Show Report by Vicky Davis

During the weekend of Oct.18-19, Northern California was the epicenter for surf sounds of seismic proportions. On Saturday the 18th, the venerable Sacramento dive Old Ironsides hosted Pollo del Mar, Slacktone, and local group The Hypnotic IV.

The evening got off to a late start--I don't know what the reason for this was, but scarcity of audience might have contributed. (The World Series baseball game ran late.) Many of the usual suspects were on hand--SuperFan Doug Snyder, BigTikiDude Jeff and Baja Marty came up from So. Cal., the string section of the Surf-Liners. (Note: While waiting for the music to start, I went to the bar for a drink. A man there, who might have been a couple sheets to the wind, actually asked me "Do you come here often?" I thought that only happened on TV.) Eventually more people trickled in.

Once the Pollo crew hit the stage, the energy in the club went off the charts. The band tore through a set that included a lot of new tunes, as well as a few old favorites. Ferenc Dobronyi handled lead and rhythm duties on his trusty Reverend guitar, aided by a blackface Bandmaster and of course the all-important reverb tank. Jono Jones had his black Strat, and a silverface Super Reverb amp. Bassist Jefferson Turner had his customary black fretless Jazz bass and GK rig, and Jeremy Rexford used his cool Gretsch drums. Tunes included the moody "7 Sisters, 7 Seas," the hard-driving "Red Asphalt" (or "Camino del Sangre"), new tune "Paneolo" and the spooky "Annabelle Lee" from their Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" CD. (We were coming up on Halloween/Dia de los Muertos, after all.) A cool new tune called "Dripping Springs TX" debuted. The title comes from a real Texas town, but is fraught with multiple meaning in the surf context. It sounded appropriately spaghetti westernly. Or perhaps southwesternly. The band's excellent cover of Frank Zappa's "Peaches en Regalia" followed, and then came a very cool cover of "Charlie Don't Surf" (the one by The Clash, not the one by that other N. Cal. surf band). Jeff was all over the distinctive bass line--nicely done! Continuing to cover the classics, the Pollo boys offered their take on Grieg's "In the Hall of the Mountain King." This features lots of fun back & forth between the guitarists, and molto accelerando along the way. The Wild West Medley included "Apache," Bonanza," "Navajo Joe" (I think), the theme from "The Wild, Wild West," the theme from the "Andy Griffith Show," (composed by Earle Hagen, who also composed "Harlem Nocturne"), and "Ghost Riders in the Sky." I might have missed a couple, but I was having too much fun to be paying close attention. The band's contribution to the upcoming Richie Podolor tribute is "Dark Side of the Mushroom," and they gave us a taste--like wow, groovy. The band's final selection (their set was cut a bit short) was the very cool "Flash of Green."

Slacktone went on after Pollo del Mar. I am running out of ways to express the level of skill and musicianship that this band achieves. Each musician is a monster player in his own right, and the trio together is even more amazing. Dusty keeps the beat and does so much more, pounding like a man possessed on his blue sparkle Ludwigs. Chips of wood fly off his drumsticks as he plays with power, control and accuracy. Dave Wronski's guitar playing is a force of nature. He played his white modified Jaguar through a reverb tank, a Super and his Slacktone amps, and in the middle of it all, the Secret Box. Sam plays his dark green P-bass (w/J-bass pickup added) through a G-K head that looks like it's been through a couple of wars, and a 4x10 SWR cabinet.

Perhaps all that need be said is that during "The Bells of St. Kahuna," Ferenc, Jono, and Jeremy were on the floor in front of the band, giving them the Wayne's World "We're not worthy!" treatment. "St. Kahuna" came about two-thirds of the way through their set. Earlier selections included favorites from their two studio CDS: "Coffin Closer," "Blast Bolero," "PCH," "Birdbone," "Mysterioso," "Longboard Legato." After "Longboard Legato" came a tune called "Chaos," which was clearly based on "Longboard" but went an entirely different direction. We then went on a "Rosarito 3-Day," followed by "St. Kahuna." "Tiki Bar Crawl," has become an excellent showcase for Dusty's creativity and groove. He can swing like crazy, play with rhythm and dynamics, and get an amazing variety of sounds from a simple kit. And he never lets go of the beat. The band closed out their truncated set with "Lift & Separate," the mother of all glissandos in "Tidal Wave," and their incendiary version of "Miserlou."

Local heroes The Hypnotic IV were up next, sporting their spiffy new Mosrite-style guitars. Alas, some of us had been up since 6 a.m., so my accomplice and I went home. This meant, I later learned, that we missed a heckuva scene with Dave, Sam and Ferenc joining drummer Kevin Coughlin for a colossal surf jam. I hope one of you guys called Cal Tech to assure them that despite what their seismographs said, there was no earthquake in Sacramento; it was surf.