Surfer Joe Festival 2102, day two

No soundcheck for the headliner, Meshugga Beach Party, today. They did have a nice long rehearsal inside the diner, but the first band, The Tonomats were starting at 7pm, so all we could do was get their gear near the stage. Karen, Stuart, Danny, Mel and I decided to leave the Diner grounds and look for Italian food. I didn't want to miss any bands, so we didn't search too far and chose the open air cafe next to the street in front of the diner as an OK choice. everything was delicious, but too salty, and service was quick. They had many fried choices on the menu but Everything we had came from the grill. Karen went for the local specialty, the cacciucco seafood stew, which had every manner of crustacean in a tomato sauce. The menu said it would come with garlic bread, but it didn't arrive, until, she dug to the bottom of the bowl, and found the bread sponging up the favors. It seems that while Livorno was under siege by the Moorish pirates, the Tuscans had to smuggle bread into the city in the bottom of seafood crates, and so the tradition began.*

I only caught the last few minutes of Netherlands's The Tonomats. The newest band to play the festival, it's alway great to see young people (in their mid twenties) attracted to our genre, which is so nostalgia heavy. It's fine to have respect for the oldies, but these guys are all about the energy. I think they have a great future.

The second band was called Dirty Fuse, a five piece with sax from Athens Greece, managed by Mike Pappagino from Green Cookie Records. Mostly originals plus some Greek standards, and a version Yuzo Kayama's "Black Sand Beach". They brought out a tzouras, which is similar to a bouzouki but smaller, for their last two songs. Unfortunately, their set was marred by some equipment failures causing loud popping sounds. I spoke with Costas (lead guitar) and drummer Christo, for a while. They usually play twice a month in Athens, and the shows usually don't start in 1 in the morning. They asked about the music scene in America, as their bass player had told them they should move to California, where they could become rich playing surf music. Mmmm, maybe not.

Between sets, I meet FaceBook friend Jordi Molinar, who plays with the Spanish band Five Fingers With Parasol. He hands me their new CD and full color comic book, that tells the "history" of the band. The story involves a forgotten band, some time travel, and alternate world and some surf music. I've heard that one before :)

 

Jaguar and the Savannahs are a four piece from Scicily, they drove 13 hours to get to the festival. They offered a car ride from the hotel to the festival site so I took the chance to talk with them. The band members are guitarists Massimo and Gloria, barefoot bassist Elias and the drummer. They had just finished their first CD, but it didn't arrive before they left for Surfer Joe. Their live set was all covers, and their sound falls into the power surf category, clearly influenced by Man or Astroman, and they did do a few MOAM songs. The arrangements featured a lot of guitar interplay and they weren't afraid to "go there" harmonically into the noise realm. Mexican wrestling mask wearing Massimo played the more blood and guts guitar leads, and Gloria was more of a finesse player, she took the lead role on two Slacktone covers, "Bells of St. Kahuna" and "Tidal Wave."


At 10pm, the sky had finally darkened, the moon shining as brightly as its slim crescent would allow. Up until now, attendance had been poor, much less than last night. It is unfortunate that Lorenzo must start and end his shows so early, as the Italians don't seem to wake up until 9, have an espresso, and get ready to party. Happily for the Kilaueas, the area in front of the stage filled up as they began. At this point these guys are old friends as the proved to be an awesome band and gentlemanly house guests on their USA tour in 2007.

 

A big change in the band is that Tom, the rock steady bass player, has switched to second guitar, and shared much of the lead duties with Ralf. For this show, and whenever he is available, they had Boris from Los Twang! Marvels, obviously one of the best and most solid drummers in The EU. The Kilaueas set tonight was mostly new material, as they have about 10 new originals ready to record. (I did propose to record them in San Francisco, an offer they took quite seriously.) As expected, their set was tight and punchy, and the crowd responded noisily. I think this is their third appearance at the festival, and they are audience favorites.

 

And now the moment we've all been waiting for, the first international appearance of Meshugga Beach Party! As soon as the 4 guys and gal came out in their full rabbinical shmata, the now capacity crowd went nuts, and expectations were very high. I'm happy to say they totally delivered. Mel and Danny kept the energy at maximum with their synchronized leg kicks and dance moves. Stuart was as flashy as I've seen him, perhaps giving it just a little more effort for the cameras. Steve and Karen were spot on, and were more gregarious than I've seen them before, completely engaging the crowd. And the crowd was going nuts, chanting the band name, dancing and there was one guy who climbed over the railing to dance on stage. After two encores, and past the 12am curfew, victory was declared and the stage lights dimmed.

At that point the huge crowd returned to the tiki garden and diner, and drink and bathroom lines were measured in kilometers. Lorenzo set up the inside stage for the late night jam, and Karen, Stu and I waited for a bus that didn't come. We walked back to The Duke and, adrenaline abated, were in bed by 2am.

And, awake at he crack of noon! Karen and I found a cafe near the Grand Piazza, and then walked around the Little Venice section of Livorno. On the canals we saw more than a few boathouses, with 4 man and 10 man longboats docked. Unlike Crew boats, these are really wide and heavy, and in the 10 man boats, the rowers sit in pairs.

Again, we walked back to the Diner, as Frankie was scheduled to sound check and rehearse on the big stage at 2:30. The rest of the boys were there, eating. Tony was writing in a journal, which is like keeping a blog on paper, and you can say anything you want and keep secrets! ;) Frankie warmed up– I'm still getting used to the sound of the Fender Twin, it has a distinct spike in the attack, and I prefer a more "womanly" tone, rounder. We are still working on the Morricone's "Titoli, Fistful of $" as arranged by The Bradipos IV, the did a brilliant job with it but every verse is different.

We stuck around the Festival site and watched the first band of the night, the LaGoonAs, then walked back to the hotel. It's a little more than a mile away, so faithful readers will note that we are getting plenty of exercise!

*I made up the part about smuggling the bread in the bottom of seafood crates.