SURFARI USA Story & Photos by Sean Berry I just got back from this year's Surfari USA concerts. Now that I have recovered from my experience I am able to put together a report from the shows I attended. The following tour diary will appear in Bellingham's 'Every Other Weekly'. An expanded report will appear in the next issue of The Continental (due out September 1st).

Here goes...

A couple of weeks ago I flew down to Atlanta to attend four instrumental

surf concerts that were part of the first annual Surfari USA tour. The

concerts featured bands from all over the United States, including Jon &

The Nightriders, The Volcanos, The Penetrators, Agent Orange, The

Neptunas, Thee Phantom 5ive, The Space Cossacks, The Atomic Teen Idols, and others. The tour began in Texas and swung through the deep South, finally going up the East Coast. I saw shows in Tuscaloosa, Atlanta, Chattanooga, and Nashville. Here is a rundown on what I saw and heard...

 

Friday, June 20th

Driving my grandparents' Plymouth Voyager I drove from Atlanta to Tuscaloosa, AL, taking in the scenery along the way. It was pretty hot outside, but I was comfortable in the air- conditioned rig. I stopped for a quick n' dirty meal at the Waffle House (they are at every exit in the South), where I ordered a big waffle and hash browns 'scattered n' smothered'.

I also stopped at the Talladega Speedway to visit the

International Motor Sports Hall of Fame, which had about 100 race cars on display.

 

I pulled into Tuscaloosa around 5:00 and looked for The Chukker, site of

the show that evening. I found it without any problem, so I turned my

attention to finding food and a record store called Vinyl Solution, which

was recommended to me by Rip Thrillby of The Penetrators. I found the

store and talked to the clerk about the local scene and The Penetrators,

who he called Tuscaloosa's 'hometown heroes'.

 

It was time to head over to The Chukker for the show. On the bill were

The Penetrators, Squid Vicious, The Atomic Teen Idols, Johnny & The

Shamen, and The Mystery Men. I finally got to meet The Penetrators, who I had only communicated with via e-mail and telephone to this point. They are the first band with a release on my new record label and we had worked on the whole thing without ever meeting. One of my reasons for coming down to the shows was to promote the new 7" record, but we only had the sleeves ready. Nevertheless, we were able to get the word out on the single and everyone was pretty excited about it.

 

The show started at about 9:30. The Penetrators decided to go on third instead of the headlining slot to allow the out-of-town bands to play longer sets. This goodwill gesture backfired, since the number of people in the club peaked during their set and most of the people left once it was over.

The Atomic Teen Idols played next and won the crowd over with their energetic mix of surf & ska covers and originals. They had travelled further than any other band on the tour, all the way from Olympia, WA. The evening ended with a long set from Squid Vicious. One thing I learned right away is that bars in the South don't close. The show was over at 3:30 AM and we didn't leave the club until 4:30 AM. As we walked outside I noticed a blueish tint in the early morning sky. It was time to find a place to crash for a few hours until I had to make the long drive back to Atlanta.

Saturday, June 21st

 

It was a long drive back to Atlanta. I hit a heavy rain storm at the

Georgia-Alabama border that had traffic on the freeway paralyzed.

Motorcycles pulled off the road under overpasses to keep dry. Once I got

through it was clear all the way into Atlanta. I stopped by my

grandparents' house to say 'hi' and take a quick shower before heading

downtown to the Variety Playhouse. Tonight's show was the focal point of the whole tour, eight bands on the bill and a theater with a capacity of

over 1000.

 

Unfortunately, the show started much earlier than I thought so I missed

Squid Vicious and The Atomic Teen Idols. When I walked into the theater

Los Perdidos were onstage, playing cool instro tunes with go-go dancers groving to their swingin' rhythms. Next up were The Volcanos, a great 4 piece combo with a couple of releases on Estrus Records. They wore matching blue shirts and black pants. Their tunes were drenched with reverb and really got the crowd going. I have waited a long time to see them live and they didn't disappoint.

The Penetrators were next, playing a set virtually identical to what they played in Tuscaloosa. They opened each night with the first two tracks from the new 7" (whatta way to plug the new release!).

 

Following them were The Space Cossacks, playing a cool mix of originals and covers. What I love about them are their choice of covers (stuff from The Atlantics, The Ventures, Dick Dale, and others) and their guitar sound - pretty amazing.

 

The Neptunas came on stage and were one of the highlights of the tour.

This all-female trio doesn't have the skill that the other bands possess,

but they more than make up for it with their energy and their banter with

the audience. Next up were the veterans of the tour, Jon & The Nightriders. They have been together off and on for at least 18 years and have put out several fine albums during that time. Their originals and covers had the crowd (and members of the other bands that were now spectators) in awe. It was great to hear them play 'Baja', 'Penetration' and tunes from their latest release 'Fiberglass Rocket'. By this point I was pretty tired, but I managed to make it through half of Agent Orange's set. They were pretty cool, more punk than surf, but still loads of fun to watch.

 

Sunday, June 22nd

 

I got lots of sleep and was ready to hit the road to Chattanooga. My

brother and his girlfriend joined me for the trip. The drive was fairly

uneventful, except for all of the billboards for Rock City and Ruby Falls

(a couple of tourist traps just outside Chattanooga). They didn't need to

convice us, since we had already planned on going to Rock City prior to

the show.

 

If you haven't heard of Rock City here is a quick description. It is located on Lookout Mountain, high above Chattanooga, and features a winding path through all sorts of unusual rock formations (some natural, some man-made).

 

There's Mushroom Rock, Balancing Rock, and Fat Man's Squeeze, along with a rope bridge and a view of seven states. The

highlight is a cave at the end of the path with coral glued to the

ceilings and tons of gnomes illuminated by black lights. It was the best

$9.75 I have ever spent.

 

It was about 8:00 by this point so I decided to head down to The Bay for

tonight's Surfari show. I couldn't believe my ears when I heard the show

had started at 3:00. I had missed The Atomic Teen Idols, Thee Phantom

5ive, Squid Vicious, The Penetrators, and The Space Cossacks. There were only 20 or so people in the club. Needless to say, a wave of depression suddenly hit me. The cover charge was only $5 - if you do some quick arithmetic you'll soon realize that the bands weren't gonna make squat on this show. Morale was down, but the music that I did get to see was amazing.

 

The Neptunas were playing when I got to the club. They pulled out all the stops, with versions of Agent Orange's 'Bloodstains', as well as 'Hawaii 5-O', and 'Walk, Don't Run'.

 

They also had one of the Atomic Teen Idols on stage doing some

go-go dancing, then stripping down to his boxers on a slow number. Jon & The Nightriders played another smouldering set of high-energy instros, including 'Baja', 'Surf Rider', 'Surf Party', and 'Penetration'. Since it was only 10:30 or so they let The Space Cossacks play a few more songs to close the evening.

 

At this point there were doubts that the Nashville show would even

happen. Bands were out of money, the crowds to this point were small, and Nashville was another long drive away. I was going to go, show or no show. As it turned out, the show went on and it was probably the best one of the whole tour.

 

Monday, June 23rd

 

It took about 2 hours to get to Nashville, taking in some beautiful

scenery along the way. I was surprised to see how large the city is, just

about the size of Seattle. I started the day in the touristy part of town

and got lunch and did some window shopping.

 

Then I headed out to the 'burbs to find United Record Pressing, the company doing the vinyl for The Penetrators 7". They gave me a tour of the plant and showed me how a record is made. Our single was set to be pressed the following day, so I didn't get to see it come off the press. Still, it was really cool to see the whole process (they were working on some rap records while I was there).

 

My next goal was to find the club for this evening's show, no easy task

in a town of this size. After an hour of searching I finally found it.

Outside the club were various members of Thee Phantom 5ive and The

Neptunas haggling with the club owner over details of the show. I met up

with them and we hit some nearby thrift stores and grabbed a bite to eat

at the pizza joint across the street.

 

I missed Squid Vicious, since I was busy backstage taking advantage of

the stash of free beer. I came out to catch The Atomic Teen Idols, with

The Neptunas go-go dancing behind them. This was The Neptunas' only

appearance on stage that night, since the club owner didn't have the

money the promotor guaranteed for them.

 

The Atomic Teen Idols were definitely one of the highlights of the entire

tour. If you have a chance to see them do so, you won't be disappointed.

Thee Phantom 5ive were next, featuring a dancer with a hula hoop and a

boogie board. It was great to see their live show, featuring tunes from

their various EP's and several choice covers. The Penetrators followed,

playing a 45 minute set of tunes from their CD and our new 7", along with

'Stampede' which was dedicated to Jon & The Nightriders. Unfortunately, I think Jon was backstage during the tune taking advantage of the free hooch.

 

Jon & The Nightriders ended the evening with yet another blistering set

of amazing insto surf rock. It was amazing to see them three nights in a

row, an opportunity that I will probably never get again. The party

didn't end though. I joined 3/4 of The Penetrators and 1/2 of The Atomic

Teen Idols at a pad near Vanderbilt University for a long night of scotch

n' water and continuous rock n' roll on the hi-fi. When I finally had

enough it was 6:30 AM. After a couple of hours of sleep I had sobered up

enough for the 3 1/2 hour drive back to Atlanta.

 

Musicwise, Surfari USA was a huge success. It is rare to have the

opportunity to see so many great surf bands all at once. Yet the

promotion just wasn't there and many promises were left unfulfilled.

There may not be a sequal, but the memories from this year will last a

lifetime.

 

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