Santa Monica, California |
Rusty's Surf Ranch |
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Few words strike more joy in the hearts of Los Angeles-area Red Elvises fans than the words “Rusty’s Surf Ranch.” A Red Elvises show in this laid-back beach area bar and restaurant is always a huge treat. The night of May 15th proved no different from many other fun and phenomenal Red Elvises nights at Rusty’s. The weather was great for May, not too warm or too cold, a wonderful night to fall in love…or to walk down the Santa Monica Pier, with the waves crashing below, under the moonlight, to enjoy the best live show in town.
This night was even more special for me personally because I brought two people to the show who had never before had the experience of seeing the band perform live. Finally, all my cajoling…uh, no…make that informing, yeah, that’s it… various coworkers of the wonders of Red Elvises paid off! A very cool person with whom I work, and her boyfriend, who, incidentally, wrote the fabulous review of “Lunatics and Poets” in the April Red Pages issue, came to the show and met me outside Rusty’s. As we stood there on the pier talking and they greeted a friend, the big red van pulled up and Oleg carefully maneuvered around the barricades the powers-that-be had set up to inexplicably make “lanes” on the pier, in order to turn around and unload in front of Rusty’s.
Soon we were all inside and two things happened that have never happened before… One was that the opening band, Little Sista, was easily the best opening band I’ve ever seen on that stage. They had it going on…about eight people up there, half of them playing instruments and four girls in front singing and dancing, and they were quite enjoyable to hear. The other thing that happened, in this basketball-crazed town, was that after Little Sista finished, the Lakers game was turned on and many people were sitting or standing around staring up at the large screen TV mounted to the wall/ceiling, or at the smaller ones elsewhere in the room, fascinated with watching Kobe or whoever run down the court and make baskets. So the band waited to start the show until the game ended. Well, it was the playoffs, I was told. I believe the Lakers won, but don’t quote me, I know and care nothing about sports and any attempt to engage me in sports-related conversation usually results in a blank glassy-eyed stare. I settled in at a tall table with my friends near the end of the bar and we had some refreshing cool beverages before the start of the show, taking occasional forays through the place to say hello to people I knew.
When they were ready to play they started off with almost the same set as the night before in Huntington Beach, “Lovepipe” kicking things off. They also did “Boogie on the Beach,” “Night Butterfly,” “Love Rocket,” “Ticket to Japan,” “Venice USA,” “Sad Cowboy Song,” which had its customary and extremely dynamic group drum solo as they had also done in Huntington Beach, and “I Wanna See You Belly Dance,” all, I think, in the first set. I stayed up front to dance and take pictures and then during the break helped sell merchandise. The only thing was, I think most of the people who came to Rusty’s that night already had everything.
The second set was just as incredible as the first and the word that kept running through my mind during both sets was “powerhouse!” That can be the “Word of the Night,” and I’ll even use it in a sentence: Red Elvises, as we all know, are an amazing powerhouse of a band! I didn’t take any notes on the songs during the second set but some were “Gypsy Heart” (which may actually have been played during the first set, I’m not sure), “Strip Joint is Closed,” “Closet Disco Dancer,” “Juliet” and many other favorites. The guys were terrific, excellent, stupendous, magnificent and once again I was surprised they didn’t raise the roof right off Rusty’s or loosen the nails that hold the old boards of the Santa Monica Pier together, with their kick ass music. The crowd was large and wild, with, as always, all ages, shapes, sizes and persuasions of people wearing varying amounts of clothing and grooving together to the Moscow beat.
Afterwards, my friends who I had converted into Red Elvises fans told me how much they had thoroughly enjoyed the show and that they would definitely come back to see the band again. They were very impressed, which I was thrilled to hear. It was my most successful converting effort to date! Every time Red Elvises play it’s like a big party, and everyone appeared to have a lot of fun, as always.
Yes, a Rusty’s show is like no other…wild, incredible, amazing…home base. And the next one is right around the corner, July 3rd. Why not take an “Independence Day Eve” holiday trip to lovely Santa Monica to see Your Favorite Band? See you there!