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Moe's Alley, Santa Cruz, CA |
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The show at Moe's Alley in Santa Cruz was well into the second set when Igor took everyone by surprise as he turned to the audience and asked, "Can anyone play drums?" Was this it? After nearly two years of performing as a three-piece could it possibly be true - were the Red Elvises auditioning a new drummer from this very Santa Cruz audience? An enthusiastic group of fans in the middle of the floor hailed the stage and pointed to someone in their midst, then escorted him to the stage and introduced him to the band. His name was Josh. He appeared quiet and reserved, but seemed confident as he walked over to the drum set where Zhenya was sitting. Z said, "Can you give us this...?" established a beat, then handed over the drumsticks and went to his waiting guitar on stage right. Josh took his seat and waited for the song to begin, and it occurred to me that they probably hadn't told him what song it was they were going to play. History was surely in the making that night.
My obsessive preparation for this evening had concluded two nights earlier and thirty-five miles away as I toiled away on my one and a quarter ton 1955 Chevy truck, known to all as the Red Elvis, under a starry September sky in south Gilroy. I was feverishly working to get the Red Elvis back on the road so I could take it to the show at Moe's, where it had made its 'debut' two years ago, simply for the satisfaction of letting the world know it was still alive and kicking. I'd spent the past six months replacing the rear axle with a unit I'd scavenged off of a wrecked mid-70s 1-ton. Along the way I'd traded the original flatbed for a utility bed with nice big cabinets, and my friend Ken and I had finished mounting and attaching it to the frame the weekend before. The new differential is geared much higher than the original unit and now the motor loafs along at freeway speeds previously unattainable with the old 'stump puller.' The axles are full-floating, I put in new bearings and seals (including the one on the pinion shaft), redid the brakes, had the driveshaft shortened, and fitted single 16-12" wide rims that carry butt-kicking 12-ply tires with a 4,000 pound load rating EACH (who needs duals?)… But I digress...
It was after midnight when I finished re-tightening all the fittings and jury-rigging enough running lights to get me home without getting pulled over by the highway patrol. I pulled out of the yard where I'd been working at 1:00 a.m. and was pulling onto my street an hour later.
Much later that same day Linda and I got together after work and headed to Plant 51 in San Jose to see the Red Elvises' Wednesday show. I left the truck at home that evening. Plant 51 is a relatively new venue, tucked away in a brick building on a side street in an older part of downtown San Jose that's been revitalized over the last decade or so. The guys were hanging out, drinking beers (cranberry juice in Igor's case) and socializing with their fans as usual. We got to chat with each of them before they took the stage. The crowd was interesting, hard to describe. It was a younger crowd, some members of the audience looked like skateboarders, of all things. Sociologic distinctions notwithstanding, everyone was an enthusiastic Red Elvises fan that night and it was my pleasure one more time to meet our glorious Editrix, Ealasaid.
I connected with Oleg for the first time. He was enthusiastic about the soundtrack they're doing for a new movie. He talked about doing all of their editing and mixing by computer while on the road. He said their new Russian-language album is selling over there but a lot of CD distribution in Russia is bootleg and they don't see profits from most of the sales. Zhenya was cool, checking out the crowd. I bought him a beer and showed him the Red Elvis license plate they'd autographed a couple of years earlier; his response was, "F___ing-Aaay!" We exchanged some pleasantries with Igor just before he took the stage and he excused himself, saying "Time to get a life and start yelling into a microphone again."
The show was good, as expected. They played one Russian-language song that night [from the Rokenrol CD]. Igor sang, it was a very deep, soul-wrenching heavy-metal piece and next time I see them I'll try to get a translation. By the way, I got the album and like it very much. Another high point that night was seeing Ealasaid take the stage when they played “I Wanna See You Belly Dance.” She was stunningly attired in a red blouse and black leather pants and graced their performance with her dancing. I've been following Oleg since he started playing drums and he plays with a lot of confidence now, hitting those sticks hard!
The next night they played Moe's in Santa Cruz, one of my three favorite Red Elvises venues (the other two are Rusty's Surf Ranch in Santa Monica and Skipper's Smokehouse in Tampa). Zhenya was hot that night. He opened saying “Gonna play with BOLZ (translate: BALLS) tonight!” and they did! I had a couple of Kodak Max disposable cameras, now my official Red Elvis Concert Camera, and I think I got the best bunch of stage shots I've seen to date (judge for yourself in the Photo section of this issue). My favorite is a closeup of Z gesticulating as he is overtaken by the Beast - you'll know it when you see it.
I asked Igor if he was going to do "Blue Moon" when I saw him during intermission and he was noncommittal, saying, “Yeah, maybe.” I called out for it again early in the second set, which led to a little on-stage conference. Z said, "Sure let's do Blue Moon" and the call went out for a volunteer drummer. I soon realized that particular song creates a significant instrumental vacancy for a three-piece band, since Igor is singing and dancing, hence the need for Josh.
After the show I pulled the Red Elvis up to the front entrance and tracked down each of the guys for an autograph. One by one they graciously stepped outside with their markers and autographed the truck's grille. More talk with Igor and Oleg, I took the opportunity to tell them what a great performance they'd given that night. I had to wait a while for Z, who was having a beer with a couple of English girls. I figured I was lucky enough for him to take a couple of minutes away from their lovely presence to do me the favor, but when he stepped outside he stayed and talked to me at length. He's excited about his independent projects and his own website, www.zeerok.com, which is linked to their webpage. He left the Beast onstage and was, as always, a soft-spoken gentleman. I rolled home, mission accomplished, truck autographed, the night memorialized on film, eager for their next visit.
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