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Here is my incredibly long show report from the Surf Coasters gigs in
Brookdale (April 16th) and Sacramento (April 17 2004). My wife took
literally tons of fantastic pictures and even 7-8 videos of all the bands. I
am frantically looking around for a place to host them; I'll probably use
this as the excuse to start our own website. Details on the pics & vids will
be coming later. You will love them. Keep an eye out for them. Here is the
report:
*************************************
My wife Shari and I flew from Cedar Rapids, Iowa into San Francisco and
drove straight down to Brookdale via PCH. It never occurred to me that this
part of the state would be so under-populated. I thought California was
jammed with people (instead we saw lots of rural farm areas, just like back
home). It was a good thing though, and we stopped at a few of the many state
parks along the way to gaze in awe at the ocean and tide pool rock
formations. You couldn't throw a rock without hitting a state park in this
neck of the woods. We found the Brookdale Lodge by taking route 9 up from
Santa Cruz, a harrowing winding "road" of hairpin turns and a maximum speed
limit of 35 in most places. Being from Iowa, where it is straight and flat
80% of the time, this took a bit getting used to. Seeing a cement truck
hurdling toward you from just around a blind turn was just one of the many
surprises we found. But without incident we got to the Brookdale Lodge. Its
a very funky place; it has a dining room with a brook flowing through it, a
nice stage area, a pool, and lots of outbuildings with the motel rooms in
them. Our room was the "Enchanted Forest" room, which meant 70's era green
shag carpeting, some fake trees, green paneling, lots of mirrors, funky
furnishings, etc. Okay it was kind of a dive, but it was decent enough.
The next day (April 16th) we took this steam train up into the mountains to
see Redwoods in the town called Felton...it was awesome. Then onto Santa
Cruz, where we went to the surfing museum and watched people surfing! Very
cool. It was only 50-60 degrees out and very windy, I don't know how they
stayed in that cold, cold water.
*************************************
Okay, onto the good stuff. An hour or so before the show started I saw a
group of Japanese guys in the lobby. A very good sign. Then in short order I
met Ferenc, Jeff "Bigtikidude", and the infamous "Baja Marty". It was so
incredibly cool to put faces with names and within short order I felt like I
knew these guys for many years. Tom Hinders and Trode showed up, I met these
guys at the Indianapolis surf show 2 years ago. It was great seeing them
again. Everyone was so excited about the show, and soon it started.
First up were the Sub-Mersians. I had only known them from their "Dr Yes"
song that appears on the Del-Fi "Surf Monsters" comp, and Stretch's postings
to Cowabunga. They are a 3 piece band with Jessica on guitar, Stretch:
drums, and George on bass. Jessica made a shocking transformation from the
girl tuning up to the bad-ass Surf Queen she later appeared on stage as: she
wore a platinum blonde wig and white go-go boots. It was great! They started
playing and I immediately dug them. I really, really like this band. George
was so fast on the bass, Stretch was great (lots of smiling and closed
eyes), and Jessica really rocked. She was playing a Mosrite Combo or maybe
Celebrity model (I think - don't see those too often) into what looked like
a silver face Vibrolux amp. She got a very clean, sharp surf tone, I thought
it was great. She alternated bashing chords with leads and can double pick
with the best of them. George was playing a lefty Fender bass, the kind with
both Jazz and P-bass pickups through a silver face Bassman with one of those
really enormous late 60's cabinets. I wasn't too familiar with their stuff
as I said, but loved Dr. Yes, a song called "So Sensitive", and a great
Munster's theme rendition. Even a Pink Floydian diversion? Yes. Cool. A very
enjoyable and entertaining set. They were funny up on stage, George had some
great facial expressions, and they were clearly very excited to be opening
for the Surf Coasters.
Next up was Pollo Del Mar. I am a pretty trad surf type of guy, but I know
good music when I hear it. I have all of their CD's, but seeing them live
left me stupefied. Their drummer and bass player are a formidable rhythm
section, while Ferenc and Jono trade leads on top. Ferenc has this very
haunting guitar tone through his Reverend guitar (with 3 single coil
lipstick pickups - cool!). Their songwriting and musicianship were
astounding. Their songs have these intricate, interlocking guitar parts,
lots of subtle dynamics, palm muting, feedback, washes and waves of
textures. I was just stunned at how good these guys are, the scope and
moodiness of the songs. Wow. Lots of originals were played along with a
Frank Zappa cover (Peaches & Regalia) and an insane Hall of the Mountain
King (I think). They livened things up with an excellent cover of
Slacktone's "Bells of St. Kahuna", with Ferenc and Jono splitting Dave
Wronski's lead work. Excellent! The bass player Jeff kept switching between
a 5 string and fretless 4 string bass. I began to get depressed again at how
good all these bands are. I've got some learnin' to do.
And then soon the main event. The Coasters began setting up. The lead guitar
god (Shigeo) and bass player (Nobuhiro Kurita) had matching candy apple red
Yamaha guitars, the kind with the samurai sword handle headstocks (also
red). From their opening notes I knew this was going to be very special.
They are devastingly good, razor sharp, tight, and very skilled
entertainers. The first thing you notice about them is how happy they are to
be there. The bass player is a string bean, all arms and legs, with the bass
slung down around his knees. He hunches over it and just beats the crap out
of it with his pick. He had this ever present smile, ear to ear, on his face
the whole time, it just sucked everyone into it. He was just so damn happy
to be playing it was infectious! Apparently the drummer (Naotaka) spoke the
best English so he would periodically come to the mic. A typical exchange
went like this: "Hi Hi Hi Hello!... I can't speak any English <pause,
audience laughs> I...I...love...love...blueberry....pancakes". When the
crowed roared and cheered at this sentence, he looked back at the band and
shouted "I CAN SPEAK ENGLISH! I CAN SPEAK ENGLISH!", shaking his fist in the
air. It was so funny everyone loved it. There was no language barrier,
everyone spoke insane surf music that night. Half-way through the set he
steps up "You...enjoy....now? <roars from the crowd> We are very happy!
<more cheers> It was great. Everyone in that room was on their feet totally
in love with these guys. The drummer was a fireball, the bass player a
madman, and Shigeo ripped and jumped up and down, smiling the whole time.
They shredded though lots of songs on their Fly Up CD, played their haunting
version of Baja, powerful full versions (no medleys here) of Let's Go
Trippin' and Shake & Stomp. They also played a great Rumble/Jack The Ripper
combo. Wow! So much energy. I was so ecstatic to hear "Dreams"! About mid
way through Shigeo and the band pulls off this insane version of Misirlou
that had the place torn apart. The guys shreds like he's in an 80's metal
band, but in a very good way. He played verses of Miserlou with his fretting
hand both over and under the fretboard, and even rapidly switching back and
forth (you gotta see this on the videos we took)! Completely over the top!
He's quite the showman and he has the chops to pull it off. I was thinking
to myself today that we were so lucky to see them in a small club, just a
few feet away from them. I have a feeling the next tour will find them
playing on TV shows and to big arenas. They are that good! The band was just
so totally amazing, it was unbelievable. The entire crowd was on their feet
shouting and dancing by the end and they played 3 encore songs. After their
set they hung out and signed gig posters, CD's, and were so very gracious
and friendly. What an incredible show!
*************************************
The next day, after a quick tour through the Big Basin Redwood park (thanks
Jeff), we followed Trode and Tom on a brutal drive to Sacramento. We had
lunch together on the way and had a very good talk...great guys...again, I
can't tell you how cool it is to meet the list members in person. This trend
continued later that night before the show at The Old Ironsides. Jeff &
Marty were already there. But then Ran of the Astro-Glides and his wife Dale
showed up, making the trip up from San Diego. Next Mel Waldorf walked in,
followed by Trode & Tom again. It was so, so, cool to talk to everyone. Andy
and the rest of the Hypnotic IV guys were equally generous, funny, gracious
hosts. Andy was very concerned about the timing and the length of the
Coasters set. He wanted to make sure that no one had walked out before the
Coaster's set was done and asked the sound guy if the Coasters could play
longer, cutting into his own bands time. First class!
The Old Ironsides was a much smaller place and more intimate than the
previous nights. The stage was only a few inches high. Pollo Del Mar played
first, and again, I just watched in awe. They played a few different songs
that night, including "The Cruel Sea" with that great ska rhythm part they
do. A great set. Ferenc later admitted to me he was kind of zoning out up
there, with only 10 hours of sleep in the last few days. But I certainly
could not tell. Great job guys!
The Surf Coasters came up next and once again, very quickly won the audience
over (most of them had absolutely no idea what they were about to see) with
their big smiles and driving, danceable, high energy surf tunes. They didn't
play Dreams or Lets Go Trippin/Shake & Stomp, substituting a longer original
I believe. Misirlou was again played brilliantly to wild enthusiasm from the
audience. The drummer was again in fine form, desperately trying to
communicate with the audience with comical results. He seemed a bit more
tired tonight, as they had already played 2 other radio sets earlier in the
day, but he still drummed like an insane person, at one point a cymbal came
crashing off the stand due to his fast and furious work. Shigeo jokingly
took away his beer from him as he started slurring into the microphone.
Ha-ha. I don't have much more to say, it was more of the same; just flat out
brilliant, high energy surf music. That never gets old. The bass player
again lurched and careened about the stage with that big grin on his face,
hunched over his bass on the fast parts. He would also shout at appropriate
times into the mic to turn up the energy even more. Shigeo repeated his
incredible performance from the previous night...he never missed a note.
Insane! The creeps at the venue were tight on the time allotment, so they
only played 1 encore song "Summertime Blues". Another killer set.
The Hypnotic IV had the unenviable task of following them. They were also in
a non-standard configuration: their rhythm guitar player was out of town, so
the bass player took over that role. And a friend came to fill in on bass.
My wife and I are big fans of these guys, and we especially love their
latest CD "Go Baby Go", so it was a big thrill to see them. I got the
impression they play this venue a lot, and had their local fans there to
heckle them and cheer them on. There was lots of amusing crowd banter and
everyone was having fun. Once they got into their set it was pure joy for
me. The played Que Hombre, High Octane, Parasite Beach, Afternoon in
Tunisia, Hernando's Hideaway, Carmela, and my favorite, Left on 299 and many
more (including a great Runaway cover). Wow it was all good. Andy is such a
nimble and quick guitar player and he has some really great melodies. And
the gear was amazing. Three, count them, three Showmen were present and 2
reverb units. Andy had his Fillmore Mosrite slung very low and Michael was
playing a Jaguar. These guys really rocked, and I thought the Michael did
great on the rhythm guitar parts; I really admire the rhythm guitar parts on
the Hypnotic IV songs. Lots of fast and choppy chords that really drive the
songs along so that Andy can double pick like mad over them. By now I was
smiling so much my face hurt. They really sounded great to my ears, we loved
it.
Now another thrilling part for us. I introduced my wife Shari to surf music
less than a year ago. In that time she has learned how to play the bass
(little known fact: she plays with banjo picks on 2 of her fingers). In fact
I think she is a better bass player than I am a guitar player (ouch). She
rawks. She had been emailing Andy for some time, and Andy is such a generous
and nice guy that he asked her to play some songs with them. So midway into
their set, Andy calls her up. I was very nervous for her, but I think she
did great. I was so proud. There was a little volume snafu and she couldn't
hear herself, but still, wow, was that a cool experience. Thank you Andy!
She played "Bee's Knees", "Shake, Rattle & Rot (Podolor)", and "SR vs. The
Man".
The Hypnotic IV blasted through their set and then a little surf jam began.
Just when I didn't think it could get any better. Jeff bigtikidude came up
and played bass on Jack The Ripper with the rest of the Hypnotic IV. Jeff
did great. After one verse, Andy pulls Shigeo up again. Andy is a tall guy
who wears his guitar very low. When he hung it on Shigeo, it dropped down to
his knees, but he quickly adapted. Lots of smiles all around as Shigeo
ripped through this song. And then, the rhythm section of the 'Coasters came
up, with Ferenc and Mel Waldorf grabbing guitars for a killer version of
Surf Party! Nobuhiro even copied the Mach IV choreography that Ferenc and
Mel were doing. So damn funny!!! We got some great photos of this. Wow, I
was delirious at this point. What a great way to end a night!
Finally, again, I can't stress enough how much fun it was to talk to all the
fans and band members. It was quite a thrill and I'll never forget this
experience. A big thanks to Tom, Trode, Jeff, Marty, Ran & Dale, Andy, and
all the bands. And especially Ferenc, who pulled all of this together, and
acted as tour guide, chauffeur, and host to the Surf Coasters. He deserves
the medal of honor of the surf scene.
Look out.....BEACH MONSTER!!!!
BN
PS Again, stay tuned for the pics. I'll try to find a place where everyone
can see them. Its challenging because they are so big and there are a ton of
them. We'll probably have to shrink them a bit for the web, and may have to
rotate the videos on and off a site (some of the complete songs are around
35 megabytes - yikes). If you don't have the Quick-Time player, get one
now... :) They are incredible!
Cool.
>
> My wife Shari and I flew from Cedar Rapids, Iowa into San
Francisco...
Oh, I just noticed that I had not mentioned Doug Snyder (Surf super fan from
Reno, NV) which we also got to meet and hang out with at Sacramento.
Ran
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ran Mosessco" <>
To: <>; <>
Sent: Tuesday, April 20, 2004 4:46 PM
Subject: Re: [cowabunga] Our Spring Vacation with The Surf Coasters
> Thanks for the detailed report, Brian...It was awsome to be able to
witness
> this phenomena first hand.
> We had so much fun, this was well worth the 8+8 hour drive, although I'm
> considering flying up the next time.
> Thanks so much for Ferenc for putting this together, thanks to Andy of the
> Hypnotic IV for taking care of us after the show.
> An extra bonus for me was seeing 3 bands that I've never seen play live,
and
> of course, meeting all of the musicans and surf fans that came from all
> over - Brian & Shari, Tom, Trode, Jeff, Marty, Mel, Pollo Del Mar,
Hypnotic
> IV, and the Surf Coasters.
>
> It was funny Brian mentioned Shigeo's shredding style, I was just about to
> say something about it - normally most of us surf fans are not into
> "shredding" 80's style, but Shigeo's playing combines that and trad surf,
> and in the band context the result is just amazing. And of course, the
> showmanship is so superb that no one can resist but be taken over
completely
> by their energy and charm.
> Dale kept saying how she felt like pinching Nobuhiro Kurita's cheeks all
the
> time, he was that cute!
> I still havn't recovered from the sleep depravation (well - we did not
just
> drive to Sacramento, we managed to cram a car show in Van Nuys, a visit to
> an old school friend in SF, the Sacramento show, and a visit to Randy &
> Naomi Jensen in the bay area), but that's nothing comapred to this
amazing
> weekend. I'm trying my best to catch up to 32+ years of not being able to
> see live surf shows, and I think I'm doing pretty well.
> See you in Orange next Sunday!
>
> Ran
>
