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oh am I glad I got down to ASBURY LANES Saturday night to catch the pounding and
unrelenting surf show put on by the NEBULAS and SATAN's PILGRIMS
this was a brilliant example of what happens when you bring top-shelf live
surf music acts to a venue that 'understands' the power and the value of this
genre
alas, I wish I could have witnessed the VENTURES there the week-end before...
it was a night of firsts for me - never been to ASBURY LANES, and never have
seen SATAN'S PILGRIMS live either...
ASBURY LANES is hard to describe, but I found it a neat place for a show like
this; the lanes are OLD, Asbury Park is run down (the Hotel I stayed in dates
back to the early 1900's when the city was in its heyday - I know the Pilgrims
stayed there too b/c I ran into drummer Ted earlier in the night there) -- it
was refurbished 20 years ago, and then sort of left 'as is' -- there was a
strong belief (I am told) that Asbury Park was gonna get casiono gambling so a
lot of real estate was bought up - but it never happened -- buildings knocked
down, some left in mid-destruction and some left half-built....the possibilities
for that town, though, considering where it is situated, are endless; same be
said for Newark, just outside of NYC...but I have gone too astray here.... oh
yes, ASBURY LANES - still got those classic blue triangle AMF
pin-spotters...those lanes are O-L-D....(I think older than me!)...Unsteady
Freddie is a bowler by the way...I actually have a locker with
my own ball and shoes in the Port Authority lanes in NYC - yeah I am quite the
athlete huh?
great to see members of The 9th Wave, The Clams, the Atomic Mosquitos, Mister
Neutron, Neptune Society, and so many members of the many Yahoo Groups I am a
member in
the NEBULAS came on around 11 pm, in full skeleton masks and top hats, black
clothing, skinny new wave white ties....and never let up for a moment....I have
gotten many an opportunity these past 2 years to see this band (including a
wicked show they put on at one of my SURF-ROCK SHINDIGS at OTTO's...what a night
that was!). Let me say this flat out, the NEBULAS are on top of their game
BIG-TIME! Blew me away! After a while a surf musician has got to breathe. so
off came the masks. With that bank of ominous amps, and a back-lit bass drum,
and their stage presence, the NEBULAS are a most-difficult act to follow. Their
playing was bullseye-precision. This band just freaks me out. This is what
LIVE surf-music is all about I tell ya...
Hey the NEBULAS alone was a great evening. Yet, seat-belts fastened? B/C the
3-guitar onslaught of SATAN's PILGRIMS was incredible! They too go for the
'uniform' stage thing (which I think is a great thing to do; it also makes a
statement, in my opinion, that this band thinks enough of their presentation to
get that extra mile). Yeah they have their black capes on, and mix it up with a
black/white/red ensemble (Mr. Blackwell would no doubt have approved! of both
bands, for that matter!).
Now I know this band's music, but seeing them live - combined with the
NEBULAS' set -- was a night I won't soon forget. I should mention a vintage
surfing film was being projected behind the bands, which added to the
atmosphere. But like the NEBULAS, SATAN's PILGRIMS don't fall back too much on
'trad' surf, nor do they play many covers. Both bands, though they embrace the
surf-music genre, redefine it in an unabated, intense, fierce, almost violent
manner -- it's high-tide tsunami-surf...it just keeps coming, big wave after big
wave.
I was left drained and ecstatic and charged-up.....and it takes a while to
come down from such consuming live music.
I feel blessed and blitzed, all at once....I'm lucky as Hell to have been part
of this amazing experience. Thanks to anyone and everyone who had anything to
do with bringing this together.
unsteady Freddie
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