Tio Leo’s Mexican Restaurant / Bar
San Diego, California
Mini Red Road Trip
May 21, 2005
By Kayt

San Diego is only a two hour drive from home and I hadn’t gone on a road trip in a long while so I decided to drive down to Tio Leo’s to catch the guys’ show down there. It was the last night of their Spring tour and they were very happy to be going home soon. Not that they don’t love entertaining everyone out there across the land, but anyone would be glad to get home after two months on the road. The chance to sleep in one’s own bed without having to get up the next morning and get back on the road to another town, even for one week, is, as the commercials say, priceless!

Legendary Los Angeles traffic on the 5 freeway caused my trip to take an hour and twenty minutes just to get as far as Orange County, normally only an hour or less drive. After that it went a little more smoothly and I reached San Diego and found Tio Leo’s with no trouble at all; it’s just around the corner from the freeway. My priorities by then were: find Tio Leo’s, find a place to, uh... freshen up, and call Oleg to see where they were at that point. Tio Leo’s turned out to be a Mexican restaurant with a bar on the other side of it. I parked across the street, feeling a little bit like a stalker, to wait for the big red van to arrive. It wasn’t too long of a wait and seemed even shorter because I was excited to see them again. Around 8:10pm they pulled in and I drove across the street to say hi and offer my help with unloading the van. Hugs and hellos all around ensued.

The people working at the club, especially Jim the bouncer, were all very nice so that made it even more of a pleasure to be there. I had an amusing conversation with Jim not long after walking in with the guys, in which he asked me if I was their roadie. I laughed and joked that I’d take being called a roadie over being called a groupie any day! Because various people – usually not Red Elvises fans – have incorrectly called me that other thing from time to time over the years. Technically I’m not a roadie either, but Jim said that since I was helping them and I had traveled there to see them on a road I qualified. I like that! What a cool guy! He even took some pictures during the show and I’m hoping to get some of them for a future Red Pages issue. Actually, my main “job” that night was Merchandise Bitch, a term Oleg and I had to explain to Jim the bouncer was really the acceptable title in Red Elvises Land for the person selling the merchandise.

The guys unloaded the van (I helped a little bit, being a good “roadie,” and they gave me some lightweight things to carry) and then Igor lined up a table for dinner that we would later use for merchandise. It was right next to the stage, very handy for selling and watching the show at the same time. We all sat down and ordered Mexican food and beer, very tasty. While we ate we watched the opening band, a rockabilly sort of four piece whose name I can’t think of for love nor money right now, as they played tunes by Jerry Lee Lewis, George Jones and others and they were really good. The lead singer said, “Can you all hear us well? Because I’m also the sound man!” Igor got a big kick out of that, it was pretty funny. Later the bass player put his large bass (almost as big as the balalaika but of course a different shape, the kind jazz musicians usually play...don’t ask me, I’m hopelessly clueless about musical instruments or how to describe them, sorry) over his head and played it that way, at the same time as the lead guitarist was doing the same with his guitar. The opening band was a good match on a bill with Red Elvises, the vibe was energetic and fun and there was much swing dancing on the dance floor during their set.

Our waitress cleaned our table once we were all done with dinner so we could use it for merchandise and then I had to go, um, powder my nose. You get beer and me together and that happens, what can I say? When I came back Igor had the merchandise nicely set up for me, complete with shirts hanging from hangers on the framed picture on the wall. He explained what was in each of the suitcases, small and medium shirts in one, large and XL in another and so on, and then they went to get changed for the show as I started selling. It was cool to be able to sell the whole time and not just during the break and after the show because people were able to come over and peruse the merchandise, ask questions, buy CDs and shirts and all of that before, during and after. Even with being out of a few things, such as the Belly Dance CD (there are more at home and available for ordering on the website, don’t worry!), a lot of people are now happily listening to Red Elvises CDs and/or proudly wearing Red Elvises t-shirts around San Diego. One lucky girl got the last tank top before the show even started and wore it the rest of the night. I think it was actually the most fun I’ve ever had selling merchandise for them.

The show soon began, the guys having completed their sound check and changed into their animal print stage clothes. There was a good crowd there to see them and once the music started people weren’t shy about dancing. The first song was “Lovepipe,” followed by “Telephone Call From Istanbul,” “Gypsy Heart,” “Love Rocket,” “Ticket to Japan,” “Strip Joint is Closed,” “Sad Cowboy Song” and then they finished up the first set with the classic “I Wanna See You Belly Dance.” When Igor suggested the crowd form a conga line during “Sad Cowboy Song” people willingly and enthusiastically did, and danced it all the way around the large bar and back onto the dance floor! They did the group drum thing and it was awesome as always, and then Oleg pulled a few girls up onstage to dance during “Belly Dance.” I danced from the side of the stage in front of the merchandise table, multitasking as I had been since the show started... selling, writing down the songs they played, dancing a little, taking a few photos... it was a busy night and needless to say I never had a dull moment!

Do I even have to mention how terrific they sounded? All four of them, Igor, Oleg, Schramm and Adam, absolutely kicked ass and raised the bar for live music in San Diego that night! Red Elvises are always the best time you’re gonna have on a Saturday (or any other) night, there’s no doubt about that. They sounded great and inspired the crowd to amazing heights of dancing frenzy as well. People literally came running over to my merchandise table during the sets as well as the break wanting CDs with the songs they were playing that night. One guy requested a CD all in Russian and I was happy to oblige by selling him the “Russian Belly Dance” CD. Some fashionable people bought t-shirts too. Everybody there was very friendly and nice and they were obviously having a good time.

The second set started with “Venice USA” and after that they played an instrumental that Igor described as a “Ukranian dance number.” The crowd needed no prompting to dance. They then did “Boogie on the Beach” and “Winter Reggae.” I may have missed writing down a song in there because I was focusing more on selling merchandise but maybe not, I’m not sure. They played three encores in response to all the screams for more, starting with Chris Isaak’s hit song “Wicked Game,” which they did a beautiful job on (I love that song!), and then played “Closet Disco Dancer,” getting index fingers pointing in the air and lots of disco dancing going on, and finished up with the popular sing-along song “Juliet.”

After the show we all started packing things up... the merchandise for me, musical equipment, of course, for the guys. And after loading the van and talking to people for a while, they just wanted to go home. The lure of being only two hours away from their own beds was just too much to put off any longer, and who can blame them? So we got on the road and I followed the van as far as the 90 freeway, the shortcut they take to go more directly to Venice. It was nice, in the middle of that lovely night with a full moon in the sky, to have the van with its big friendly letters “Red Elvises, Your Favorite Band” driving along in front of me. It was well worth the drive down there and back, believe me. Any time you’re contemplating making a road trip to see these guys don’t just think about it, DO it! You’ll have a great time and will be glad you did. Remember, the shortest distance between a boring evening at home and a really good time is a Red Elvises show!