Rusty's Surf Ranch
November 7, 2003
By Kayt
There’s nothing like a Red Elvises show at Rusty’s to liven up a cool winter evening and
make it even cooler! I had been looking forward to this night since September, which I
know isn’t that long a time to most of you, but it seemed like a long time to me. The last
time I had seen the guys before this was at the Lobster Festival and the last time they had played Rusty’s
was in August. So I went to this show with very high hopes, anticipating a great evening,
and was, of course, not disappointed.
My night began with dinner inside but soon I joined Oleg and friends (most notably Carlota, who
I haven't seen in years! It was really really great to see and talk to her again!) outside on
the front patio for some conversation, gravitating back inside once the show was about to begin. The
place was crowded but not quite super packed to the rafters so there was room to dance amongst
the big crowd of fun-loving people who were clapping, cheering and screaming for more from
the first song on.
This will probably be a somewhat less than detailed review, due to various factors such as
the loss of my job and the large chunk of time I’m having to spend looking for a new one, as
well as the fact that during November I am trying to write a novel in thirty days for an
online project, as is our Fearless Leader Ealasaid. But I can assure you that this night at
Rusty’s with Our Favorite Band was absolutely terrific in all its glorious details, as any of
you who have seen them at least once can imagine. Any evening with these guys is like a party
anyway, with the best music, fun dancing and lots of good soul-repairing laughs.
The first set contained many of their old favorites you’re used to hearing, and because it
was a Rusty’s show that includes Igor’s and Oleg’s songs from the earliest CDs as well as
“Lovepipe” and some newer songs, and it ended with the ever popular standard, “I Wanna See
You Belly Dance.” I was happy once again to be invited onstage to dance during that song and
had a lot of company – girls of all shapes and sizes were up there shaking it and that was,
as always, incredibly fun.
After the break the second set began, which is the best time for the second set to begin,
after a nice little break allowed people to talk to each other, meet the band, buy more beer
and take care of other pressing needs. The songs played during that set were more of the
favorites performed at other Southern California shows this year (see previous issues in the
Red Pages Archives for my other reviews), with one brand new song added in, which I think was
called “Cry.” That was the main lyric in the chorus, anyway, “Cry, cry, cry…” and it inspired
us not to cry but to dance and drink more beer. The crowd loved it! I loved it! New songs are
always welcome and this is a good one! I hope everyone can hear it soon.
Anything can happen at a Rusty’s show and this night was no exception. Deep into the second
set, the two wild and lovely Russian girls who have lent their dancing talents to Red Elvises
shows before, Anna and (forgive me if I spell her name wrong, having never seen it in written
form, it sounds like…) Zhanna, showed up and got onstage to help entertain us with their high
spirited and very talented dancing. The crowd loved that too; these girls are pretty amazing
dancers and have incredible amounts of energy! One of the last songs after that to wrap up the
evening was “Closet Disco Dancer” and everyone joined in with fingers pointing and waving in
the air; it was a disco frenzy enjoyed by all and a very cool night all together.
Sorry for the short write up, everyone, but suffice to say I had a fantastic time! And so
will you if you go see Red Elvises in 2004 whenever they play near you, whether you have to
drive 100 or more miles to get there or live within a half hour of the venue like I do when
they are playing at Rusty's. You will be glad you went! Happy Holidays to all and let's raise
a glass of vodka, or maybe a beer or three, to a whole new year of happy times with Red
Elvises!
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