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The Pitcher Is Neither Half-Empty Nor Half-Full--It's Overflowing! - Show Report by Ms. Sandi Beach - It was a night of a thousand stars (well, at least a couple dozen) at The Pitcher House in Hermosa Beach, CA on Friday, March 24, 2000. Four of the best surf-instro bands on the planet converged on this unsuspecting club for a night of unrelenting picking, pounding, and reverb.
And the show began. . .
Pollo del Mar was, of course, a hard act to follow. But this was only the beginning. . . Not that there was any slack to be picked up, but the incomparable Slacktone took command of the stage next. Dave, Mike, and Dusty showed us again why we all throw ourselves down and shout "We're not worthy!" in their presence. The band powered through a mix of tunes from the first CD, plus several tunes that we hope will be on the next CD which we hope will be released soon. (Please?) Selections included "Nocturne," "Coffin Closer," "Birdbone," "Misterioso," "Daytona Redline," "Rosarito 3-Day," "The Bells of St. Kahuna," (another of the all-time great titles), "Tiki Bar Crawl," and "Skateboard Commando." The band slowed the pace with the beautiful tribute to one of the world's great surfers, "Rell Sunn Aloha." The tempo returned to full-throttle with "Glide," "South Run," "Lift & Separate," and "Into the Blue Sparkle" (is this in memory of Dusty's old drum set?). "PCH" and "Tidal Wave" rounded out the set, with "Miserlou" for an encore. Wow--Slacktone displayed the top-notch playing and musicality we have come to expect of them. The Space Cossacks
Jon and the Nightriders
The dam broke with "Rumble at Waikiki," and the great tunes just kept coming. The band played a mix of covers and original material, recent and vintage. "Geronimo" was next, followed by Danny Amis' "Tailspin." Dave took the lead for "Hit Man," which was followed by the doubleheader of "Diamond Head" and "Penetration." The "Ladies' Choice" dance was next, the medley of "Be My Baby" and "Don't Worry Baby" which appears on Jon & The Nightriders' latest CD, "Moving Target." Next up was "Cabazon," followed by "Force of Gravity" (with a nod to the great Bohemian surf musician, Antonin Dvorak). The band then slithered through "Slither," followed by "Storm Dancer." A nod to the King was next, Dick Dale's "Shake n' Stomp." The ballad "The Breeze and I" gave the dancers a chance to rest a bit, but only briefly as "Surf Rider," "Dept Charge," and "Moving Target" closed out the set.
It seemed fitting that John Blair, who has done so much to revive and promote the surf genre, and who has inspired so many contemporary surf bands, capped a night of great bands playing great music. Amigos del Pollo y otros in attendance (in addition to the performers) included: Jay Hector, Pete Curry, Joey (The Halibuts) Li, Dave Arnson, Doug Snyder, Jamie Murray, Jim Dunfrund, Jim Murphy, Bob McDonald & Jeff McCoy from HBISM, Art Bourasseau, Duff (The Torquays) Paulsen, Dave (The Hillbilly Soul Surfers) Sherman, Elvis Can't Surf, and probably lots of others I don't know, can't remember, or failed to recognize in my amazement (don't take it personally). |
Let's set the stage for those of you who haven't seen
the venue. "Eclectic" only barely begins to describe
the decor. One wall is decorated with old street signs and license
plates. On some of the walls and on the ceiling are old LP records
and record jackets, ranging from Mac Davis to The Sandals' "Endless
Summer." At the back of the stage was the album cover for
The Halibuts' "Gnarly." To one side of the stage was
a rotating lamp with the Budweiser Clydesdales pulling the beer
wagon in perpetuity. Various advertising surfboards were hanging
around, as was other sports memorabilia (e.g., a banner from
the Sonny Liston vs. Cassius Clay fight). There was an attic-like
section with a chromed jukebox hanging from the ceiling, a couple
of worn-out acoustic guitars, and an old tuba with a thoroughly
oxidized finish. There were numerous representations of Laurel
& Hardy throughout, apparently the patron saints of The Pitcher
House. There were video monitors in various corners. Thankfully,
someone turned off the one closest to the stage. One over by
the Budweiser lamp at some point changed from generic sports
reporting to surfing videos, which was a nice touch.
First up was San Francisco's Pollo del Mar.
The Boys from the Bayrea kicked butt, despite having driven all
day to get there. Perhaps the pent-up energy caused by being
cooped up for the drive down scenic I-5 made the band particularly
energetic on stage--they were jumping all over. The best part
was that they looked like they were really having a ball playing
for us. Selections were mainly taken from the band's recent CD,
"Devil and the Deep Blue Sea." [Reviewer's unbiased,
impartial note: This is a bitchin' CD. Buy it.] The band opened
with their classic "Teleport," and after that, the
wave kept a-rollin'. That was followed with the haunting "Annabel
Lee," "Cutlass Supreme," and a doubleheader of
"Moon Over Marin" and "Devil's Slide." Next
up was "Route 666," which Ferenc suggested might not
be all that 
different from I-5. (Which reminds me of a bumper
sticker I liked, which said "Where are we going, and what
am I doing in this handbasket?") The boys pulled us back
from the brink of Hades with a trip "South of the Border,"
complete with vocal enhancements. This was followed by Pollo's
hypnotic (or, as Jono said, "peyote") version of "Apache."
Kicking back into high gear, the band served up "Consuela's
Revenge," followed by one of the best titles ever, "Jonny
Foo: Ninja Chiropractor." The band closed out their set
with their tribute to Dave Arnson ("Known for his work with
children--they're dedicating a stamp to him next week!"),
"Insecticide." For the gearheads, Ferenc used his foam-blue
Reverend through his blackface Bassman; Jono used his foam green
Fernandes "Jazzocaster" and Musicman amp. Both used
their mix'n'match pedals and outboard reverb tanks. "El
Jefe" Jeff Turner played those way cool fretless lines on
his black Fender Jazz bass through a GK rig. Chris used the drums
du jour (Dusty's spare set?), a black diamond pearl four piece
w/ chrome snare.
Faced with having to go on after Slacktone, many instro
bands would suddenly choose to have a garage sale instead ("Fender
gear for sale !! Cheap!!"). The Space Cossacks, however,
took on the daunting task and acquitted themselves admirably.
Even though they had just come in from The Far East (Washington,
D.C. and environs) that day, and it was 2 a.m. Eastern time by
the time they started, the band powered through a strong set
of 
material from both their CDS. (Yes! "Tsar Wars"
is now available! It's excellent!) Ivan used his new guitar,
a 62 reissue Strat in Shoreline Gold, through a blackface Showman
(w/ 2 x 15" cab) loaned by John Blair. Mark pumped the rhythm
guitar (white reissue Jaguar) through a Tone Master. Catherine
thumped her Surf Green Jazz Bass through Mike Sullivan's rig.
(Catherine is barely bigger than her bass, but plays with authority.
I feel like such a wimp.) Doug pounded tastefully yet forcefully
on the drums du jour. 
Amid the
cries of "We're not worthy!" from the jam-packed floor,
the band slashed and burned through "Planet of the Apes,"
the already-classic "Interstellar Stomp," "The
Defector," "Gunmetal
Express," and
"Black Sand." The original saxophonist from The Nocturnes,
Jim Frias, joined the band for "Beyond the Third Star,"
one of the tracks on the new CD that he co-wrote. Alas, the mix
was such that we could not hear the sax much. The band then continued
with several tunes from the new CD, "Escape from Gulag 17,"
"Departure," and the title track, "Tsar Wars."
Next up was one of my faves from the first CD, "Red Sunrise."
Two new ones followed, "Tsunami Tsurprise" and "The
Apes of Wrath." The audience, which ranged from people dancing
their shoes off to people merely struggling to pick their jaws
up off the floor, insisted on an encore, and were rewarded with
two: "Bombora" and of course "The Cossack."
Despite the late hour, the band played with great energy and
pretty much blew the roof off.
So who in their right mind would want to go on *after*
these three great bands? Well, probably no one. And John Blair
may say that no one has ever accused him of being in his right
mind anyway. But one of the few bands that can even think about
following Pollo del Mar, Slacktone, and The Space Cossacks would
be Jon & The Nightriders. For this gig (and for the Rendezvous
Reunion 2000 event the following Sunday), the original band reunited:
John Blair and Dave Wronski on guitars, Jeff Nicholson on bass,
and Greg Eckler on drums. Dusty Watson introduced the band, crediting
John Blair with getting him started in surf music. "John
asked me if I wanted to play in his surf band. I didn't really
know anything about surf music, but I said Can I play loud and
fast?' He said yes, so I said OK!"
Though John had been suffering from the flu and frankly
had not looked so good earlier in the evening, he dug deep and
played a great set. He used his Showman and a very nice Burgundy
Mist Strat. Dave Wronski used his Super Secret Super Reverb setup
and the white Jaguar he had used earlier. Jeff played a cream-colored
P-bass with gold anodized pickguard. He plays left-handed, but
does so on a right-handed instrument that is flipped over and
not restrung. The bass equivalent of Dick Dale? It was kind of
weird and fascinating to watch him play, since his fingering
patterns are necessarily different from "normal" bass
players. Greg played the drums du jour.
As noted above, the lineup reunited the original Nightriders.
I don't know what Greg and Jeff have been up to (though they
had clearly kept their chops up), but it's my understanding that
Jeff lives in Oregon and came for the weekend to play. Watching
the band, it was obvious that they had not had a lot of rehearsal
time together (Jeff was cueing Greg for drum fills in some spots)
but you could not tell from hearing the band. If The Space Cossacks
left any roof on the building, J&TNR blew the last shreds
of it off. Power, energy, tone, tunes--it was all there.
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