Red Elvises at Rusty's
March 9, 2001 By Kayt

On March 9th I and what seemed like a cast of thousands assembled at the fabulous Rusty’s Surf Ranch for the very first Red Elvises show of 2001, the real start of the new millennium for all you purists. True to form these days, Rusty’s is one place where the words "Not very many people here yet…" no longer ever have to be uttered; it was very near to bursting at the seams early in the evening. Those determined to dance in front of the stage had to be willing to stand there from way before the beginning of the show clear through to the end of the many splendored evening, claiming their wiggling spots – when there’s not enough room for actual dancing, wiggling is about the best one can do – because claimants of those spots were, for the most part, not giving them up. Most people in front of the stage remained standing there even through the break! Those of us equally dedicated but preferring to sit, eat and talk with friends at tables behind the stage had good vantage points as well, it’s just that one gets better photographs out in front, so I knew eventually I’d have to smush my way in there somehow.

Huge enthusiastic crowds are just a good sign that the people of Los Angeles and surrounding areas who know good music love their Red Elvises – high numbers of people willing to put up with any amount of crowding will flock to Rusty’s from all around to experience the Red Elvises phenomenon, drink beer and scream their adoration. I have been to more sparsely attended shows and, trust me, it’s still fun but the energy level of a huge boisterous crowd just can’t be beat. So, because I know it’s due to the Red Elvises’ tremendous talent and popularity, your faithful spoiled Southern Californian Rusty’s reviewer, who normally gets tense in crowds, will brave any amount of people to see and report on our Favorite Band.

There was an opening band and I didn’t think to get the name but they were actually quite good in a down-home rock ‘n roll cover band way. They did a fine job on a lot of good songs. Opening bands at Rusty’s on Red Elvises nights are a new thing, only the last two times there has there been any band on that tiny stage before the Elvises themselves. But eventually the Russians started to show up, and we got another treat – Phelan, Mr. Fabulous road manager deluxe, was there too, along with Special Agent Vladimir G. It was really great to see all these guys again who we had not seen in too many months.

It was sad not to see Avi, and I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who missed him, although the three Russians alternately shared drumming duties and pulled it off as a trio, with Oleg and Igor trading off on bass and Igor playing guitar during Zhenya’s surprising but well-received turns behind the drum kit. "We have a brand new drummer, Oleg!" and "Say hello to our brand new bass player, Igor!" were two of the silly but fun lines used, with names interchanged, throughout the show, depending on who was playing what instrument at the time. Drumming, to me, looks like very hard work. Avi used to make it look much easier than it probably is, but the three Elvises certainly banged away with heartfelt effort. From behind the stage during the first set we could see broken drumsticks flying – fortunately they had quite a large supply of extras. There was no Big Red bass balalaika, which took some getting used to visually, and some songs sounded just a little different because we’re used to hearing a fuller guitar sound, but trust me again, everything really did sound great and it was another in a long long series of crowd pleasing kick ass shows.

It was very amusing to those of us who have been around for a long time, that they actually started out with a set list, dutifully handwritten in English with Russian-flavored scrawl on large notebook pages. Before the show began a few people who shall remain nameless (for money, I’ll talk!) made a few… um, additions to the set list (including one Britney Spears song, now wouldn’t that have been funny?!), which were completely ignored by everyone onstage. Of course, the set list itself was soon ignored as well, as I could see by attempting to read it upside down, not more than four or five songs into the first set.

Regardless of who is a "brand new" player of anything, they definitely have two great brand new CDs, "Bedroom Boogie" and "Welcome to the Freak Show," and the show contained many songs from them, released that very night for our listening pleasure." They also, of course, played tons of older favorites. The first set included, in no particular order: "Spacecowboy," "Welcome to the Freak Show," "Sex in Paradise," "Scorchi Chornie," "Sad Cowboy Song" (with Igor playing drums quite nicely on that one), "It’s A Wonderful Night to Fall in Love," "Gypsy Heart," "Pilot John," "Tell Me Who’s Your Daddy," "San Antone," "Sticky Little Girl," "Suzanna," "Rocketman" (Avi’s hip shaking salute from atop the drummer’s seat was truly missed on this one!) and they ended the set with the ever popular "I Wanna See You Belly Dance." There were probably a few more songs in that set that escaped my memory but those were most of them.

We had special out of town guests that night, our Fearless Leader, Ealasaid, herself and her friend Jen drove down from northern California for the show. They, along with Mitten Instigator Rachel, formed the main behind-stage cheering section, reaching out at times to touch band members as if they were at a Beatles concert. If you’re too young for that reference, catch some old 1960’s footage sometime of girls going absolutely crazy insane at Beatles concerts, that’s what it reminded me of in a way. It’s all good fun.

I spent the break braving the diehard crowd in front of the stage, trying to get a better position from which to get good photos. The things I do for the Red Pages – and yes, I do want a medal! It was, like most Elvises-related things I do, a labor of love but it was a bit hard to stand there instead of mingling around Rusty’s talking to people like I usually do. While there though, I did manage to get the two new CDs and talk to Vladimir and Phelan who were both on stage then handling merchandise.

The second set began, finally, and rocked even more than the first set. Again, I don’t have these songs in the correct order, but some that they played were: "Lovepipe," "Harriet," "Closet Disco Dancer," "200 Flying Girls," "Ready to Fly," "Million Miles," "Running Away," "A Kegga Beer and Potato Chips," "Telephone Call From Istanbul," "I’m Not That Kind of Guy," "Voodoo Doll," "My Love is Killing Me," "Play That Funky Music" (on which Zhenya sang lead and Igor introduced by saying "Avi Sills…liked this song a lot."), "Jerry’s Got The Squeeze Box" (during which Igor made us all get down on the floor, he laid down on the stage and that picture of him lying down covered with girls was taken), "Blue Moon" (Is it even possible to channel Elvis Presley and Chris Isaak at the same time?!), "Boogie On The Beach" (Oleg did his always fantastic job of this old beloved favorite as well as thrilling us in the first set with "Scorchi Chornie"), and a new, as yet unrecorded song by Igor, "Romeo and Juliet" as the encore.

So there you have it, another night that proved, once again, that good music lasts longer than either sex or beer, and that it’s ever so much better to go to a Red Elvises show than sit at home getting drunk and calling your ex’s. It was easy to see that a fantastic time was had by the many thousands (it felt like!) of people there. Next time all of you reading this should be there too, adding your screaming voices to the rousing shouts of "WHY?!" during "Suzanna," yelling "Lovepipe!" at the top of your lungs at appropriate times during that song and chiming in on the choruses of new songs as well. Red Elvises play Rusty’s again in April and May so start making your plans now!