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Yeah, those were good times--more fun at a surf show than I'd ever had
before. I think the best was "Los Campiones Del Justicio."
Too bad the Ghastly Ones sold out so quickly. At least I got 2 of the
last shirts for myself and the NorCal Hodad. I still have to upload
pics, although I'm not sure that there is anymore room at cowabunga.
-K
On Mon, 11 Apr 2005 16:03:09 -0400 "-=Dan Ware=-"
<> writes:
>
> The Ghastly Ones
>
> The Infrareds
>
> The Volcanics
>
> On my epic long flight home Sunday after being bumped from two
> previous
> flights I struggled with how I would review this show without
> sounding like
> a total toolbag, but you know what, I'm just gonna go for it.
>
> First off, I want to thank The Infrareds and most notably Rory for
> picking
> me up at the airport and playing host for my visit. I first met Rory
> widely
> on accident about 5 or 6 years ago when I clicked "next site" off
> someones
> "Cowabunga Webring" link and landed on The Infrareds webpage. I
> liked the
> sample, ordered the disk, liked it enough to contact the email and
> we've
> been friends ever since. Truly great humans and an even better band.
> I
> consider their album "Recorded on Microfilm" to be ESSENTIAL
> listening for
> GOOD surf thats been released within the last 25 years. It was also
> great to
> see some old friends like Jeff BigTikiDude and Clint and his wife.
> All of my
> memories with these people are fond ones, and its an enjoyment to
> add more
> of those memories to the proverbial collection. I also got to meet
> Ran
> Mossesco and Kristena Hernandez from the lists...not only did I get
> to meet
> them, but we rocked our asses off in the first two rows together. I
> could
> not cross paths with them for the next 20 years and one day when I
> do, all I
> have to do is say "The Ghastly Ones" and we'll just smile and nod at
> each
> other.
>
> The Infrareds: As I said, I had been spending the weekend with Rory
> so I was
> able to see the bands routine for preparing for a show. We got to
> the club
> which, as Jeff had mentioned, probably wouldn't have been the best
> venue as
> it seemed to be rooted firmly in the epicenter of the Los Angeles
> Vietnamese
> community. Just very out-of-the-way for a surf show like this, but
> I've
> learned never to underestimate the "huh?"-factor of a
> surf-supportive venue.
> The Infrareds went on first to a pretty mediorce crowd. I think
> timing was
> their enemy as most people who finished the night there had yet to
> show up.
> Now Jeff mentioned they were slow...personally, I think their speed
> was
> great because I was able to really hear what Rory was doing. Rory
> has the
> ability to double pick so fast that a lot of nuances and technique
> gets lost
> at the machine-gun fervor he plays his guitar with in a live
> setting.
> I like to own a band's album, and then go see it happen live. To
> really
> appreciate what The Infrareds are doing, one should own and be
> familiar with
> their stuff. There's no "Mr. Moto" here. All in all it was a great
> performance. Truly impressed. It's definitely the fastest double
> picking
> I've ever seen.
>
> Next up was The Volcanics. The Nebulas played with these guys when
> we toured
> cali back in...whenever. They were nice as hell and came up to me
> before the
> show to say hi, and boy did I feel like a jackhole when I couldn't
> remember
> which one was Benny and which one was Frankie. Oh well, after openly
>
> admitting it, we were reunited again! They've since added a rhythm
> guitar
> (excellent move...rhythm guitar players rule.) and the sound really
> fills
> out. They bring a MOB with them when they come out and play and it
> really
> drives others to get down on the floor and participate in the fray.
> A great
> performance which was punctuated by me haunting the Ghastly Ones
> merch table
> and trying to understand what The Ghastly Ones go-go ghoul dancer
> was trying
> to say to me. Oh well. (She did no rump-shaking this night)
>
> The Ghastly Ones started setting up their stuff, and you know, it
> just gave
> me goosebumps to see the bass drum head say "The Ghastly Ones". I
> never
> thought I would ever have the chance to see these guys perform
> again. They
> set up, and like a good gear-weenie I started scouting their
> equipment.
> Garrett the lead guitar player had a blond Bandmaster...and then I
> saw it.
>
> A strat.*
>
> I cringed. "It can't be!" I thought. The Ghastlies are KNOWN for
> their
> Mosrite sound...how can this be??? 3000 miles for strat-surf!? Oh my
> ears,
> they bleed! The upside was I did see a FuzzRite on the floor. OK,
> things are
> looking up. A deep sigh, and I moved towards the drums. Norman was
> setting
> his stuff up, a vintage Ludwig 4 piece with an 18" bass drum. One
> ride
> cymbal, one crash, one high hat. Now I had never seen the Ghastlies
> in real
> life, but Norman is about 6'3. Probably the only person in the room
> who
> could kick his ass was Jeff BigTikiDude. Its a funny contrast to see
> Norman
> playing this tiny drum kit, but you know what? It worked, and did it
> ever. I
> didn't scout the bass rig because, well...who cares?
>
> They opened with Action Squad, and the place just WENT OFF. It was
> like a
> surf bomb went off. The entire floor in front of the band just
> erupted.
> Norman is basically the frontman for the band and does all the
> talking as
> well as all the voices you hear on the album, and he has a
> charismatic way
> of just drawing everyone in when he goofs on the mic. The band
> started down
> their set list, and were just firing. Here are the songs I remember
> hearing,
> in no order resembling how they played them:
>
> Action Squad
> Diabolos Theme
> Thunderhead (encore, at Ran's request)
> Ghastly Stomp (encore)
> Haulin' Hearse
> Mysterion
> Spookmaster
> Surfin' Spooks
> and the one that was just gangbusters, Los Campiones Del Justicio
>
> Most everyone knew the spanish wrestler names sung during the song,
> so the
> entire crowd was yelling them when the part came. I yelled myself
> hoarse by
> the end of that one.
>
> They were wearing long sleeve purple dress shirts with black crushed
> velvet
> vests, black pants, black leather shoes and the most badass Iron
> Cross
> necklaces with the number "13" mounted in front of the cross,
> followed by
> their signature tophats. They had set up blue/green lights facing up
> at them
> and made ample use of a fog machine.
>
> In summary, they sounded EXACTLY as they would on the album, with
> the
> absence of the organ. It always blows me away how subtle and low-key
> these
> bands are when they play. I guess the music creates this image of
> intense
> concentration, but Garrett just stood there, exerted no obvious
> strain, and
> just gazed out at the crowd and smiled at people he knew, all the
> while
> pegging these parts perfectly. It was an incredible show, and the
> highlight
> came when I tried to use an Infrareds beer ticket to buy a Sam
> Adams, and
> the bartendress said "You can't use a ticket with Sam Adams, its not
>
> domestic."
>
> This struck me as funny, because back in Boston I live two blocks
> from the
> Sam Adams brewery.
>
> "Oh really? I bet its more domestic than you are!" I yelled. I love
> too-loud
> house music.
>
> It was one of the top 5 shows I have ever attended. If you have the
> chance,
> you gotta see it. Just AWESOME.
>
> -Dano
>
> *Please don't flame me for my opinions of the Strat. IMHO there are
> only a
> couple of people who can pull off strat surf and have it sound good.
> Ivan of
> The Madeira and/or The Space Cossacks is one. Why cheat a blues band
> out of
> a guitar? Play a Jag, JM or Mosrite.
>
>
> ----Original Message Follows----
> From: "Brian Neal" <>
> Reply-To:
> To:
> ubject: [SurfGuitar101] Re: Ghastly Ones/Volcanics/Infrareds short
> review
> from last Sat.
> Date: Mon, 11 Apr 2005 17:24:28 -0000
>
>
>
> Jeff,
>
> As always, thanks so much for the show reports. It really helps
> us "geographically challenged" folks to hear how things went first
> hand. I'm hoping Kristena, Ran, and Dano can chime in too!
>
> You got me very interested in The Volcanics too. I'm eager to hear
> what they cook up.
>
> Best,
> BN
>
>
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>
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