last 2 bands as lack of sleep was catching up with us, and we wanted to be in good shape for Sunday’s show. Maybe someone else can post a review of the bands.
The vendor sections were great, and it was nice to meet Danny, Mel, Art, Lee, Bob, and so many more people in person. We sold out all our merch save for 4 x 45rpms ( those went Sunday). It was a real treat to play through Ran’s gear...so good!
The LA times article is a good read about the convention:http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-surf-guitar-101-convention20180808-story.html
Jeff put together a really successful Convention, with the largest number of paying audience members to date ( if I am correct).
Sunday next.
PS My wife keeps singinging TBG’s Zoo Bizarre
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Canadian Surf
http://www.urbansurfkings.com/
Last edited: Aug 09, 2018 21:01:34
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