Menu
Hi All,
Small report of the Slacktone show at JeKa Kasterlee yesterday.
The show kicked off at 21u15 with "TFP Surfers" This are all the members
of "Los Venturas" minus Sebastian (lead guitar player of LV.) But with
the Ex-organ player of Los Venturas on lead and rhythm guitar. They
played a number of originals in a somewhat Ska-ish version (which I
really liked) They did a cool version of "exotica" and added some organ
to other tunes. In all a cool band. They used showman's and strats. The
bass was a Re-issues Japanese Mustang with competition stripes on a SF
Bassman 100.
Next ware the "Coastals" a side project of Sebastian (lead guitar player
of Los Venturas". They are a four piece band with a superb drummer,
damn....that guy was awesome, really tight played originals added with a
few own compositions. The Sax made the sound pretty cool, giving tunes
like "Intoxica", "The Wedge", etc...the extra "Surf" dimension. I didn't
like the bass though. A five string instrument on a Trace Elliot 4x10
amp. Too modren sounding for my ears. Guitar was a Jag with three pick
ups and no rhythm circuit on a Showman.
And then there they came, saw and won....Slacktone, again a fantastic
show...Man these guys are mean, tight and superb. I once read a comment
somewhere about a DD show saying that the bass player was
"average"...This guy should have both his ears and eyes checked by a
medicine man...the bass is so good, loud and right, beyond surf and
back. So was Dusty, this guy IS drums...And of course Dave, his guitar
playing is also incredible....I must admit I was never a true fan of
Slacktone, but seeing them live twice in less then three days did change
my opinion quite a bit. These guys are super! They take the instro surf
genre to a new heights. Dave's playing is so different from what you are
used to hear from other surf bands. I had an interesting conversation
about his influences and talked about Paco de Lucia and Jazz guitarists.
They also never play a song twice in the same way, giving the "live"
aspect an extra dimension. The crowd went wild (I stood next to some
members of Fifty Foot Combo, who were also in the audience) I couldn't
stay till the last song, since it was 1 'o clock when we left (with a 50
minute drive ahead of us) as we went to the car, we saw the cops pulling
up, meaning the show would end soon afterwards they entered the club.
In all a fantastic experience, being on tour with a surf band for ten
days, and meeting Dave, dusty and Sam in Italy and seeing them again a
few days later. I'm not sure when Slacktone will play again in Europe
soon, but hopefully soon.
-Jerry S.
