International Surfing Museum Surfin' Sundays
Surf Museum, Huntington Beach, CA
As you might have guessed, since the Surfing Museum is putting on shows at the Huntington beach pier, their location is in Huntington Beach. When they are not putting on shows on the pier, they are putting on shows in the parking lot of the museum. It is not a big lot, it normally only holds 5 or 6 cars. However, it is big enough for a band to set up, and to put out chairs and popup tents to help keep the sun off the audience.
First up today, was the Vectors. The line up was 2 guitars, 1 keyboard, 1 bass, 1 drum and no vocals. Most of the instrumental bands that I record, don't have a keyboard player. So this was a nice addition to the standard instrumental band sound. I believe they played all cover tunes. The lead guitarist was the one making the announcements and talking to the crowd. However he didn't seem to grasp the concept of using the microphone. I am not sure if that is part of their regular stage act, or something new they were trying. I had never seen or heard of this band before, and they hadn't heard of me either. However, when I was asking for permission to record them, the drummer got a kick out of my name (Chrome Oxide), as he remembered Chromium DiOxide cassettes, which is what I adapted my recording name from (I initially-and for a number of years was using tape). When I asked BigTikiDude about this band, I was informed the drummer and lead guitarist were in a instrumental band, The Breakers, that had played the surf museum previously (before I started recording here regularly).
http://www.myspace.com/chumsurf Next up was Chum. The band line up was 1 guitar, 1 bass, 1 drum and no vocals. Chum is not your fathers surf band. In fact, they might be better described as a metal band without vocals. They played all original tunes. They played the first half of their set without talking to the crowd or stopping between songs. They did slow their pace a little by talking between tunes for the second half of their set. The drummer Adrien started this band a number of years ago. The first time I ever saw Chum, back in 2001, it was at a show where the Insect Surfers showed up without a drummer, and Adrien sat in with them for their entire show. With no rehearsal. The guitarist Rick, formerly with another instrumental band (Surf Report), and currently head of a music label (Rickshaw Records), has been with the band for a bit over a year. The bass player, Willie replaced Ted Thompson, who moved to the Detonators, a band I recorded here last week. In case you haven't figured it out yet, I did not need to ask the band for permission to record, as I have been recording them for a number of years. The drummer Adrien, is also the current drummer for the Insect Surfers, a band that I do the web site for, as well as their recent Lyve CD. So in addition to recording the band, I also volunteered to help them sell their merchandise. And was able to sell some CDs for the band while they were playing. Chum currently has 3 CDs in print. They managed to put my name in the thanks section of their second CD.
http://www.myspace.com/maskedblackwidows Next (and last) up, was the Black Widows. The band line up was 2 guitars, 1 tambourine / keyboard, 1 bass, 1 drum and no vocals. Absolutely none. They don't even announce song titles. When the Black Widows perform, they keep a small stand next to the stage, where a series of signs display the band name, all the song titles, and finally a message to buy their CD. Did I mention that the band all wear black jumpsuits, wear black stockings over their heads, and make absolutely no verbal sounds for their entire set? And the tambourine player normally runs around in the audience? Today he even ran around in the streets while the band was playing. As I understand it, the band broke up back in 2001 when Tony, the lead guitar player left the band to join / form the Bellrays. Tony restarted the Black Widows earlier this year with some of the original members, and some new members. The first time I ever recorded this band was back in January 1997. Since I have recorded this band a number of times over the years, I did not ask them yet again for permission to record.
In conversation with one of the audience members, I found out that I may be hired to record the audio of Los Straightjackets this coming Friday night, if Safari Sam's turns out to be a good venue to video tape. Keep your fingers, toes, eyes and nose crossed. :-)
It didn't help. The Friday night video shoot didn't happen. Thought it may be rescheduled for another day.
Chrome Oxide
have audio recorder will travel
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Last updated by Chrome Oxide on 09/14/2008
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