Photo of the Day

First off: DAMN!! It was cold up there. Not freezing, but not far off. Good thing I took plenty of warm clothes. Bill(Lava) and Kristena, and a few others said it was funny to see me not in my usual shorts and t-shirt.

After Kyle picked me up at the airport, we went to his house and he showed me his surf music collection, and his gear (Damn!!) that he had at his house. He said he had lots more at the in-laws, Double Damn. Around 4 pm we took off to go to Thatch. Its a new tiki bar, but has alot of old tiki decor that used to be in the Old Kon Tiki in Portland, then was in The Jasmine Tree (asian resturaunt), but is now in this new tiki bar, that just opened. Its got a great vibe of a old tiki bar because of the decor, but you can tell its a new business. We were only there for a short time, but the 2 drinks we got were perfect, (Mai Tai and a Trader Vics version of a Zombie) and the food that others had smelled great. Check it out if in the Portland area. Then we went over to the Alibi, for the annual pre show-meet up. There were between 20 and 30 surf and tiki people there for the gathering. Its always great to have some spare time before or after a show to talk to people in person that you usually only talk to over the net. So where ever you go, make plans to meet up before or after with others that will be there too. It helps to make it more of a friends/family vibe, than just people at a show.

It was great to see Bill(lava) drink something other than, PBR, Pabtz, Schlitz. Cool to see the Alibi, bigger than I thought, fairly cool decor, good food, sad drinks, we had them mutate a Mai Tai to so-so status. Great to re-meet Danny whom I had forgotten I had met in SF for a show before and his wife. And some NW sg101 lurkers, and Eric Hutch and Diablo, and also some Tiki Central members.

Off to the show. Wow!! The Crystal Ballroom was huge. The thing I noticed about it, compared to old California ballrooms was the shape. California ballrooms were lower, wider, usually on ground level. Where the Crystal Ballroom was on the 3rd floor, and it had a very high ceiling, and a bit narrower. But still a great huge venue for a surf show. They had it divided down the middle for a drinking section and non drinking section. I thought this was weird, but then noticed that there was a lot of kids, so it was an all ages show. Very cool. Some of us guess at there being about 8 or 9 hundred people there. Maybe Ted can give us a head count.

The sound system was really good; loud but not over bearing. I love that. Just re-inforcement, not painfully blaring at you all night.

I met/saw/talked to a few people that didn't make it over to the Alibi pre-show party. Ric Selby and his wife, Steve from the Verbtones, and his wife Haley, and finally met Dick Messick.

The Ghastly Ones started off. They played a mix of songs off the 3 cds they have done, and a song or 2 off of comps. Basically a normal set that they have been playing in LA for the past year plus. Garret was having a bit of trouble with his sound, his cord from effects pedals to the amp was making his sound dark and lower than if he plugged straight in. But he just turned it up a bit more. I was kind of bummed that Necrobella their ghoulish Go-Go-dancer was not there. The crowd really took to the Ghastly Ones. They were eating it up, dancing around, and really watching/diggin' the show. Must have been the R&B/garagey vibe of some of their songs that was so infectious for some. The whole floating dance floor was moving up and down like an earthquake; it freaked me out. They played about an hour set. Dave moved from keys to drums, and Norm to the vocal mic for their encore of The Sonics "He's waiting", and their own "The Ghastly Stomp". What a great night for the Ghastlys in Portland. I heard they sold a ton of merch. I told Norm after they really need to do a cover of "Jack the Ripper" by Screaming Lord Such, as its right up their alley.

Next up, Satan's Pilgrims. The last time I saw these guys was in '99 and 2000 in So. Cal. before they went on hiatus. I really wanted to go the last 2 years, and was so happy to make it this year. I'm not going to go into too many song titles, but they played all the great songs. If you get the DVD from Ted Pilgrim the set was pretty close to that of last year's show, maybe a bit longer. I think they played close to 2 hours. Tons and tons of rippin' and drippin' reverb heavy surfs songs. Even the garagey songs still had reverb, and a surfy vibe to them. That's the thing I love about the Ghastlys and the Pilgrims; their garage songs are well written, and retain the surf vibe. There were a few points where it was kinda hard to hear Dave Pilgrim. I don't know if it was the PA mix, or if he was having equip. problems, but for the most part, the night was just excellent. The crowd was hooting and hollering for some songs, lots of girls and some guys cutting a rug all night.

I just remembered this, so I'm adding it in. When Ted got up to do "Run run run", and "Hey you" Dave Klein from the Ghastly Ones played drums for him. When Ted came back behind the drums to finish the set, with the last 2 songs, it took him a few minutes to fix his Bass drum pedal. He asked Dave, "what the hell did you do to my pedal man"? Classic.

Just soooo cool to see a room of 800 or more just diggin the hell outta a killer surf show. There was quite a varied group of people there, including emo kids, punkers with mohawks, or rainbow dreads. Rock dudes that look like Rob Zombie and their rocker girlfriends. Local hippy types, and goth people. It was such a bizarre scene of different people. Ted got up on the mic, and Dave Klein of the Ghastly Ones got on drums, and they did 2 vocal rompers. Don't know the songs, but Ted said that one was from the Minnesota area, and the other from a Memphis band called the Guilitines. Man the Pilgrims just nailed it all night long, a wall of Showmans and reverb units, just wailing away. Everybody in the band was firing on all 8 cylinders. Just a perfect night of surf. Wish I could have captured it on video up close. There was a few times during the show that I was looking at the crowd, then at the band, the sound was just reverbarating in my ears and down my spine. I got goose bumps, and then teary eyed, and a bit choked up. I've only had this happen at a couple of shows, in my 10 years of seeing surf shows, so that is a very good thing, and confirmed that this was a show of a life time.

The next day Kristena and her friend Jenny O and Jenny's boyfriend Shaun, came to pick up Bill(Lava) and I from Kyle's of the Verbtone's house (thanks a ton again Kyle). We squeezed into a rental car and headed off to Seattle. The weather was cold and drizzly, but way better than it could have been. We got into town around 4. They checked into their room, and the girls got ready, and we headed to yet another tiki/Hawaiian place (do you sense a trend here?). Yes I'm obsessed with tiki as well as surf. And I wanted to check out as much tiki stuff as possible while in the Great N.W. We walked past the Space Neddle down towards the water, and got to a place called Hula Hula. Its a new place, that is not perfect, but not sucky. The drinks were a lot better than the Alibi in Portland, but not perfect. I got a Hawaiian pizza, and it was fine, Kristena's food was not quite as good she said. I had a Navy Grog, a Mai Tai, and a Scorpion Bowl. I was toasted after that. Three of the guys from the 'Verb met us there for awhile. I had met one before, but not Jake and the new guy, as they didn't make it down to So. Cal. before. Cool guys, not my typical image in my mind of guys in a surf band. But its good to know that there are young guys picking up the torch, to carry on to the next generation. The 5 of us wouldn't fit into a cab, so Jake and the guys gave me a lift to the show. We got a tad lost and took a bit of a scenic route trip there, just adding to the weekend getaway. No worries guys, thanks for stopping and letting me relieve the 3 tiki drinks in that industrial area (!!!).

We got to the Tractor Tavern. Definitely a cool club, and some said better than the Fun House. Bigger, better sound, and just better vibe. There seemed to be a band playing when we got there, but must have been sound check or something. They didn't start letting people in till 9:15 or so, so we didn't miss anything, the line moved pretty quick. Norm and Garret said they wanted to put me on the guest list for coming up from So. Cal. since they didn't have anybody to put on there. But I thanked them and said I already had got my tix online since I was coming from so far away. But I thought that was very cool of them to offer. Great guys.

I met my (friend/internet acquaintance from Tiki Central) Elicia, and a couple other TC members. The place filled up rather quickly. I had heard it sold out, and people were turned away. Thats cool, and also a bummer for those people that didn't make it in. Guess they need a bigger place next year too. The show was also the Mercury 4's CD release party so I'm sure they had some friends, family, and fans there too.

I have the 1st Mercury 4 CD, and listened to it a few times. I thought it was alright, not my favorite, but not sucky either. I was looking forward to seeing how they did. The guys were good players for sure, but not quite the edgy modern trad surf that a lot of us really like. But I was impressed, and bought the new CD they were selling. And I actually like it pretty good. If they are reading this, no offense is intended. But get an old keyboard, loose the modern keyboard, and loose the SR71 blackbird looking guitar, just kinda goony. But over all I was impressed. Not bad band at all. I give them a 6 on a 1 to 10 scale. Of course the girl go-go dancers didn't hurt either.

The Ghastlys played pretty much the same set as before, maybe a few songs less for lack of time. The guitar cord problem was fixed, and the sound was way better. The one thing I noticed for the Ghastlys and the Pilgrims in Seattle as opposed to Portland was the balance was better, and the sound was a bit darker. I think this was because of the size of the club and the people absorbing the sound so much. But I felt that the energy level of the show was a bit better as the audience was much closer and more in tune with the band. But there was not as much dancing as in Portland, so it was a bit of a toss off in both directions.

Next up, Satan's Pilgrims. The crowd seemed to be a bit more anxious for them to come on than at the Portland show. As I said before, the set list was pretty similar to the DVD of last year's show, probably a tad shorter because of time constraints. It was at these 2 shows that I noticed that a few of the SP's songs are very metal influenced (riff wise) but with reverb instead of distortion. Especially on "Haunted House of Rock". I was waiting for the small Stonehenge model to come down on that song, or on "Shit Sandwich". I was bummed when the night had to come to an end. But they cant play all night. I bought a bunch of DVDs, posters, and a few t-shirts for people that couldn't make it up for the shows. Oh, I also finally got to meet Dick Messick and his wife from the East coast. Very cool couple. Ran and Kristena had told me he was cool, and I didn't doubt them, and figured he was. But he was super cool. Next time we really need to make sure we spend some time before or after a show. Whether it be up there or in So. Cal.

I didn't want the night to end, but it had to. I talked to Jake a bit more about the summer shows in So. Cal. My friend Elicia gave Dick and his wife a ride back to their hotel, and we drove to her place. Crashed like a big old log. That night and the night before I slept so hard I didn't toss and turn like normal and woke up with a crick in my neck from not rolling over regularly. We got up Sun around 9-ish, I met her husband Todd who didn't go to the show because he had a cold. We all went to Breakfast at a cool retro place called Luna Park I think. Very old school big breakfasts, mmmmmmm Bacon, Sausage and Ham, waffles, hashbrowns, and biscuit with gravy. No wonder my blood pressure is high, and I'm having intestinal issues, but sometimes you just have to go with the flow on vacation. We went to a few more tiki bars/resturaunts, Aloha Grill I think, and the new Trader Vics in Bellevue. Got nice and toasted for my trip back home. But then had to wait for 4 hours at the airport for my delayed flight, and the buzz wore off. But I got home ok Sun night. As I said in the shout box, 67 degrees at 11 pm, very nice. Its good to visit new places, and see old and new friends, but nothing like coming back home to comfortable So. Cal. Got home, got out of my N.W. Grunge attire, and got into a t-shirt and shorts, ahhhhhh.

Thanks again to the Satan's Pilgrims, the Ghastly Ones, and the Mercury Four for the killer tunes and shows. And all the friends old and new for a great weekend. Special thanks to Kristena for the ride from Portland to Seattle, and to Kyle and Elicia for rides to and from shows, the tours around town, and most importantly a place to crash to save some $$$. That really helps out, and means alot to me. Thanks to Jake and the boys from the 'Verb for the ride to the Seattle show. It was crazy silly fun. And to anybody else I forgot. I'm sorry. Can't wait to do it again. I'm definitely planning on doing some short trips this summer to the bay area. Good to get outta town and see some fresh faces and bands.

Jeff(bigtikidude)