Lobster Festival
San Pedro, CA
October 5, 2002
By Kayt

The San Pedro, California Lobsterfest is held each year to celebrate, well, all things lobster. It’s a small festival but a lively one, with the most elaborate and single-minded cuisine of any festival in these parts. There were a few booths offering varied fare such as funnel cake, shrimp and beer, but the main culinary attraction is the lobster dinner, each sold for $11.00. Among the non-edible attractions were vendors selling t-shirts and red felt lobster claw hats, a large above-ground swimming pool set up as a scuba diving tank and a man with a bejeweled sign advertising his “Psychic Cat.” I passed up the food and drink, except for a bottle of water, walked around the people waiting in line to dive, but stopped to take a quick look at the cat. I have a soft spot for cats and find them hard to resist. This one turned out to be a huge, apparently well-fed Siamese wearing a purple velvet cape who stood there unleashed, looking around, taking a step in one direction and then another, as if possibly looking for someplace else to be or wondering which route would comprise the shortest distance between two points – his location and the nearest lobster booth! It made me think that if he was really psychic he might have been able to hone in on a living situation that included a rather less public way of earning his keep, like maybe lying around on soft pillows and being pampered. But maybe that’s how he lives when not at Lobsterfest anyway, who knows? He didn’t seem mistreated, just dressed and on public display – two situations into which most cats just aren’t. Or maybe he was just enjoying the seafood scent in the air. I can only imagine that his “psychic” abilities possibly consisted of swishing his tail once for yes and twice for no or something of that nature, even though the sign proclaimed that this cat could foretell your future. Interesting concept, but I couldn’t stick around to have my future foretold by a feline, having bigger fish…uh, Russians, fun-loving and less furry, to focus on.

I was excited to find the entertainment stage in a much better location than it was two years ago when it was next to something very smelly on the other side of a nearby wall. This time it was on a large grassy area next to the water. The familiar big red van was parked near the stage but no one seemed to be in it or anywhere in the vicinity. I stood and watched the band that was onstage for a little while, then watched some girls take pictures of each other posing with the van, all the while looking around for anyone I knew. A bunch of little kids and a few adults were bopping around on the makeshift dance floor taped to the grass in front of the stage. Other entertainment seekers sat on folding chairs or stood around watching. It was a beautiful Southern California Fall afternoon, sunny enough to nicely show up the red in one’s hair yet not too hot or cold. Soon, an enormous cruise ship sailed past on its way out to sea, with rows of tiny (well they looked tiny from where I was standing) people lined up on the decks smiling and waving. Too bad for them they would miss a great concert!

Soon I saw Zhenya and Monica walking toward the stage area so I went over to say hi. We all walked over to about the middle of the audience and watched the band that was still performing, and that’s where I saw Igor standing alone about twenty feet away doing the same thing. I went over to greet him and we talked about Red Elvises’ filming of “Fastlane” (the FOX TV show that I hope you all saw their appearance on the night of October 30th), an experience that Igor said included a lot of waiting around to film their scenes. I walked back over nearer the stage and the van and soon Oleg walked by and said hello and complimented my hair (which was slightly redder than usual thanks to leaving the dye in a little longer!), which was nice. By this time there were a few other people I knew milling around and I was also glad to see so many potential new fans, as well as seasoned ones wearing red, filling up the grassy area.

All systems were “go” once the band that had been playing finished up and the change of equipment began. We were all ready to rock! Igor even had a new bass in a very interesting shape (see pictures). Zhenya got things started by announcing “We are a dance band so please come closer” and asked the little kids sitting on the dance floor to please share it with the adults. This crowd wasn’t shy about complying with his requests and they boogied right up to the stage. As soon as the first notes of “Red Lips, Red Eyes, Red Stockings” hit the air most of the available space in front of the stage was filled with excited, dancing people of all ages. The second song was “Space Cowboy,” followed by (I think) “Sunshine.” After that I can’t remember the songs in any order since it all mixed in my mind to a happy high energy joyful blur of kick ass, dance-provoking music. Other songs they played included “Who’s Your Daddy,” “Harriet,” “Sad Cowboy Song,” Scorchi Chorniye,” “Jerry’s Got a Squeeze Box,” “Lovepipe,” “Boogie On The Beach,” “Closet Disco Dancer” and “Rock This Joint.” They even snuck in a great new song, which I believe was called “Night Butterfly,” sung by Igor. (Thanks, Monica, for clueing me in to the title!). The one-set show (multi-band evenings at Lobsterfest cause bands’ performance times to be limited) wrapped up with “Rocketman,” and then, as people had screamed for the ever popular “I Wanna See You Belly Dance,” that was the last encore, enhanced by several girls who climbed up onstage to add their belly dancing and other assorted wiggling talents.

It was truly a great show (wish you were here!), the guys were totally “on,” sounded amazing, looked hot (as always, right, girls?) and gave the festival audience a lot more to enjoy than just lobsters! Be sure to check their tour schedule to catch a show near you!