2/12/05 - The Supertones, Mister Neutron, and The Surfalicious Dudes in New York City

What a blissful night of surf n' turf we had on 2/12 at Makor. Let me first say a big "Aloha and Thank you" to Unsteady Freddie (a.k.a. "Jewd Dude", newest "honorary" member of the Surfalicous Dudes). I was so pleased back in Sept/Oct 2004 when Unsteady Freddie first announced he was bringing a night of "reverb superb" to Lincoln Center after attending a Cuban Cowboys show there. It's has been a long wait, but the anticipation made the experience all the sweeter. Makor is a beautiful venue and because of its size and location the acoustics were superb. Each band, no matter what the volume was, had a nice clean, clear sound.

Speaking of sound, the night started promptly at 9 p.m. with dreamy oh so subtle sounds of The Supertones - www.supertones.org  (Tim, Michael, Presley , and Mark, who also plays in Mr. Action & the Boss Guitars) as they opened the set with "Out of Limits". But they proved they were no lounge band as, with great versatility, The Supertones picked up the pace in the third tune kicking into a very trad sound with some fine double picking by Tim. My escort for evening, Brian Clammage, aptly describes this band's sound as "Vintage " and likens them to "box two of the Cowabunga boxed set".  High Praise Indeed!  The set continued on with "Wipeout", "Miserlou", and, surprisingly, some Beatles thrown in as well. I told you they were versatile. By the end of The Supertones set the room was packed and the evening was well on its way to being a huge success.

There was barely enough time between bands for a smoke when "Mister Neutron" (Damian, Tony, and Drew) jumped on stage. This was the first time I had heard this awesome 3-piece band live.  They were a definite change of pace from the first band with their retro-rockabilly and vocals. But the best surprise was yet to come when they ripped into " Danger Diabolik" an original hard driving hot rod hymn to the surf and V-8's lover everywhere, available on the CD " Mister Neutron Loves You" (find it at www.misterneutron.com) . I really enjoyed the original tunes the best including an amusing pop-y vocal titled "Mrs. Neil Armstrong" and sultry instro called "Naughty Bits". And while Mister Neutron wanted to leave the stage on time they were called back for an encore that included yet another original, "Super Constellation" which you may be able to find on an upcoming CD real soon.

Well, what can say about the last band? I truly believe Unsteady Freddie saved the best for last. The Surfalicous Dudes (www.surfaliciousdudes.com) ain't your daddy's surf band and they no f' ing wedding band neither. I wish I could tell you what the set list was but I was too busy shakin' my tail feathers to write any of it down. They cranked the volume up and brought the walls tumblin' down. Holy Reverb Batman! (which they did play) Stewd, Lewd, and Sticky Dude's set left the audience breathing heavy and wanting more. The club's soundman actually went on stage and turned down the amps at least twice only to have the boys crank their toys back up as soon as his back was turned. This power trio is quickly becoming a surf band of phenomenal force. They're raw, raucous, in your face, and, well, they ain't yer daddy's surf band! So, would you too like to be blown away by the Surfalicious Dudes?

Well, head on down to Kenny's Castaways in NYC on 3/10/ 05 where the Surfalicous Dudes will be performing at a fundraiser put on by Bill Popp of Bill Popp and the Tapes (www.billpopp.com). This is the 19th year Bill has put on a fundraiser for the American Heart Association in memory of his father. So far he's raised over $10,000 through the generous donations of musicians and music lovers. Besides meeting Bill for the first time last night I had the pleasure of meetin' and greetin' Strange Dave Rosenberg and his gal pal Carrie. Nice couple if ever there was one. Hope to be doing some serious hanging out with this surf fanatic real soon. You may recall that two weeks ago Unsteady Freddie and I met Neal and Angela at Otto's (naked from the waist down-guy). Happy to see them again at Makor. Kudos to Angela for being the only other wahine in the room with energy to shake and shimmy to the Surfalicious Dudes. I'm sure we'll be seeing them at an upcoming 9th Wave show at CBGB's on 3/11. See the NESMA Shows Page for more details.

I was lucky enough to catch up with Unsteady Freddie as the night was coming to a close. He was giddy and grateful that the evening was such a success. Unsteady Freddie seems to have been able to bridge the generation gap by bring in an audience from 18 yrs old on up to 60 or older. I can't say enough about his promotional skills. I look forward to more Reverb Superb shows at Makor and perhaps other corners of globe as the year moves forward.

Until we meet again, I know I'll be seeing all of you in the funny pages or maybe CBGB's. We'll have to wait and see. Until then, I remain

The Blue StingRaye
Official NESMA reviewer
SHALOHA!

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Another viewpoint:

'Tis me, Happy Scrappy Hero Pup, Bong Loard, You Will Play Bass in My Band, Brine-iac X, or any other name I have used in the last year. 

They say it is not the destination, but the journey. This time I beg to differ with who ever that wise woman was. This time the destination was The Kirkland. I wanted to see and hear North Eastern Surf Rock at its finest. Once again it was mission accomplished. 6 hours of round trip driving, one auto flambe' on Rt. 91 south, and a chance to talk in person to the people whose e-mail boxes I have been filling for the last year or more. I hope who ever was involved in that accident made it out OK. Black smoke and 40 foot flames, youch! 

Shout outs go to every one I talked with last night including; Stewd, Lewd, Sticky and their posse from Albany, Rachel (They're Gonna Get You), the girl from The Girl on Top (I found a CD at the end of the night and I liked it a lot), the Come Arounds, especially the drummer (can't remember his name), Blue Sting Raye (and her warm jacket, Chuck Edwards (thanks for the CD), Dano (Clammage), The surfer with the Toes on the Nose hat, The guy who used to see the Fathoms, Dirk Driftwood, Phred (for putting up with my incessant drive-to-the-gig chatter) and most of all to Mike and Oceana from the 9th Wave. This must be the longest run-on sentence ever.

Well maybe the journey was the thing. I got to listen on the way home to the The Come Arounds CD, a The Undertows demo, and Girl on Top's CD and others I was given. Unfortunately, the GOT CD got stuck in my CD player so I did some 70 mph CD retrieval with a paperclip on Rt. 95. I played GOT for my wife and it is now in her car's CD changer. 

The parting thoughts are this, 1 + 1 = 3 at a NESMA gig. That, my friends, is called synergy. This synergy was present last night and I see big synergistic things on the horizon in NESMA-land. 

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