Lobster Festival
San Pedro, California
September 20, 2003
By Kayt
What do Red Elvises and the annual Lobster Festival in San Pedro,
California have in common? Well, they’ve both been described at one
time or another as “fun” and “zany.” In the Lobster Festival program,
one of the first things it says is that the festival is “about having
fun; it’s about being zany,” to quote festival producer Jim Hall. So,
since that has also been said of Our Favorite Band, they seem to be
a perfect fit. Now if the festival powers-that-be would just use an
updated photo; the one they printed in the program featured the original
lineup. But it’s all good, and it’s a good place to see the guys play
as well as feast on seafood, if you’re into that sort of thing.
The Lobster Festival has been going on for five years now and I’ve seen
Red Elvises play there three times. The stage was again this year in the
nice spot by the water, with the large grassy area in front of it filled
with chairs and a makeshift dance floor taped down so people wanting to
dance wouldn’t have to do it on the grass. It was a beautiful afternoon,
as long as we stayed out of direct sunlight, and the shade trees and
water helped cool things off. The stage was large and high like last
year but this year had a fenced area next to it that served as a sort
of “backstage,” although there was a large opening between the speakers
and the fence. No security was really needed to keep droves of people out
of it; just about everyone was pretty well behaved. They also had a changing
tent off to one side in there, another plus for the guys over years past.
The guys sounded and looked great and played the same general sets they have
been playing for a while now, quite similar to what they played at the Laguna
Beach Bluebird Park show in August where I wrote down each song, and the Redondo
Beach show later in August where I also wrote down the songs and then lost my
little notebook with the list. So you can look at my Laguna Beach review in the
September issue (Archives) if you want to see some of the songs listed. A lot
more people danced at the Lobster Festival show this year, which was very nice.
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Even people in costumes danced, providing an interesting contrast to all the
people in shorts, jeans and t-shirts out there and proving once again that Red Elvises'
music appeals to all sorts of people, even those working the festival!
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For the last song of the first set, “I Wanna See You Belly Dance,” Oleg came down off the stage to
recruit some girls to go up there, and I went along with a couple of them around to
the side of the stage where the stairs were, to get onstage. It was the first time
that I didn’t wait to be asked; that big stage just looked so inviting that I couldn’t
resist! As the song got underway there were even a few young boys up there dancing,
apparently having the time of their lives. There was plenty of room for us all and
the view from the stage was great as you can see by these shots.
During the break I headed off in search of food for my friend and myself and saw The
Psychic Cat again this year, which now seems to be a Lobster Festival annual attraction.
Only this time there were two cats, maybe both psychic (but probably not), although I
don’t know for sure because once again, I photographed them and didn’t stick around to
observe their “powers.” I love how, in the photo, the one cat is looking at the other one as
if to say, "Can you believe this, I'm wearing a pink dress?!" If it's the clothing
that makes these cats "psychic" then the siamese better suit up! A lot of people were trying
out scuba diving in the above-ground pool set up for that purpose and tons more people were
milling around buying food, drinks, trinkets, shirts and lobster hats. Since lobster remains
high on my list of Foods I'll Never Eat (yes, I’m a cheap date), I searched for something else and ended up with a chicken quesadilla and some of those swirly potato chips
served, as far as I know, only at festivals. They had those at the Strawberry Festival too,
back in May. I got back to the stage area a little late for the start of the second set
(sorry, guys!) but after having a quick late lunch/early dinner and watching from the
sidelines I was soon back out on the dance floor.
During the second set the Los Angeles City Fire Department gave us an awesome water show
from their boat out in the port. I noticed the guys looking over there where everyone was
looking to see the huge plumes of water shooting into the air! Really beautiful. After a
short while most everyone noticed there was a lovely rainbow in the sky too, which made it
even cooler. Oleg said “Let’s hear it for the LA Fire Department!” and everyone cheered.
When they played “Sad Cowboy Song” the usual suggestion “You can start the conga line…”
was made and tons of people were happy to start one! It was quite wild since there was
plenty of room there to do it well. “Sex in Paradise” was another crowd pleaser with the
audience participation we’ve all come to know and enjoy. “Jerry’s Got a Squeezebox” had
people dancing and then crouching down during the quiet part, and then springing up again
on cue, following Igor’s lead. Toward the end of the show they did “Closet Disco Dancer”
and got plenty of fingers pointing in the air. They no longer have the bubble machines
the kids loved so much at the Strawberry Festival but the song still generated a lot of
enthusiasm, finger waving and disco dancing. All I know is, a lot of people had a very
good time; Red Elvises definitely made that day “fun” and “zany” and very much livened up
the Saturday of the Lobster Festival.
Igor takes it down... |
And the audience gets down too!
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