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Just to throw in some of the song titles as I remember: Vampiro, Plymouth Rock,
Que Honda (with Ted and Bob doing the "ahhhhhh" vocal part), Super Stock, Badge
of Honor, Beach Creep, Boss BSA, Petty 43, Surf Lyre, Burnin'Rubber,
Frankenstomp, Soul Pilgrim, Grave Up, Shit Sandwich, MTWGB, Scorpio VI, Spanish
Head, Haunted House of Rock, Tranquilizer, Malaguena (Portland only), Ragtop,
Godfather, maybe Creature Feature in Seattle only & I think Boneshaker at one or
both shows. I'm sure they played a few more that I can't recall.
Also, for the drum dorks, I beleive Teddy was playing a borrowed 1960s blue
sparkle Ludwig kit (20/13/16) with matching snare.
jim
----- Original Message -----
From: Brian Neal
To: ; ;
Sent: Monday, June 06, 2005 12:53 AM
Subject: [cowabunga] Satan's Pilgrims Show Report - Part 1 - Seattle
Friday June 3rd
Post Pre show report: Picking up where I left off in my pre-show
report (on SG101), our party expanded to include myself, Shari, Dick
Messick, and 3 of the mighty Nebulas: TFJ, Dano Ware, and Eric. We
showed up at the Fun House at the advertised door time, but nothing at
all was happening. So all of us (minus TFJ) went out for some food. A
great time was had hanging out with Dick, Dano, and Eric while they
wolfed down some pizza. Not only do the Nebulas rock and have that
intangible "it" quality of a first class surf band, but they are
genuinely cool and funny people. We were truly in great company, and
it got even better the 2nd night (much more on that in part 2).
Making it back to the venue, we found it to be a fairly small aluminum
box with a large evil clown head over the door. Typical dive bar.
Typical, except for that it is literally across the street from the
Space Needle. Inside we were reunited with Ran (from the Astroglides),
and I got to meet Eric Hutchinson of "signing each post with 'Surf in
Seattle?' fame". Great guy. I also got to say hi to Ted Pilgrim, it
was so cool to finally meet you. We quickly bought some t-shirts and a
show flyer. Shari, with Ted's help, managed to get all 5 pilgrims to
sign our flyer. How cool is that? That will be framed and on the wall
very shortly.
The first band was a punk band. Not my thing, enough said.
The second band was Girl Trouble, who are apparently stalwarts of the
Pacific NW scene (going on 20 years). Like Rick Selby mentioned, the
lead singer has a tendency to take off his shirt, play maracas, and
just act goofy. Under other circumstances I may have enjoyed the
performance, but by this time they were all that stood between me and
Satan's Pilgrims. I was just itching to get it started. Sorry, Girl
Trouble, I'll check you out later.
Making a beeline to the stage after Girl Trouble, we had an all SG101
lineup across the front row. After the guys setup, the show began.
Now let me just say it plain and simple. I never imagined that I would
ever get a chance to see SP. Not in a million years. I thought I had
missed my chance. But here I was, on the verge of seeing them TWICE.
SATAN'S PILGRIMS! Everyone I was with felt the same way. We were all
so incredibly pumped.
So the show began. The guys took the stage wearing their trademark
outfits: matching white Levi's, matching black boots and belts, black
shirts, and of course, the black capes. Damn they looked cool. The
backline was filled with Showman amps and reverb tanks (although there
is some debate about John's bass rig). They brought their Hammond
organ, complete with the rotating speaker cabinet. Holy crap. Guitars
were: Scott: white Jaguar, Dave: red Jaguar, Bobby: one of those
hollowbody Mosrites (Celebrity?) - sunburst with a Ventures logo,
John: I have no idea...a Silvertone with a Fender neck? As for drums,
maybe Ted or TFJ can say...I'm not a drummer.
And then it was like being hit from a bolt from heaven...I simply
could not believe I was witnessing Satan's Pilgrims playing live right
in front of me. It truly was an out-of-body-experience. They started
off with Vampiro, Plymouth Rock, and then into Que Honda. Simply
unbelievable. They had a two page set-list, and they damn near played
them all before running out of time. Hit after hit, all my favorite SP
songs and covers. These guys had tremendous stage presence, and had
very cool choreography. Dave Pilgrim switched from his Jaguar to the
organ on several numbers. I was simply blown away by the whole
thing....amazing. I was screaming my fool head off.
Seeing and hearing their 3 guitar attack was overwhelming. These guys
know exactly what to do with 3 guitars; 2 guys are doing the
traditional lead guitar and chunking/rhythm guitar stuff. The third
guy, usually Bobby, was playing what I can only describe as
"embellishing" guitar, adding drifting minor chords, little lead
texture lines, and just filling in the holes to make a solid wall of
sound. It was SO DAMN cool. John is also very good on the bass, very
fun to watch, and Ted is a monster on the drums. Ted often stands up
to play, and his bass drum was walking across the floor half the night
until a cement block was thrown on stage to stop it. The guitar
players often mixed up their roles; eg. sometimes Scott took leads and
sometimes Bobby. Dave switched to the organ. Each guy is tremendously
talented, and all are working together like a machine. There is no
leader, each guy is adding his part, and without each member, it just
would not be the same. I think that is an essential element in the SP
formula.
I wish I could remember all of the songs...there were so many...I was
definitely not disappointed in the song selection. They are one of the
few surf bands that have a huge catalog of material (all top notch
too) to pick from. Please, the others that were there, fill in the
songs I am forgetting: Scorpio 6, Rag Top, Godfather Theme, Music to
Watch Girls Go By, Badge of Honor, Shit Sandwich (a crowd favorite,
but they all were), Haunted House of Rock, Soul Pilgrim, etc. Again,
please help with the rest, there was so many more I am spacing them
off right now.
The crowd was really going crazy the whole time, and the bar literally
shut everything down and threw everyone out onto the street shortly
before 2 am. The guys had played almost an hour and a half.
Wow...!!!!! What a show, easily one of the best, if not the best, I
have ever seen. And then I got to see them the next night! That's
coming up in part 2....
BN
PS
Once I get my SG101 website back online (it was crushed under the
weight of the SG101 mp3 compilation - 16 GB of bandwidth in 12 hours!)
I will post a ton of pictures and some quicktime video clips. I'll
announce that later.
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