9th Wave took the newly built stage at Hank's promptly at 10 pm. The crowd had begun to fill in and every bar stool was full. They opened with several originals including the reverb-iest version of Ridin' the Chop, before kickin' into a few 9th Wave classics, including Mule Train and Short Board Action. The biggest surprise of the night happened when Staccato called Wrong Way Sean Kershaw up on stage for an impromptu version of Cocaine Blues, one of Negative Ed's favs. (PS - Ed's b-day is Tuesday). This was the night for firsts as Mike decided to introduce the newest 9th Wave tune, Creepsters From the Deep. This is a funky toe-tapping twangy tune, with a much more upbeat sound than the name would imply. I had a lot of fun hearing it and 9th Wave had a lot fun playing it. I might refer to it as psycho-lite. The set ending with two powerful songs, 9th Wave's hotrod melody Full Throttle (aka WFO) and the infamous Miserlou, which rounded out an almost hour-long set.

 

Which brings us to The Outpatients. This was the first time I have been able to catch a full set by this band and I was truly pleased with their clean surf-a-billy, garage sound. Eric, on his Fender Strat, was able to bring this band to new heights, especially with a kick-ass rhythm section like Tony & Steve. I wouldn't consider The Outpatients a surf band, but more of an instro band a la Link Wray, with a bit of rockabilly and country as well. In fact, in honor of Link they played the very popular The Shadow. A few other highlights of the set were Swampfire, Caveman, and Midnight. You don't get to hear this type of fuzz guitar played too often or this well. The sound wasn't exotica, but more in the in burlesque vein, and The Outpatients certainly had the women shimmy-ing to their all-instro sounds. I look forward to seeing them at the next Surf Shindig at Otto's on February 4.

 

I was pleased to see several other NESMA bands in the joint supporting and networking as only NESMAniacs seem to be able to do. In the house that night were members of Venice Beach Muscle Club, Fin-dicators, and the Shinto Kings. An new honorary member of 9th Wave, Sean Kershaw(New Jack Ramblers & Blind Pharoahs)  recorded the show that night with his brand new toy that Santa left under his tree.

 

I hope that you enjoyed reading this review and will continue to check my new My Space page (www.myspace.com/bluestingraye) as I continually update the calendar, blogs, and pictures. I will try not to be redundant or spam-like. Your comments and constructive critiques are always welcome.