Surfer Joe Festival 2012, Day Three

The LaGoonatics started Sunday's show at 5. They're a power trio, the guitarist playing his melodies with one or two fingers on top of chords giving them a rich sound. They kicked of their set with "Surf Party". We were shvitzing heavily after a long day, so headed back to The Duke for a shower.

 

An hour later, Karen, Danny, Stu and I waited for the Surfer Joe bus outside our hotel for about a half hour before it showed up. We boarded the vintage 1978 orange bus and were told that the driver was going to take a 20 minute break in the Grande Piazza for some dinner and a drink. We were pretty famished at this point, looking forward to food and music back at the festival, but what can you do. It was happy hour at a cafe in the Piazza, so we had a beer and grabbed handfuls of peanuts.

 

Arriving at the diner a little later than we hoped, the trio Surfadelica (from Rome) were on stage. I got to hear their great version of Aha's "Take On Me" with Mel and Ralf singing along, trying, but not quite hitting the falsetto parts. I didn't watch enough to get a strong impression, as there was a Tiki Burger waiting for me. Steve commented that the rhythm section was really tight, allowing the guitarist, Marco, plenty of room to roam.

 

I also missed Bang Mustangs, but they reminded Tony of Los Twang! Marvels, if that's any help. They want to play at the SG101 Convention next year, but who doesn't? 

Here's something that drives promoters crazy: Futbol. There was some kind of tournament going on, and Italy was playing England, the game starting at 9. Lorenzo delayed the start of the Messer Chups until 10:45, and during the break, Unsteady Freddie took the stage to tell the inspirational story of his life. The game ended in 0-0, and went to penalty shots, with Italy getting the victory.

 

I have to say that I was really surprised by the Messer Chups (Messer Chups means "knife lollipop".) Because of their videos focusing on the dark beauty of bass player Svetlana Zombierella, I somehow missed the incredible talents of guitarist of Oleg. Their drummer Dennis has toured with The Toasters so he was a complete pro, and did most of the between song banter, including the deadpanned, "I haven't had this much fun since my wife died. Just kidding, she's in a coma." Oleg's tone from his Jazzmaster was just incredibly rich, and considering we were all playing out of the same amps, it didn't seem fair.

 

Frankie and the Pool Boys came on at 11:45, and despite starting late, we played our full set. This was our first performance with Lorenzo; most bands play their first show in a basement, we were the closing band of a three day festival. All I can say about our set is that nobody died.

 

Thus ended Surfer Joe Festival #7. Karen, Stu and I took the Surfer Joe bus back to the hotel. Mel and Danny stayed for the jam. Somehow Mel bloodied his finger playing a bass solo in "Baja'". What a strange sentence to write.

 

Monday morning, bleary eyed, we all meet in the lobby at 9am to take a train to Firenze. We tried to buy a ticket for the bus, but none were to be had, but it didn't matter because nobody asked us for the fair. At the train station, we pull out the guide books and the first thing we figure put is that all the museums are closed on Mondays. Oh well, on the train we trade stories about the weekend and all the interesting people we have met from around the world. We bought tickets tickets for the train, but nobody asked us for them. I'm seeing a trend.