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What a great night it was!
I was very excited about this show, and I wasn't disappointed. As always,
I'm a late replier to the posts, so I don't have too much to add to Jeff's
and Dano's reviews, but before that I want to mention how glad I was to see
fellow list members, and especialy Dano who flew 3000 miles(!) for this gig.
Unfortunately, conflicting schedules prevented me from hanging out with Rory
and Dano before the gig.
Anyhow, Dale and I arrived early at the venue, which was almost empty aside
from some locals. We headed out to the Bahooka (a cool historic
Tiki/nautical restaurant), where we were joined by Jeff and Kristena. With
perfect timing we got back to the club, as the Infrareds started playing a
couple of minutes later.
The sound at the venue was less than ideal, but it didn't stop the Infrareds
from delivering their high energy set. I'm already a fan of theirs, and I
know all the songs, so I'm not objective, but I looked at the crowd and it
seemed a lot of people were digging what they heard. In addition to material
from their last 2 albums, they also played a song I know as "Asphalt Eater"
that I heard on the Bomboras' "Organ Grinder" live album.
I used the break between bands to buy a Ghastly Ones shirt and demo cd,
which proved to be a wise decision, considering they were sold out not much
later.
It was the first time I've seen the Volcanics, and I was impressed by
Benny's ability sing lead vocals and furiously drum at the same time. As
much as I prefer instrumentals, I enjoyed the the vocal numbers. The
Volcanics were using a Jag for lead and a Jazzmaster for rhythm as far as I
could see. They had some choreographed moves which looked good, and went
well with the v-neck sweaters/skinny ties look.
Among the excellent trad surf numbers that they played, they did a ripping
cover of "Everybody Up".
After the Volcanics show I pushed my way to the front and waited eagerly for
Ghastly Ones set up. I was, too, a little disappointed to see a Strat (I
share Dano's opinion about them, but lets not discuss it, please), but was
somewhat relieved to see the Moserite. Anyway, to add to Dano's gear
description, Kevin the bass player was playing a Danelectro longhorn into
what looked like an Ampeg combo with diamond pattern tolex. They had the
"Lonesome Undertaker" bust as part of the stage props.
They played a mix of stuff from the "last" album, and the new demo cd-r.
In addition to what Dano mentioned they played:
Heartbeat, Draculon (I think), Banshee Beach, Cat on a Hot Foam Board,
Haulin' Hearse 2005, and 2 fuzz instros - Yuzo's Twist and Fuzzy & Wild. All
these are from the new demo cd-r. In Fuzzy & Wild Garrett wore a German WWI
helmet with an Iron Cross for a "biker" look. They also played "Everybody
Up" if I'm not mistaken.
Most of the songs were played on the Strat, but a few were played on the
Moserite. Garrett started with tons of reverb, but decreased the level after
a couple of songs, which I guess was necessary because of the room sound
characteristics. The FuzzRite sounded awsome.
BTW - the played "Ghastly Stomp" during the set, and "(Everybody's Doin')
The Ghastly Stomp" - the vocal number, as part of the encore. They weren't
planning on doing Thunderhead (one of my favorite songs), but after I yelled
it out, they obliged and did that as part of the encore.
It was tons of fun being in the front row, although the 2 drunk guys that
insisted on dancing inches away from the band (and trying to play the bass
guitar) were annoying. Of course it was only after they left and girls
started to dance in the front did 2 bouncers show up to "tame" the crowd.
To sum it up - indeed "Viva California". It felt great to finally be able to
see a band I missed out becasue I was living half-way around the world. I
used the opporunity to bug Gregg Hunt about a Bomboras reunion, and heard
that there might be something in the works, so if that happens, that's
another good reason to live here.
See ya'll at future gigs (Including Satan's Pilgrims)
Ran
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