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Ted.
Can you say Calif. Tour in 2006 ?
Jeff(bigtikidude)
-- In , "spskins" <superchimp9@h...>
wrote:
>
> On behalf of Satan's Pilgrims, all I have to say to all of SG101 is
> thank you. We couldn't believe the reception and how f*ckin' fun
that
> weekend was. We were even more blown away to find out there were
more
> of you there than we knew about, after the fact. To tell you the
> truth, the list was a great asset to us while we were preparing for
> this. Knowing that people were traveling to see us put us in the
> mindset that this was a big deal and that we needed to deliver the
> goods as best we could. I hope that we still would have put on an
ok
> performance if I hadn't joined, been reading the posts, and
conveying
> to the rest of the guys that "man, there are people flying here to
see
> you play". I think it made them all kind of perk up and go "wow,
ok,
> let's get to work." I've been joking since I got back that we felt
> like Sally Field -"you really DO like us", which is a dumb joke, but
> does have a ring of truth to it.
> It was excellent meeting Brian and Shari, Ran, TFJ, Dano, Eric,
> (Nebulas), Eric H (Surf in Seattle?), and especially the lovely
> Kristena and her man Rudy. Kristena has been a great combination of
> cheerleader and den mother to us through myspace and got us hooked
up
> with our old pals the Ghastly Ones again, along with lots of other
> newer surf/instrumental bands that we would have probably never
heard
> of otherwise. Thanks to all of you plus Dick Messick and Rick Selby,
> who I don't think I got to meet
? Did the Germans ever show?
> I also want to point out that we did not bring the Hammond organ,
> because we just didn't have room, but we did have the Leslie
Speaker.
> The organ Dave used was a Farfisa and TFJ was on the money with his
> assessment of the kit I borrowed for the weekend. OK, on to the Q &
A.
>
> 1) Did you guys have as much fun as we did? How did you guys feel
> about the shows?
>
> We can't imagine anyone having more fun than we did; it was a real
> gasser of a weekend. You know, you can only hope for things to go
> well and that people will show up after 5 years, so we tried not to
> get our hopes up too high. But we couldn't imagine it being any
better
> in every way, especially in Portland. Having fans that appreciate
the
> music travel long distances to see us combined with our old local
fans
> dancing and screaming was really overwhelmingly fantastic for us.
>
> 2) What was your practice sessions leading up to the gigs like? Was
it
> hard to get back in the groove or did you instantly click? Was this
> the first time you guys had played together in 5 years?
>
> Other than the day and a half of recording we did last year for
> Plymouth Rock (four songs), this was the first time we had played
> together in five years. It was definitely the first time we had
played
> the old songs and some of the songs we did, like Grave Up and Ragtop
> we hadn't done in over 6 or 7 yrs, when Bobby stopped playing live.
> We managed to practice four times before the shows. The other guys
> got together 2 times before that, but their Showmans were in the
shop
> getting tuned up, so they used a mix of practice amps (a twin, an
> Orange, and an Ampeg), which made a strange sound together. My
first
> practice was the first with return of the Showmans and they seemed
> very happy to have them back. The first practice was LOUD!!!!!
Dave's
> reverb tank was making all kinds of noise until we realized it was
the
> sound pressure from his speakers. Once we moved the tank, it was
> fine. It was pretty rough, we didn't "instantly click" but we
weren't
> too discouraged. By the third practice I thought it was beginning to
> sound like us again and a lot more balanced.
>
> 3) Is your hand/whatever you cut okay?
>
> "Just a flesh wound". My hands were soft after 5 years of not
playing
> at all and I mashed my knuckle on the rim of the snare-it looked a
lot
> worse than it was. Besides, what's a Satan's Pilgrims show without
> any blood? We got new red belts for the Portland show because, as
> Scott put it, "we needed a touch of red" to add to our stage wear
that
> night. After the show I couldn't help saying to him "I got your
touch
> of red right here."
>
> 4) How did you and the guys assess your own performances?
>
> We always got better crowd response when we flubbed around a
> bit-probably because we start laughing and then start playing around
> with the tunes, giving it a looser, more informal feel. The shows
> where we were totally practiced and tight often equaled a colder
> audience that looked bored. I think these recent shows obviously
fit
> into the first category, which is fine with us. We felt, all in
all,
> that it wasn't too shabby for being five years older, slower, and
not
> having played together for so long.
>
> 5) Did you guys still have all your guitars, amps, gear, outfits,
> capes? Or did anyone have to make some emergency purchases?
>
> We still had some old capes, but they were worn and a little stinky
> too, even after repeated washings, so we got new ones a couple of
> weeks before hand. John's Showman head that he used to play through
> got stolen about a year after we stopped playing, so he used the
Dual
> Showman head that Robert usually used and Robert used a Bassman head
> that we had lying around and a reverb tank that we borrowed from our
> buddy, Sean Fong (thanks Sean). That worked out for the best,
because
> the reverb stopped working in the Dual anyway.
>
> 6) Are you guys still planning on recording remotely and putting new
> material out?
>
> Yes, but I will have to go to Portland to record, or wherever we can
> all be in the same room. We've kind of scrapped the long distance
> idea, although we think the long distance rehearsing and writing we
> did worked pretty well. I'm also obsessed with releasing or
> re-recording an album that we did with a pianist named Thomas
> Lauderdale. He is in a group called Pink Martini and we recorded 10
> songs with him around '96 or so. It was never released because he
> didn't like the sound of his piano and claims the original tapes
have
> been lost. I still have a cassette copy and would love to release
it,
> though it was never mixed and Thomas paid for the recording, so he
has
> control over it. It's all covers and the piano + surf band thing
> worked out really well (think Dave Meyers' Moment of Truth with
> Liberace on piano). It's truly over the top. I think the only way
to
> finish it is to re-record it, which would be a big undertaking, but
> would be worth it.
> If not, we fooled around with some new song ideas at our practices,
so
> a release of new original material is definitely possible as well.
>
> 7.) Did you do Surfin' Bird? And if so what is it like being one of
> America's top vocalists?
>
> No, we didn't do Surfin' Bird. I only sing in European TV, never in
> the USA. No, really, we got so many requests for it in Europe (even
> though we'd never played it before) that we started playing it as an
> encore over there. We might have done it a couple of times here in
the
> US right before we stopped in 2000, but not too often. To be
honest, I
> think we forgot about that, we were in pure instrumental mindset
> (except for Shit Sandwich and Que Honda, of course).
>
> Thanks again and we hope to have something for you in 2006, either a
> record, some shows, or maybe both! We'll see.
> -Ted Pilgrim
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --- In , "Brian Neal" <bgneal@g...>
wrote:
> > Ted,
> >
> > If you don't mind getting put on the spot, can I ask you:
> >
> > 1) Did you guys have as much fun as we did? How did you guys feel
> > about the shows?
> >
> > 2) What was your practice sessions leading up to the gigs like?
Was it
> > hard to get back in the groove or did you instantly click? Was
this
> > the first time you guys had played together in 5 years?
> >
> > 3) Is your hand/whatever you cut okay?
> >
> > 4) How did you and the guys assess your own performances?
> >
> > 5) Did you guys still have all your guitars, amps, gear, outfits,
> > capes? Or did anyone have to make some emergency purchases?
> >
> > 6) Are you guys still planning on recording remotely and putting
new
> > material out?
> >
> > Feel free to decline to answer any/all of the above. ;-)
> >
> > In any event, please accept our thanks once again for the great
shows.
> >
> > BN
