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July 8th, Indianapolis - The Melody Inn
My wife Shari and I drove to Indianapolis and Chicago for the start of
an incredible weekend. Here is part 1 of our report. In the words of
the Penetrators, it was indeed a "High Speed Weekend" consisting of
long drives, very little sleep, great surf music, and meeting lots of
cool people.
It's hard to believe but I have made the annual trek to Indianapolis 4
years in a row now (I was there twice last year). Patrick from
Destination: Earth! / The Madeira is instrumental (pun-intended) in
setting up a Surf Rock gig or two every summer there. This year was no
exception, and it was killer. A big thank you to Patrick for the Indy
gig. Bravo.
First up, all the way from Atlanta (!!!) was The Surge. This band is a
three piece, with Eddie Catcher on the white Jazzmaster guitar, Mike
on the white P-Bass (props for the bridge cover!), and Elliot, aka
Illya "Stix" Stechkin from The Penetrators, on drums. I was very
excited to see these guys, as The Penetrators are one of my all time
favorite bands. They had a nice backline; Eddie is an amp/guitar whiz
who restores and recovers all kinds of amps, chopping them up to make
them piggybacks. I forgot to ask exactly what he had there, but it
appeared to be a blonde Bandmaster or Showman with 2 15" blonde
cabinets. And yes, a reverb tank topped things off. Mike also had 2
15" cabs with a modern (?) bass head put into a vintage style
piggyback head chassis, all blonde, of course. Cool!
I believe they opened up with Squad Car and went right into Movin'.
These guys were very good, and I had a huge smile on my face from the
start. Both Eddie and Mike are really great players and it was quite a
thrill to see S3 Agent #013 in action on the drum kit. They played a
lot of covers, but also a handful of really fantastic originals. I am
hoping that they will release these originals soon, as they were
excellent! Songs that I remember include a great version of Jon & The
Nightriders Storm Dancer, The Shadows Man of Mystery and The Savage,
and Beatnik Bandit by The Volcanos (whoo-hoo!). And who can forget the
surfed up cover of The Pink Panther! They closed with a tribute to
Penetrators lead guitarist Rip Thrillby; I'm not sure I got the title
right, but I think it was "Rip Thrillby: The Legend of Scott Rogers".
I knew next to nothing about these guys before the show, but was very
lucky and fortunate to catch them. Again, I hope they can record their
originals and get them out. Look for them!
I got to talk to Eddie a bit off and on during the rest of the night,
he's a truly friendly and interesting guy. He showed me a "family
photo" of his guitars and amps, it was jaw dropping. In addition to
restoring amps and tinkering with guitars, he has a home studio in his
basement, and builds racing boats. He actually saw the Astronauts in
1965 in Atlanta, and told me about meeting the guys! The Astronauts
are his favorite band, who started him on his love of instro-surf. He
told a great story of how he never stopped listening to surf-instros
his whole life, but continued to play other types of music in cover
bands through the years. Then one fateful day he walked into a bar in
1995 and saw the Penetrators. He immediately quit his other bands and
started the X-Rays (I think), which played instro-surf around the
Atlanta area for 7 or so years. I'm gonna try and twist his arm and
get him on the SG101 list, I think he'd be a great resource. I also
have to add how cool and friendly Elliot and Mike were...we were so
lucky to catch the Surge! A very nice surprise.
(I also learned the Penetrators are going to be playing over Labor Day
weekend in Atlanta...!)
Next up, fresh from an astonishing 16 hour drive, were the Nebulas.
This was the 2nd time I had seem them play (I caught them 2 years ago
in Indy), and it was only a month ago that we were awestruck Satan's
Pilgrims fans along with Nebulas Jim, Eric, and Dano in Seattle and
Portland. So it was very good to see them again. Mike had his white
Mosrite guitar with two, yes, two, Showman amps (!!), Eric with his
white Mustang bass, and Dano with his white Jaguar. All Showman amp
lineup too. Hell yeah. Jim was playing his green drum kit with the
light inside the bass drum illuminating the Nebulas logo. I think Mike
had a Fender reverb tank while Dano had his new Guyatone tank (it's
kind of jarring because it has Marshall like cosmetics; but it sounded
great). The last time I saw them play, their second CD had not come
out yet, but they went ahead and played a lot of cuts from it. This
time was the same way, they played maybe 50% unreleased new material
and 50% from their first 2 CD's. The new stuff is really good, I
cannot wait until they record it and get it released. I think their
first song of the night was the unreleased Retribution, and it is just
what you would expect from the Nebulas, tough, mean and just bad-ass.
Because there was so much unfamiliar material (for me), I can't quote
too many song titles, but let's just leave it at this: wow. Intense
stuff. In the cover department these guys really shine. They go for
the good gems. First of all, they did a totally shredding version of
The Penetrators Redlined, which got a big reaction from the Surge
guys, and well, everyone in the place. Awesome. Another great reminder
of last month's Satan's Pilgrims extravaganza was their rippin'
version of Ichabod Crane from the Creature Feature CD (the modern
classic of our times). A fantastic and unexpected surfed up cover song
was the AM radio staple "Bus Stop" (In fact, my wife heard this at the
grocery store this morning!). They totally surfed it out and it really
worked very well! I hope they record this at some point. Great fun!
Rhino Chaser, from their first CD, was also to die
for...mean...tuff...intense. I can't say enough good things about
these guys...they are definitely one of the best bands in the genre
today. I don't know how they managed to stand upright after a 16 hour
drive, but they really delivered and the crowd really dug these guys.
I'll have much more to say on them in part 2 of the report..so stay
tuned for that.
The final band of the night was The Madeira. For those of you who
don't know, this is a band featuring Ivan from the Space Cossacks,
Patrick aka Commander 007 from Destination: Earth!, Dane on drums, and
Todd on bass. The Madeira started out as a side project between Ivan
and Dane, and you can hear their early work on the Monster Party 2000
disc. But now it has grown into a real band with the addition of
Patrick and now Todd (this was his second show with the band). These
guys have been cooking up great things in the past year, and are just
about set to record. Based upon what I have seen and heard this is
going to be a fantastic release. The Madeira play a very hard hitting
brand of surf music featuring whirling exotic melodies, pounding
drums, and frantic, brain scrambling rhythm guitar. Sandstorm seems to
start all the sets I've seen, with Ivan playing haunting, echo'ing
chords solo to lull you in. Then the rest of the band kicks in with
pulverizing fury. It is an intense song that will jar your teeth
loose. From there the band ripped into about a dozen originals with a
handful of covers. El Caliph is a menacing grinder of a song where you
can almost see the Orc army in Lord of The Rings marching along too. I
was also totally thrilled to hear them play a relatively new song
written by Patrick called Burning Mirage. Unbelievable..this will be a
standout track for sure. Also watch out for Cordoba, another favorite
of mine. Desert Drums is also very notable, and as you might imagine
features some really awesome drumwork that had everyone cheering Dane
on. I also really love their choice of covers: Dilmohammed by The
Treble Spankers complete with crashing reverb tanks (people actually
danced to this!!!), Express to Baghdad by The Atlantics, a stunning
version of Paco de Lucia's Almoraima (how did you pick this one
guys?), and the song that brings the house down, Intruder by the Surf
Coasters. Patrick and Ivan's playing complement each other so
well...Patrick is one of the few people I have ever seen pull off that
intense manic Shadows/Atlantics style of rhythm guitar playing. Seeing
him play on Tsar Wars and The Victor is exhausting! He's amazing! The
Madeira are definitely a killer, killer band and these guys were on
fire that night. I know I'm already laying it on too thick, but I
thought the roof was going to come down during Tsar Wars. Each
successive verse got crazier and more intense than the other. Wow. And
who can forget the dizzying Space Cossacks tune Transylvanian Orbit
which has been renamed to Ricochet in this incarnation. To avoid
pounding the crowd to death, the Madeira also have a couple of really
cool slower numbers: The Secret Route and Crescent Moon. All I can say
is WOW and thank you! Keep your eyes peeled for their new CD, which we
will hopefully see later this year on Double Crown Records.
Oh yeah, the gear...Ivan was playing his gold strat through a reverb
tank into his new Fender Dual Professional with Weber California
speakers...it sounded awesome. This was the first time I had heard him
without his Vox amp. Patrick seemed to have a new dark blue strat,
playing through a reverb tank into an evil Twin. Todd had a sunburst
Jazz bass going into a Fender tube amp rig. Dane also had a new more
trad style drum kit, it looked very similar to what the Volcanos
drummer has.
Wow..that was the end of the first night...great music and great new
friends. Coming up in part 2...the Chicago Exotica event...but I'm
gonna have to recharge after writing this lengthy novel here.
Shari also snapped literally gigabytes of photos and video clips...I
think I might be running out of room on SurfGuitar101.com, but we'll
see...those will come a bit later. Look for those "real soon now".
I also cannot say enough how much fun I had this weekend. There is
nothing better than real live surf music and meeting all the cool
people in the scene..the bands and the fans.
BN
Thanks Brian!
For those of us not lucky enough to be there, your
indepth show reports are eagerly devoured. Especially
exciting to hear about Stix's new band.
And, I don't want to sidetrack this thread, but I
believe that "Redlined" may be becoming a new
standard. I have heard a few bands play it, including
a Netherlands(?) band on Phil Dirt's show last
saturday. The Madiera's version of "Intruder" is
awesome... I am sure that would be a standard if more
than 2 guitarists on the planet could play it!
fd
--- Brian Neal <> wrote:
> July 8th, Indianapolis - The Melody Inn
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--- In , Ferenc Dobronyi <ferencnd@y...>
wrote:
> Thanks Brian!
> For those of us not lucky enough to be there, your
> indepth show reports are eagerly devoured.
Thank you Ferenc! In case you can't tell I eat this stuff up :-) Here
are two preview photos from Friday night until we can get our stuff
together on the web pages.
More random details that I just remembered: the Surge also played The
Wedge and Bulldog, while the Nebulas closed with the obscuro Frankie
N. Stein classic "Bodies Under The Bridge" which is the secret track
at the end of It's Go Time.
BN
Brian,
Great to meet you (and Freddie, Mike & Oceana, TooFastJim, and
dozens of others) at the Luau in Chicago, which became a true "surf
summit" if there ever was one!
I only wish I coulda been at the show the night before to see The
Surge. <sigh> Fun hanging out with them in Chi-Town, even if they
weren't playing.
I've uploaded two of my own favorite pics from the Chicago event --
a nice closeup of Ivan from The Madeira and good group shot of The
Nebulas -- to the "Photos" area of this group.
I'm also eagerly awaiting the second half of your report, and I will
also try to assemble my own literary musings on the event into some
kinda coherent form.
--GREGORY NICOLL
Southern Surf Syndicate Agent #044
--- In , "Brian Neal" <bgneal@g...>
wrote:
> --- In , Ferenc Dobronyi
<ferencnd@y...>
> wrote:
> > Thanks Brian!
> > For those of us not lucky enough to be there, your
> > indepth show reports are eagerly devoured.
>
> Thank you Ferenc! In case you can't tell I eat this stuff up :-)
Here
> are two preview photos from Friday night until we can get our stuff
> together on the web pages.
>
>
>
>
> More random details that I just remembered: the Surge also played
The
> Wedge and Bulldog, while the Nebulas closed with the obscuro
Frankie
> N. Stein classic "Bodies Under The Bridge" which is the secret
track
> at the end of It's Go Time.
>
> BN
--- In , "Gregory Nicoll"
<gregorynicoll@h...> wrote:
> Brian,
>
> Great to meet you (and Freddie, Mike & Oceana, TooFastJim, and
> dozens of others) at the Luau in Chicago, which became a
true "surf
> summit" if there ever was one!
>
> I only wish I coulda been at the show the night before to see The
> Surge. <sigh> Fun hanging out with them in Chi-Town, even if they
> weren't playing.
>
> I've uploaded two of my own favorite pics from the Chicago event --
> a nice closeup of Ivan from The Madeira and good group shot of The
> Nebulas -- to the "Photos" area of this group.
>
> I'm also eagerly awaiting the second half of your report, and I
will
> also try to assemble my own literary musings on the event into
some
> kinda coherent form.
>
> --GREGORY NICOLL
> Southern Surf Syndicate Agent #044
>
GREGORY
yeah, just terrific to finally meet ya
what a special day that was!
Unsteady Freddie
Great review by Brian - thanks, Brian! I'll add a few things as I
remember them.
This High Speed Weekend has left a lot of things a blur (I drove 600
miles, and slept a combined nine hours between Friday and Sunday),
but what I can say is that this was the most fun I'd had a in a
long, long time! Truly a great weekend. My bandmates and myself
were very pleased with how everything worked out, too.
--- In , Brian Neal <bgneal@g...> wrote:
> July 8th, Indianapolis - The Melody Inn
> First up, all the way from Atlanta (!!!) was The Surge... [snip]
> They had a nice backline; Eddie is an amp/guitar whiz who restores
> and recovers all kinds of amps, chopping them up to make
> them piggybacks. I forgot to ask exactly what he had there, but it
> appeared to be a blonde Bandmaster or Showman with 2 15" blonde
> cabinets.
I asked him - it was a '68 Dual Showman Reverb. He replaced the
faceplate with a brown plate that was made for him by some dude.
The only brown faceplates the guy makes, though, say Twin Reverb on
them (why??? a browface twin reverb never existed - weird!), so
that's what it said on his amp. The 15" cabs were custom-made and
much smaller than the regular Fender 1x15" cabs - both for Eddie and
Mike the bass player. Think regular 2x15" cab sawed in two. This
was to facilitate carrying and reduce the weight. The sound though
was just perfect, absolutely perfect.
> I believe they opened up with Squad Car and went right into Movin'.
> They played a lot of covers, but also a handful of really
> fantastic originals. I am hoping that they will release these
> originals soon, as they were excellent!
I wholeheartedly agree. I must admit that I was a bit skeptical
before the show, but the Surge have written some realy great surf
songs! They completely won me over. They probably played four or
five originals, and I found myself diggin' the hell out of each
one.
> Songs that I remember
> include a great version of Jon & The Nightriders Storm Dancer, The
> Shadows Man of Mystery and The Savage, and Beatnik Bandit by The
> Volcanos (whoo-hoo!).
Actually, I asked them about the Volcanos song, and it was "Deora".
Really cool! They also did a Laika & the Cosmonauts song, something
from either Instruments of Terror or Amazing Collossal Band.
> And who can forget the surfed up cover of The Pink Panther!
That was great! Eddie has a real knack for the Ventures' stuff, and
can sound a lot like Nokie, which was awesome. They did some other
Ventures covers, but they escape me at the moment.
> They closed with a tribute to Penetrators lead guitarist Rip
> Thrillby; I'm not sure I got the title right, but I think it
> was "Rip Thrillby: The Legend of Scott Rogers".
I think the title was "Rippin': The Legend of Scott Rogers." I
talked to Eddie about it later, and he said that he wrote it the
night of the tribute show for Rip in Atlanta. He was coming back
from the show, deeply moved, and was thinking, 'is that all there
is?' So, he started writing a song for Rip in his head, and when he
got home "Rippin'" just poured out of him, in complete form. I
gotta say that the song got me really choked up. It's a truly
fitting tribute, and it perfectly captures Rip's guitar and
songwriting style as well as his irreverence and energy.
In fact, I really think that Rip was with us on Friday night. The
Surge finished with "Rippin'", the Nebulas played a super-intense
cover of "Redlined" which they dedicated to Rip and Stix and the
Penetrators, and I dedicated the Space Cossacks' "Transatlantic
Orbit" to him. Mike and I at some point shared our memories of Rip
and both got so emotional we almost started crying. And when I
talked to Stix (Elliot) after the show, he pointed out that there
was just an incredible mood at the Melody Inn that night, and that
he was feeling some emotions that he hasn't felt in a long time. I
agreed, and we also started getting choked up! We both thought that
Rip's presence seemed palpable. I think Rip was diggin' the
proceedings... :)
> I knew next to nothing about these guys before the show, but was
very
> lucky and fortunate to catch them. Again, I hope they can record
their
> originals and get them out. Look for them!
Totally agreed. The Surge are a fantastic band! Great musicianship
and even better feel for surf music - they just did it RIGHT! Not
superenergetic, but very melodic and simply beautiful. And though
they are a three-piece, there were only maybe two songs where I even
noticed it. All three musicians complement each other very well.
And, damn, it was SO good to not only see and talk with Sticks
again, but to actually see him play again. It's been seven years
since the last time, which is just unbelievable.
> He actually saw the Astronauts in
> 1965 in Atlanta, and told me about meeting the guys! The Astronauts
> are his favorite band, who started him on his love of instro-surf.
To answer Klas, Eddie said that the Astronauts didn't play any
instros when he saw them. In fact, Rich Fifield (lead guitar) was
playing a Mustang (!) through a Super Reverb (!!) with two blown
speakers. The two of them bonded over that, since Eddie was also
using a Super Reverb which had two blown speakers (according to
Eddie a common affliction of those amps). Eddie said they were
playing as part of some women's fashion show in Atlanta, and there
was modeling followed by the band followed by more modeling, etc.
The Astronauts were not happy to be doing the show! Eddie also
pointed out that the Astronauts were his heroes even when he was
trying to do the whole British-Merseybeat thing, cause their
vocal/r&b stuff was a lot easier to copy and play than the Beatles
harmonies, etc. He and his band learned the whole "Everything Is A-
OK" live LP when they had to start doing vocals!
> I'm gonna try and twist his arm and
> get him on the SG101 list, I think he'd be a great resource.
That would be great! A super nice guy, as is Mike the bass player.
Truly good and talented people. And they were in such good cheer
when on stage, beaming with smiles, clearly having the time of their
lives! Eddie and I agreed that there's just nothing better than
playing live this music we love.
> (I also learned the Penetrators are going to be playing over Labor
Day
> weekend in Atlanta...!)
I didn't know that! Cool!
> Next up, fresh from an astonishing 16 hour drive, were the Nebulas.
> Mike had his white Mosrite guitar with two, yes, two, Showman amps
Actually, he didn't use both. He was intending on it, but the
splitter box he recently got wasn't working right, and the two amps
together didn't sound very good. So, he just was playing through
one - which, believe me, was PLENTY! Holy crap, that guy is loud!
(probably a pot calling the kettle black! :) But I gotta say that
his tone was monstrous. I don't know many people that good a really
good surf tone out of a Mosrite, but Rudy definitely does. It was
huge, fat, aggressive, insert your favorite adjetive here - it was
all those things. really impressive.
> they played maybe 50% unreleased new material
> and 50% from their first 2 CD's. The new stuff is really good, I
> cannot wait until they record it and get it released. I think their
> first song of the night was the unreleased Retribution, and it is
> just what you would expect from the Nebulas, tough, mean and just
> bad-ass. Because there was so much unfamiliar material (for me), I
> can't quote too many song titles, but let's just leave it at this:
> wow. Intense stuff.
Yeah, these guys don't compromise - they do what they want! Gotta
love that! I think they played a total of two originals from the
first two albums! (At least they did Rhino Chaser, one of the 21st
century surf classics for sure!) The new songs are overall very
good, some better than others. The two that truly blew me away
were "Logan's Run" and "All Your Base Belongs To Us" (or something
like that - named after some internet thing from a few years ago).
Melodic, spooky, energetic stuff, played to perfection! They joined
these two songs with a bit of 'space-noise' played on their
instruments - I gotta say that NOBODY does 'space-noise' better than
the Nebulas! They do it so many different ways, and it's always
very, very cool. Anyway, those are the two that really left an
impression. But all of the new songs were really tough and
intense. Which I think is an apt description of the band, as well.
Rudy (Mike, whatever you prefer) is a truly outstanding surf
guitarists. He's a tall, lean guy, and he's got a way of bending
over his Mosrite in a way that reminds me of some big predatory
jungle cat coiled up to strike at some innocent animal and devour
it. He's just pure intensity when he plays, double-picking into
total stupor. I think he actually ended up with a blister on his
thumb from the intensity of the double-picking (which popped the
next day - nasty, especially when trying to play on Saturday
night!). All the players complement each other very well, and I had
a blast just watching Eric, the bass player, who is like the coolest
mo-fo in surf music ever. He's got this indescribable punk cool
about him that's just hypnotizing. Frozen in a wide stance, his
head just bobbing up and down, staring straight ahead, with an
emotionless face. Totally exudes confidence! And Jim was just
ripping out great rhythms to ground Rudy's insanity, while playing
some really fast fills. The only bummer for me is that it was
difficult to hear Dano on rhythm guitar - I think his tone was just
too trebly, and though I told him to turn up three times (which he
obliged) he would still frequently get swallowed up by the band.
Bad mojo for using a Marshall-looking reverb unit! ;)
> I can't say enough good things about
> these guys...they are definitely one of the best bands in the genre
> today.
Ditto!
> I don't know how they managed to stand upright after a 16 hour
> drive,
Man, these guys are NUTS! Not only did they drive for 16 hours, but
then three of them (minus Jim the drummer, who stayed with us) went
on to drive almost to Chicago, where Rudy's girlfriend's mother
lived! How nuts is that??! They were up and mostly in the van for
almost 24 hours straight. Jim crashed (as I did) at the Madeira
drummer Dane's house, and then drove to Chicago the next day with
me. That was a lot of fun, gave us a lot of chance to talk, which
was very cool.
> but they really delivered and the crowd really dug these > guys.
They got a GREAT reception! I was very pleased.
Thanks Brian for all the kind things about the Madeira. I'll just
briefly comment...
> I also really love their choice of covers: Dilmohammed by The
> Treble Spankers complete with crashing reverb tanks (people
actually
> danced to this!!!), Express to Baghdad by The Atlantics, a stunning
> version of Paco de Lucia's Almoraima (how did you pick this one
> guys?),
I've been listening to de Lucia since the mid-nineties, and
around '99 it occured to me that Almoraima may make a great surf
song, with those north african tonalities. it's a modern flamenco
classic, and in many ways one of his most celebrated recordings.
The verse has the classic surf chord progression, Em-D-C-B (IVm-III-
II-I - think Walk Don't Run and about a thousand other surf songs),
but the song is definitely different enough that I thought though it
would work as a surf song it would add something new to the genre.
Dane and I actually recorded a version of it back in '00, with
Catherine Gray of the Space Cossacks on bass, but it was never
released.
> Patrick is one of the few people I have ever seen pull off that
> intense manic Shadows/Atlantics style of rhythm guitar playing.
> Seeing him play on Tsar Wars and The Victor is exhausting! He's
> amazing!
Here, here. I will just say that I don't think there are many
people in the whole world that could do what Patrick does in the
Madeira. How I got so luck as to play with him, I will never know!
> Oh yeah, the gear...Ivan was playing his gold strat through a
reverb
> tank into his new Fender Dual Professional with Weber California
> speakers...it sounded awesome.
Close, but not quite - there was no reverb unit. Or I should say,
no standalone unit, since the Dual Pro has one built into the amp.
I showed up at these shows with one guitar, one amp, and one bag
with some cords and a couple of pedals. I've been dreaming of this
day! The less gear, the better!
> This was the first time I had heard him
> without his Vox amp. Patrick seemed to have a new dark blue strat,
> playing through a reverb tank into an evil Twin.
Actually, it's the same Strat that he's had since '99 or so. The
only difference is that he put a tortoishell pickguard on it, so we
all three now have (admittedly different color) Fenders with tort
pickguards on them - check out the PJ & the Galaxies Rare Surf, Vol.
1 CD cover to see what we were going for.
> Todd had a sunburst Jazz bass going into a Fender tube amp rig.
Yep, it's a '62 reissue J-bass and a Fender Bassman 300 all-tube
amp. That amp sounds amazing. He also JUST got a '65 Dual Showman,
so we'll see how that works out.
> Dane also had a new more
> trad style drum kit, it looked very similar to what the Volcanos
> drummer has.
It's a new Gretsch Catalina kit, pretty small and very vintage in
design, like a sixties jazz kit, made out of mahogany. Tiny kick
drum, but man, that things sounds awesome!
> I also cannot say enough how much fun I had this weekend. There is
> nothing better than real live surf music and meeting all the cool
> people in the scene..the bands and the fans.
Here, here!! Brian and Shari are such wonderful people, and it's
always a privelege to get to spend some time with them. Friday was
really like an intimate family reunion, and it was beautiful. Lots
of warm fuzzies all around. Saturday, on the other hand, was an
explosion of surf music amidst a sea of people (though there were
again a few long-awaited reunions), but that will be in the next
part....
Ivan
I know this may seem indulgent, but for those of us who were there,
this really was an amazing time. Let me comment on Ivan's comments to
my comments...
> > Songs that I remember
> > include a great version of Jon & The Nightriders Storm Dancer, The
> > Shadows Man of Mystery and The Savage, and Beatnik Bandit by The
> > Volcanos (whoo-hoo!).
>
> Actually, I asked them about the Volcanos song, and it was "Deora".
Yes, I just checked...I goofed and got those mixed up.
> I think the title was "Rippin': The Legend of Scott Rogers." I
> talked to Eddie about it later, and he said that he wrote it the
> night of the tribute show for Rip in Atlanta. He was coming back
> from the show, deeply moved, and was thinking, 'is that all there
> is?' So, he started writing a song for Rip in his head, and when he
> got home "Rippin'" just poured out of him, in complete form. I
> gotta say that the song got me really choked up. It's a truly
> fitting tribute, and it perfectly captures Rip's guitar and
> songwriting style as well as his irreverence and energy.
It really was a great song, I hope it can be recorded and released,
along with their other originals.
> In fact, I really think that Rip was with us on Friday night. The
> Surge finished with "Rippin'", the Nebulas played a super-intense
> cover of "Redlined" which they dedicated to Rip and Stix and the
> Penetrators, and I dedicated the Space Cossacks' "Transatlantic
> Orbit" to him. Mike and I at some point shared our memories of Rip
> and both got so emotional we almost started crying. And when I
> talked to Stix (Elliot) after the show, he pointed out that there
> was just an incredible mood at the Melody Inn that night, and that
> he was feeling some emotions that he hasn't felt in a long time. I
> agreed, and we also started getting choked up! We both thought that
> Rip's presence seemed palpable. I think Rip was diggin' the
> proceedings... :)
Well I am a Johnny-come-lately to the surf scene, and I obviously
missed the mid-90's glory days of the Space Cossacks, Fathoms,
Penetrators, etc, and don't even really know you guys at all. But I
also really felt something, as corny as that may sound. When The
Nebulas and you both mentioned the Penetrators you could really
visibly see how moved the Surge guys were. It was cool.
I really liked your description of Mike/Rudy and Eric too. Mike has
this wry smile on his face when he plays too...
> > Oh yeah, the gear...Ivan was playing his gold strat through a
> reverb
> > tank into his new Fender Dual Professional with Weber California
> > speakers...it sounded awesome.
>
> Close, but not quite - there was no reverb unit. Or I should say,
> no standalone unit, since the Dual Pro has one built into the amp.
Yeah I am in the habit of automatically adding "reverb tank" to every
description of surf guitarists...how does the Dual Pro's built in
reverb tank sound? I hear it really is the stand alone unit circuit
plugged right in, although the custom shop did change some of the
components to match the change to the 6V6 (the reissue reverb tanks
didn't do this, which is supposedly why the 6K6 swap sounds better on
them).
> > Patrick seemed to have a new dark blue strat,
> > playing through a reverb tank into an evil Twin.
>
> Actually, it's the same Strat that he's had since '99 or so. The
> only difference is that he put a tortoishell pickguard on it, so we
> all three now have (admittedly different color) Fenders with tort
> pickguards on them - check out the PJ & the Galaxies Rare Surf, Vol.
> 1 CD cover to see what we were going for.
Ahh....so he did get those stickers off then? Very good!
And one thing I failed to mention in part 1, Larry N from Chicago was
also there again this year. It was very cool seeing him and talking to
him again.
Okay I'll get to work on part 2...
BN
Preview pic of the Madeira from Indy:
BN
I play that same Gretsch set in marine pearl. It's a wonderful little kit.
-Marty
----- Original Message -----
From: Brian Neal
To:
Sent: Tuesday, July 12, 2005 5:35 PM
Subject: [SurfGuitar101] Re: Exotica High Speed Weekend Part 1
Preview pic of the Madeira from Indy:
BN
.
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--- In , "Brian Neal" <bgneal@g...>
wrote:
> I know this may seem indulgent, but for those of us who were there,
> this really was an amazing time. Let me comment on Ivan's comments
> to my comments...
OK! Now it's my turn to comment on Brian's comments to my comments
to Brian's comments...
> how does the Dual Pro's built in
> reverb tank sound? I hear it really is the stand alone unit circuit
> plugged right in, although the custom shop did change some of the
> components to match the change to the 6V6 (the reissue reverb tanks
> didn't do this, which is supposedly why the 6K6 swap sounds better
> on them).
That's right. I don't know any of the technical stuff, but when I
plugged my 6K6 and 12AT7 from my good reverb unit into the Dual Pro,
the reverb sounded like ass. However, with a normal 6V6 and two
12AX7s, it sounds really good. I can't tell the difference between
it and my modded blonde reissue unit with NOS tubes (the reverb unit
i've used since '96, including all the Space Cossacks stuff). I
actually plugged it in, and then switched between the built-in unit
and the standalone unit, and I couldn't hear one iota of a
difference. The Custom Shop guys did a hell of a job with that
reverb, I think. I don't know what they did, though, but they
clearly changed it somehow, given the tube differences. Does
anybody know?
> And one thing I failed to mention in part 1, Larry N from Chicago
> was also there again this year. It was very cool seeing him and
> talking to him again.
Yes! We left out Larry! He drove all the way down to Indy from
Chicago - but then the next day totally missed the Nebulas and
showed up halfway through the Madeira set! Oops! He didn't realize
we were going on so early. But it was great to see him at both
shows - thanks for coming, if you're reading this.
> Okay I'll get to work on part 2...
Looking forward to it!
Ivan
Hey Ivan,
Is the Dual Pro hand wired? How many watts and is it heavy (like a Twin)? It
sounds quite cool to have that built-in tank. I hear the Vibro King has that as
well.
-Marty
----- Original Message -----
From: ipongrac
To:
Sent: Tuesday, July 12, 2005 6:51 PM
Subject: [SurfGuitar101] Re: Exotica High Speed Weekend Part 1
--- In , "Brian Neal" <bgneal@g...>
wrote:
> I know this may seem indulgent, but for those of us who were there,
> this really was an amazing time. Let me comment on Ivan's comments
> to my comments...
OK! Now it's my turn to comment on Brian's comments to my comments
to Brian's comments...
> how does the Dual Pro's built in
> reverb tank sound? I hear it really is the stand alone unit circuit
> plugged right in, although the custom shop did change some of the
> components to match the change to the 6V6 (the reissue reverb tanks
> didn't do this, which is supposedly why the 6K6 swap sounds better
> on them).
That's right. I don't know any of the technical stuff, but when I
plugged my 6K6 and 12AT7 from my good reverb unit into the Dual Pro,
the reverb sounded like ass. However, with a normal 6V6 and two
12AX7s, it sounds really good. I can't tell the difference between
it and my modded blonde reissue unit with NOS tubes (the reverb unit
i've used since '96, including all the Space Cossacks stuff). I
actually plugged it in, and then switched between the built-in unit
and the standalone unit, and I couldn't hear one iota of a
difference. The Custom Shop guys did a hell of a job with that
reverb, I think. I don't know what they did, though, but they
clearly changed it somehow, given the tube differences. Does
anybody know?
> And one thing I failed to mention in part 1, Larry N from Chicago
> was also there again this year. It was very cool seeing him and
> talking to him again.
Yes! We left out Larry! He drove all the way down to Indy from
Chicago - but then the next day totally missed the Nebulas and
showed up halfway through the Madeira set! Oops! He didn't realize
we were going on so early. But it was great to see him at both
shows - thanks for coming, if you're reading this.
> Okay I'll get to work on part 2...
Looking forward to it!
Ivan
.
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--- In , "Marty Tippens"
<mctippens@e...> wrote:
> Is the Dual Pro hand wired?
Completely. No pc boards anywhere.
> How many watts
100
> and is it heavy (like a Twin)?
Yep. About 75+lbs. BACK-BREAKING!
> It sounds quite cool to have that built-in tank. I hear the Vibro
> King has that as well.
Yeah, the Dual Pro is the big brother of the Vibro King. Very
similar circuitry from what I understand. The Vibro King is
designed to overdrive easily, with 10" speakers and 60W. My Dual
Pro was actually distorting quite a lot when I first got it, and I
thought there was something wrong with it. It turned out (after
taking it to two techs!) that it was the damn speakers! The
standard speakers are Celestion Vintage 30s, which is just weird -
Celestions in a Fender?? Anyway, they gave a great Led Zep tone
when turned up above 6 or 7, but clearly that's not what i was going
for. So, I got a couple of alnico replicas of JBL D120Fs by Weber
VST, and the amp sounds god-like now. And certainly the cosmetics
RULE!
Ivan
Yes it is. I just got it a couple of weeks ago and wasn't sure how
it would hold up against Ivan's new Fender amp. TooFast Jim let me
know how big it sounded when miced at the Chicago show. The best
part was still not having to lug my Yamaha recording customs. I
also love the look.
I think it has a very vintage sound with the stock single ply Evans
G1 heads. I did notice that they were very dented after the two
gigs, though. Hopefully I can get at least a couple more shows out
of them.
I had looked for a vintage 20" bass drum but couldn't find one with
a kit for less that $1,500. Gretsch has done a great job of making
a vintage kit that sounds great at an affordable price. Bottom
line: I'll keep 'em!
Dane
--- In , "Marty Tippens"
<mctippens@e...> wrote:
> I play that same Gretsch set in marine pearl. It's a wonderful
little kit.
> -Marty
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Brian Neal
> To:
> Sent: Tuesday, July 12, 2005 5:35 PM
> Subject: [SurfGuitar101] Re: Exotica High Speed Weekend Part 1
>
>
> Preview pic of the Madeira from Indy:
>
>
>
> BN
>
>
>
>
> .
> Visit for archived
messages, bookmarks, files, polls, etc.
>
>
>
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------
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> YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS
>
> a.. Visit your group "SurfGuitar101" on the web.
>
> b.. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
>
>
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>
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Man that's a nice way to go. The question for my aging back is the weight issue
but with everything else in one package, it sounds like a nice way to go. I
definitely appreciate the hand-wired amps for their reparability and not having
to make a second trip to the car for the reverb tank is a big plus.
-Marty
----- Original Message -----
From: ipongrac
To:
Sent: Tuesday, July 12, 2005 8:40 PM
Subject: [SurfGuitar101] Re: Exotica High Speed Weekend Part 1
--- In , "Marty Tippens"
<mctippens@e...> wrote:
> Is the Dual Pro hand wired?
Completely. No pc boards anywhere.
> How many watts
100
> and is it heavy (like a Twin)?
Yep. About 75+lbs. BACK-BREAKING!
> It sounds quite cool to have that built-in tank. I hear the Vibro
> King has that as well.
Yeah, the Dual Pro is the big brother of the Vibro King. Very
similar circuitry from what I understand. The Vibro King is
designed to overdrive easily, with 10" speakers and 60W. My Dual
Pro was actually distorting quite a lot when I first got it, and I
thought there was something wrong with it. It turned out (after
taking it to two techs!) that it was the damn speakers! The
standard speakers are Celestion Vintage 30s, which is just weird -
Celestions in a Fender?? Anyway, they gave a great Led Zep tone
when turned up above 6 or 7, but clearly that's not what i was going
for. So, I got a couple of alnico replicas of JBL D120Fs by Weber
VST, and the amp sounds god-like now. And certainly the cosmetics
RULE!
Ivan
.
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And thanks for playing! Imagine my surprise (and rage!) when I found
out I missed the Nebulas! Even if I had checked the schedule
beforehand, I doubt I would have believed it would be so rigidly
adhered to. But it was still a great time, with the Madeira, Exotics,
Los Straitjackets, Cocktail Preachers... too bad the Madeira only play
about once a year ...hint...hint....hint....
Larry N
> > And one thing I failed to mention in part 1, Larry N from Chicago
> > was also there again this year. It was very cool seeing him and
> > talking to him again.
>
> Yes! We left out Larry! He drove all the way down to Indy from
> Chicago - but then the next day totally missed the Nebulas and
> showed up halfway through the Madeira set! Oops! He didn't realize
> we were going on so early. But it was great to see him at both
> shows - thanks for coming, if you're reading this.
>
> > Okay I'll get to work on part 2...
>
> Looking forward to it!
>
> Ivan
>
>
--- In , "larry8421" <larry8421@y...>
wrote:
> And thanks for playing! Imagine my surprise (and rage!) when I found
> out I missed the Nebulas! Even if I had checked the schedule
> beforehand, I doubt I would have believed it would be so rigidly
> adhered to. But it was still a great time, with the Madeira, Exotics,
> Los Straitjackets, Cocktail Preachers... too bad the Madeira only play
> about once a year ...hint...hint....hint....
>
> Larry N
>
>
Larry
I hear ya on that
b/c of the overlap with I think the NEANDERTHALS, who I totally luv, I
had to miss part of the NEBULAS set, but caught 3/4 of it
Jesus did they smoke!
and their outfits were a graveyard smash
got some great pix, will post eventually
UNSTEADY FREDDIE
