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Hello SurfGuitar101,
here is gig review written by Sarah Savoy
As an American who spent most of her summers on various beaches along the three
coasts, surf
rock has long held a strong, inescapable nostalgic quality for me. Although I
have never
concentrated on the genre in any great depth, I have spent my share of
unforgettable nights
listening to live surf jams in crowded bars and under starry skies. With these
memories, and
being from the Deep South, the last place I'd ever have expected to find this
music was the
dark little basement that is Club Schwein in Moscow, Russia.
On August 14, 2004, the outdoor surf festival that was to feature Red Elvises
(USA) and
Moscow-based bands the Vivisectors and Lost Pelicanos was cancelled due to
Moscow's
characteristic late summer torrential rain. Despite the set-back, the
Vivisectors and St.
Petersburg legends the Bombers made up for it with a generous 2-hour set of
instrumental surf
that rocked the chilly night of September 4, conjuring visions of Baja waves and
the taste of
Corona an dlime. The audience flooded to the front of the stage as the
Vivisectors' liquid
guitars and mercurial rhythms warmed them away from their shots of vodka and
carried them over
the waves of a much stronger intoxication--the first song, "Cemetery Boogie".
Arms were
swimming, hips were rolling, and feet were nearly hydroplaning over the wooden
dance floor as
the band flowed with a graceful energy through numbers that included "Cowboy
Surfer", "White
Truck", and an excellent cover of "Wipe Out".
The action on stage was as entertaining as the music while the band pushed and
encouraged each
other with howls and pumping fists, swaying, rocking, and lunging into the music
in a tight
trance that held little regard for the audience. Although the presence of an
audience member
like the geeky kid in the "White Power" t-shirt would normally reflect
negatively on the band,
the Vivisectors were so engulfed in their obvious passion for the music that
they could hardly
have been blamed for having let such an offense go unnoticed.
It was this passion that made the set and had the crowd begging for more as
rhythm guitarists
Mike Antipov and Ivan Chugunov left the stage to let the Bombers take off on
their own with
originals such as "Cucumber Lotion" and "Whores", and covers including "Shakin'
with the Bad
Guy" and "Casbah". With only the three Bombers remaining on stage the show lost
none of its
energy.
Antipov founded the Vivisectors in 2000 as his one-man recording project of
spy-fi and surf.
His album, "A Case History of John Doe," available from Soyuz Records and at
most live shows
today, was received with such crazed attention that he set out to build a
performing group to
give the hungry public more of what they wanted. Antipov saw that it was clearly
too much for
one man. Holding true to the original name, which he says was inspired by
B-movies, Antipov
approached St. Petersburg surf legends the Bombers, made up of Vitali "Kalya"
Andreyev, Max
Temnov and Misha Smirnov for their clear sound and original style that
complimented his own so
well. He recruited Chugunov at a club the night they first met.
The Vivisectors are currently working on their first album as a group and
playing occasional
shows in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
--
Best regards,
Mike/Lena mailto:
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