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Good morning boys and girls,
I just wanted to give a brief review of what went down last night
in Seattle. The 'Verb starred in a multi-band revue promoted by
occasional band member Mike Ball, who also heads up Boss Tweeter.
To get the chaff out of the way of the wheat, let me just say,
especially to Unsteady Freddie, that this was also a multi-genre
show, and it worked like a charm. The other two groups were
The Fleet Foxes, sounding very Paul McCartney influenced, and
of course, Boss Tweeter, even further from surf, but amazing for
a trio. Both groups did a mix of covers and originals, and I'm
glad to report that the talent expressed was worth much more
than the $5 cover at the door.
Now, on to the good stuff....
Eric Cranfield played lead on nearly all of the tunes, using a
Strat and a Jazzmaster to derive an excellent tone. The venue
was small, so he brought his Tremolux, and it turned out to be
a good call.
Jacob Dobner played rhythm, except where he swapped lead duties
with Eric, using a Jazzmaster into a Showman head and what turned
out to be a self-made cabinet. From the front of the stage, I
couldn't tell that the cab was not a Fender, it looked very well
put together. (Later, Jacob told me that you can see small
differences when you get up close to it.)
Bassist Matt Beck shook the floorboards (and the walls, and
the.....) with a 'mere' BF Bassman head into an Ampeg cabinet.
May not have looked quite like a '60's Surf band's bass setup,
but Oh Lowerd, did my gut quiver when he mashed it!
And can't forget drummer Jason Aumann - meter like a clock, cool
and reserved, but not stiff like he's taking it too seriously or
something - smiled all the time, obviously enjoying himself and
the music, but not going overboard like many young drummers who
find themselves in the spotlight.
Both E. and J. used their namesake to good effect. Jacob even
rocked his (with his foot on top, like a footrest) on one tune,
giving rise to comparison with old Surfaris stage antics. Made
me wince for the possible damage to the springs, but then again,
if it's lasted this long, and it sounds this good..... <g>
Several cover tunes, some with interesting new arrangements
(Pipeline feeding straight into Sleepwalk!), and many originals
marked the night. Flying fingers, traditional and non-traditional
scales and chord progressions, shaking vibrato arms, it was all
there, folks. And contrary to what the stage monitors were telling
our boys, the mix out front was just right.
If there were a fly in the ointment it'd be the fact that the
showroom was cold! For 5 washers, I should think the joint
could afford a bit of heat in the middle of January, eh? <g>
In summary, I dare say that if the SP's and The Nebulas don't do
their homework, The 'Verb is gonna take their lunch money way from
them on March 17th! So says.....
unlunf
Many thanks. And our drummer was Dustin Mahler that night. Jason is in
Florida for 5 months. Dustin only practiced with us twice and this was
his first and only gig with us. We will have a new drummer for the
Pilgrims and Nebulas show. And I used a Jaguar not a Jazzmaster. You
knew that though. You were obviously think of Eric while you were
writing about me. For shame.
Thanks so much for coming out last night. It is always good to have a
surf fan at the shows.
Nothing is worse than a freezing venue.
--- In , "unlunf" <unlunf@y...> wrote:
>
> Good morning boys and girls,
>
> I just wanted to give a brief review of what went down last night
> in Seattle. The 'Verb starred in a multi-band revue promoted by
> occasional band member Mike Ball, who also heads up Boss Tweeter.
>
> To get the chaff out of the way of the wheat, let me just say,
> especially to Unsteady Freddie, that this was also a multi-genre
> show, and it worked like a charm. The other two groups were
> The Fleet Foxes, sounding very Paul McCartney influenced, and
> of course, Boss Tweeter, even further from surf, but amazing for
> a trio. Both groups did a mix of covers and originals, and I'm
> glad to report that the talent expressed was worth much more
> than the $5 cover at the door.
>
> Now, on to the good stuff....
>
> Eric Cranfield played lead on nearly all of the tunes, using a
> Strat and a Jazzmaster to derive an excellent tone. The venue
> was small, so he brought his Tremolux, and it turned out to be
> a good call.
>
> Jacob Dobner played rhythm, except where he swapped lead duties
> with Eric, using a Jazzmaster into a Showman head and what turned
> out to be a self-made cabinet. From the front of the stage, I
> couldn't tell that the cab was not a Fender, it looked very well
> put together. (Later, Jacob told me that you can see small
> differences when you get up close to it.)
>
> Bassist Matt Beck shook the floorboards (and the walls, and
> the.....) with a 'mere' BF Bassman head into an Ampeg cabinet.
> May not have looked quite like a '60's Surf band's bass setup,
> but Oh Lowerd, did my gut quiver when he mashed it!
>
> And can't forget drummer Jason Aumann - meter like a clock, cool
> and reserved, but not stiff like he's taking it too seriously or
> something - smiled all the time, obviously enjoying himself and
> the music, but not going overboard like many young drummers who
> find themselves in the spotlight.
>
> Both E. and J. used their namesake to good effect. Jacob even
> rocked his (with his foot on top, like a footrest) on one tune,
> giving rise to comparison with old Surfaris stage antics. Made
> me wince for the possible damage to the springs, but then again,
> if it's lasted this long, and it sounds this good..... <g>
>
> Several cover tunes, some with interesting new arrangements
> (Pipeline feeding straight into Sleepwalk!), and many originals
> marked the night. Flying fingers, traditional and non-traditional
> scales and chord progressions, shaking vibrato arms, it was all
> there, folks. And contrary to what the stage monitors were telling
> our boys, the mix out front was just right.
>
> If there were a fly in the ointment it'd be the fact that the
> showroom was cold! For 5 washers, I should think the joint
> could afford a bit of heat in the middle of January, eh? <g>
>
> In summary, I dare say that if the SP's and The Nebulas don't do
> their homework, The 'Verb is gonna take their lunch money way from
> them on March 17th! So says.....
>
>
> unlunf
>
Jacob,
> And I used a Jaguar not a Jazzmaster. You knew that though.
> You were obviously thinking of Eric while you were writing
> about me.
No, I was probably looking at Mike's pair of Jazzmasters
sitting against his amp, and thinking, "Man, I've got get
me one of those", and the rest just fell through the cracks.
<g>
> And our drummer was Dustin Mahler that night. Jason is in
> Florida for 5 months.
This is what you get for not introducing the band members!
I didn't say anything in my last message, it was a pretty
small matter. But now that you've caught me out, I had to
say something. But Dustin was still cool, he fit right in,
IMHO. <g>
> Thanks so much for coming out last night. It is always good
> to have a surf fan at the shows.
I was obviously the oldest guy present, but by no means was
everyone else a kid. I counted at least two couples who had
to have both been in their 40's, and a few others looked like
they were in college when Hilary was the Acting Vice President.
<lol>
> Nothing is worse than a freezing venue.
Let's get everyone to send this to the management at
The Drum Lab! <g>
unlunf (waiting with eagerness for the Kaz-ba show!)
--- In , "Jacob Dobner" <jacobdobner@y...> wrote:
>
> Many thanks. And our drummer was Dustin Mahler that night.
> Jason is in Florida for 5 months. Dustin only practiced with
> us twice and this was his first and only gig with us. We will
> have a new drummer for the Pilgrims and Nebulas show. And I
> used a Jaguar not a Jazzmaster. You knew that though. You were
> obviously think of Eric while you were writing about me. For
> shame.
>
> Thanks so much for coming out last night. It is always good to
> have a surf fan at the shows.
>
> Nothing is worse than a freezing venue.
>
