Rusty's Surf Ranch
December 23, 2004
By Kayt

Ah, the joy of a winter night with Red Elvises at Rusty’s, with the cold breeze wafting over the pier in the moonlight and the promise of a good time inside. No opening band for this show made things unusually quiet as I approached the back patio. It was close to Christmas so I had wondered as I drove onto the pier parking lot if that might affect attendance. There didn’t seem to be quite as many cars parked there as usual for a Red Elvises show but that turned out to be a misleading indicator because the crowd grew very quickly in the hour or so between the time I arrived and the time the show started.

It was great to see the guys again, of course, as always, even though, yes, I had just seen them roughly a month before. Greetings were exchanged and I bought a glass of red wine (I’m on a quest for lower carbs so it was either that or straight vodka...I opted for the wine...and later drank a beer Igor offered me...can’t be good all the time!), mingled and then sat down to talk with Igor to interview him for this Red Pages 5th Anniversary issue. I had spoken to Oleg on the phone the day before and done his interview as he was driving everyone home in the van. It’s always a good feeling to know they’re on their way home; I’m sure they feel pretty good about that too, no matter how much they love the road. I also talked a bit with Adam and his wife, Dawn and later interviewed Schramm as well. As the minutes before the show passed, people finished eating and most of the tables near the dance floor were cleared away to make more room for walking around, or, more likely, for getting from the dance floor to the bar. Almost before I realized, the crowd had noticeably grown to nearly double its size and people were standing in readiness on the dance floor waiting patiently for the show to begin.

Excitement was in the air as the guys took the stage and Igor made us all yell loudly and then even louder to get things rocking. They started the show with old favorite “Lovepipe,” then played “Gypsy Heart,” “Boogie on the Beach” and a few from their renowned latest CD “Lunatics and Poets.” “Night Butterfly” sounded better than ever with Schramm’s amazing keyboard work and Igor’s sweet new Reverend guitar with the gold palm trees on it (I think I am in love with the sound of it, just incredible!), not to mention Oleg’s fantastic bass balalaika playing and Adam’s pounding drumbeats. They played “Love Rocket” next and got the crowd jumping even more. “Ticket to Japan” sounded awesome as well with the new guitar, and then we relaxed a little with Oleg’s slightly more mellow but tragic song, “Strip Joint is Closed.” After that it was time for a conga line with the anything-but-sad song “Sad Cowboy Song.” The conga line formed toward the back of the crowd, which was good since the first couple of rows of people, myself included, didn’t seem to want to move from the front of the stage. (Well, I have to be up there to take pictures for the fanzine, don’t I? Wouldn’t have anything to do with being a front row junkie, oh no, not me...). They did the traditional group drumming in the middle of the song, which kicked ass, and then Adam gave us his own drum solo, which also kicked ass. The first set ended with the traditional “I Wanna See You Belly Dance” as the stage filled up with females and we all shook it, baby. It sounds really good up there, like you’re inside the music and it’s nice to see a large crowd rocking out in the audience too.

During the break I sold merchandise with the help of a nice guy, Brent, who got up onstage with me and did a great job. We sold quite a bit in spite of being out of some of the sizes and colors of t-shirts. While I was up there selling, suddenly Avi walked in with his beautiful new wife, Naomi! Yes, that’s right, old-time fans, Avi Sills, former Red Elvises drummer, is now a married man! The couple is very happy together and they plan to get a house in the near future.

After a nice long break the second set began with “Venice USA,” and then Avi joined the band onstage playing a bongo-type drum (I’m afraid I don’t know the proper name for it, sorry) on the salsa-flavored “This Music is Wasted (If We Don’t Dance).” Oleg announced Avi’s marriage onstage and even got Naomi up there with him to greet the crowd. They tried to play a wedding sort of song that didn’t totally work but was very cute. After that, Adam temporarily relinquished his drums and joined the audience while Avi drummed on “Telephone Call From Istanbul.” And of course it rocked, do you even have to ask? They finished up that set with two more, “Winter Reggae” and the rollicking audience participation song (“index fingers in the air, no, not that finger, sir, your index finger!”), “Closet Disco Dancer.” Then the crowd let them off easy for their last show of the year with only one encore, “Juliet.”

Igor had said earlier that they had all been sick while on the road, and they admitted to being tired later, but you never would have known either from their performance because as always, they put their heart and soul into it and just went crazy up there, stirring the crowd to a red rocking frenzy as only Red Elvises can do. It was another joyful night with Red Elvises at Rusty’s. I really wish you all could have been there!