Show Report by Vicky Davis SF Bay Area surf fans were treated to a heapin' helpin' o' reverb Saturday afternoon, courtesy of three fine bands: The Brainwashers (from Portland OR), Pollo del Mar (the local boys) and So Cal's Slacktone.
Thanks to Ferenc and everyone else for putting together such a great afternoon of surf music. Thanks Vicki for the show review. Going against all previous experience, I now know that it is possible to put together a successful ALL SURF show, in the afternoon, in only 2 weeks at an unknown club and had trouble finding. We had a packed house, the merchandise table was busy all afternoon, and the bar did great and wants us back. Thanks to The Brainwashers and Slacktone for hauling ass to make the show, and to Phil Dirt who MC'd and got the word out on such short notice. And thanks to everyone who came! Ferenc / PDM P.S. Craig Howell took lots of pictures! And we have some more pictures here. |
The Brainwashers were up first. They're a powerful trio who
looked like they would have been equally at home in a grimy biker bar. Despite
having driven all the way from Portland after a show the night before (that's
about a 13-hour drive, folks), the Brainwashers dished out a strong mix
of originals and covers. The guitar, a well-worn sunburst Jazzmaster, twanged
authoritatively through a brown Deluxe amp and outboard reverb tank. The
bass, a B.C. Rich, thumped through a Peavey 1 x 15 combo, plenty of power
for the fairly small room. The drums were a simple, black 4-piece set. The
band opened with the Link Wray/Taco bell classic "Jack the Ripper."
Other covers included "Surf Beat," "Black Widow," "Mr.
Moto,""Out of Limits," "Latin'ia," and "Baja."
The originals, which may be heard on The Brainwashers' CD, "Be Careful
with that Surfboard," included "Vibrosurf," "Lucky Surfer,"
and several others. One thing that did bother me was that more often than
not, the band did not tell us the titles of the tunes (nor did they say
much else to the audience, especially for the first 20 minutes or so. In
instro music, even when "preaching to the choir," I think a band
needs to work harder to connect with the audience, and telling the folks
what you're playing is pretty much the minimum the band needs to do. After
I found out they'd just driven all night to be there, though, I'm more than
willing to forgive them.
Up next was SF Bay Area's own Pollo Del Mar, celebrating
the release of the band's new CD, "The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea."
The band played many selections from the new CD, all of which were excellent.
Buy the CD, I say! The band sounded great, I thought. Ferenc was using a
"new" '66 Bandmaster, '65 tank reverb plus a few pedals, with
his sea-foam blue Reverend guitar. Jono relied on his sea-foam green Fernandes
"Jazzocaster" (I don't know what it is--it's shaped like a Jazzmaster,
but has 3 Strat-style pickups), with his Music Man amp and Kendrick reissue
tank reverb. Chris Thomas kept it all together with solid southpaw drumming
on a vintage Rogers Kit. Jeff laid down his trademark killer fretless bass
lines on his black Fender Jazz through a G-K setup with 1 x 15 and 2 x 10
speakers. Dave Becker, bass player for The Tube Sharks, was near me and
we both oohed and ahhed over Jeff's great bass work. Selections included
"Anabelle Lee," "Cutlass Supreme," "South of the
Border," "Jonny Foo, Ninja Chiropractor" (gotta love the
title!), "Consuela's Revenge," "Moon over Marin" (yes,
the Dead Kennedys), "Rt. 666," and an absolutely hypnotic version
of "Apache." They also did "Insecticide," which morphed
into "Pipeline," and encored with their classic "2314 B."
Ferenc and Jono shared lead guitar duties, at times doing very cool twin
leads, a sort of "Allman Brothers go surfing" sound. Jono pleaded
that he was just getting over a cold, so the "Erik Estrada" fans
in the audience will have to wait til next time. Otherwise, a fine outing
from Pollo del Mar.
So Slacktone had a hard act to follow, but of course they
were up to it. They hit the ground running, rocking, & reverbing. Dave
Wronski used a green Jazzmaster for the first two numbers; I suspect it's
one of the new USA-made reissues. He switched to his modified white Jaguar
for the rest of the set. He played through his patented, top-secret 2 Super
Reverbs plus- more- reverb- plus- who- knows- what- else setup. Mike Sullivan
played bitchin' bass, a black Carvin 5-string, with SWR-powered 1 x 15 and
2 x 10 speakers. The Man, Dusty Watson, propelled the band powerfully through
a blistering set, pounding the bejeezus out of his blue sparkle Ludwigs
(+ chrome snare, 1 ride, 2 crash, & hi-hat). Selections included a couple
of new tunes, plus a number of tunes from their first CD: "Hit Man,"
"Rosarito 3-Day," "Mysterioso," "Bells of St. Kahuna"
(one of my favorite titles ever), "Skateboard Commando," "Lift
& Separate," "PCH," and "Rell Sunn Aloha."
Encores were a blistering "Miserlou" (gee, I bet Dusty has played
that a few times! And does Dave have to use fireproof picks?) and "Mr.
Moto."
Cowabungans in attendance included Dave Becker, Mel Waldorf,
Bernie Beckwith, Matt Kora, Paul (who lurks, but whose last name I didn't
get) and others whose names I'm forgetting (sorry!). Superfan Doug Snyder
was also present, as was the bassist for Reno's favorite surf band, The
Sand Dunes. KFJC's Phil Dirt hosted the event and introduced the bands.
Jelly's, the venue, was a little hard to find (for certain hicks from the sticks like
me, anyway), but a friendly place. The crowd was a little sparse at first,
but the place was packed by the end. One other note I have is that
there was not very much dead time between the bands, and I commend everyone
who kept things moving so smoothly.