New Years Eve With the Red Elvises
Kayt Owens

The evening began as a handful of us early arrivals waited patiently outside Rusty’s Surf Ranch in Santa Monica to show our tickets and get wristbands that would admit us to Pacific Park, the amusement area farther down the Santa Monica Pier, as well as Rusty’s. Band members started to arrive and went inside after greeting us warmly. Soon, Rusty’s was open for business, the wristbands were issued and we went inside and saw the festive decorations – balloons lining the ceiling along with the surfboards, party favors everywhere -- before heading down the pier to see Red Elvises play Pacific Park. Excitement was in the air already.

By the time some of us got inside Pacific Park we could hear music, and familiar voices singing a song unknown to us, a very catchy brand new Red Elvises tune called "Everybody Disco Like Boys in San Francisco," destined to be a future favorite. We hurried over to the stage, which was located in front of the ferris wheel. As the not-quite-scream-a-minute roller coaster crept by on its track overhead, we joined the dance floor crowd and happily discovered other new song treats the guys had been working on. One goes "we’ve got the grooves…we’ve got the beat…we’ve got the moves…stomp your feet…" (forgive me, Red Elvises, if the champagne made me remember the words slightly incorrectly!) and is a great stomping dance tune. And another song we southern Californians have heard a few times but possibly others haven’t, "The Train is Coming," is wonderful as well. And of course they did a lot of the songs we have loved all along, such as "Stewardess in Red," "Sad Cowboy Song," "Lovepipe," "Gypsy Heart" and "I Wanna See You Bellydance." It was fun to see people who may not have experienced Red Elvises before dancing and having a great time out on the pier, including one senior citizen dressed in silver who had more energy than a lot of people half her age.

Back at Rusty’s later, it goes without saying that we got a fantastic show including old songs and new ones, which were great to hear again so soon. We all put on our Happy New Year tiaras (cardboard or diamonds, it’s all good) and Hawaiian leis, and later when Avi tossed a bunch of Mardi Gras bead necklaces into the crowd, a lot of us ended up decked out in those as well. There was even more happiness in Rusty’s than on a usual Red Elvises night there, and that’s pretty happy! As midnight approached the guys ended their first set and offered the stage to anyone wanting to say a few words or make any announcements. A young couple got onstage and the guy said some sweet words to his girlfriend, produced a ring and proposed to her while we all grinned at them like maniacs. She said yes! Right before midnight we all went over to the bar where our complimentary glasses of champagne were ready for us, and the countdown began…10, 9, 8, 7, 6….HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Much champagne was consumed by all. Igor and a couple of other people were carrying the champagne bottles to refill our glasses, and there were plenty of happy New Year hugs and kisses all round. The year 2000 wasn’t very old when Red Elvises took the stage again for a rousing second set and we all disco'd (and cha-cha'd and twisted and wiggled and generally jumped up and down) like boys (and girls) in...Los Angeles...once more. To say we had a great time would be the understatement of the millenium, so I’ll tell you something else you all know in your hearts – New Year’s Eve, much like any night with Red Elvises, rocked!