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New Year's Eve 2005 and Beyond
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I had planned for months to go to Los Angeles for New Year’s Eve if there was a Red Elvises show scheduled there. I first asked Igor about it last June, I think, and then asked him again at Musikfest in August, promising to fly in for it if he booked it. So not too long after finding out he had indeed booked their New Year’s Eve show at Rusty’s, I booked my plane, hotel and rental car reservations and settled into happy anticipation of a great night. New Years Eve! With Red Elvises!! Woohoo!!! I could hardly wait... |
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Getting there went without a hitch. We had some “bumpy air” on my nonstop flight so it felt sort of like being driven across the country really fast, but on the whole it wasn’t so bad, in spite of the very early hour of the cheapest flight I could get. Once I landed, collected my luggage and found the Thrifty shuttle to the rental car company the rainy, overcast Los Angeles morning was in full swing. Yes, it so DOES rain in Southern California, don’t believe that old song for a minute. |
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They gave me a red rental car. Was this a sign? I didn’t ask for one (I have in the past but didn’t this time). So I drove to the 405 freeway in my big cherry red Dodge Stratus, bigger than the economy car I had reserved, at no extra charge (whee), and headed for Venice.
I called Oleg and then Igor...no answer at either guy’s number, only voicemail. I called several other friends and actually talked to Avi Sills, former Red Elvises drummer, who was in Palm Springs for the weekend. I reached only voicemail for another friend but she called me back later. Oh well... But that was okay...I’m pretty independent-minded and have always been fine with finding things to occupy and amuse myself with on my own. Pretty soon I realized I was really hungry, right after realizing that I needed to buy an umbrella because the steady rain was not letting up. Who thinks to bring an umbrella to L.A.? I had forgotten from my eight and a half years of living there that it rains for days on end in the winter at times. Venice Beach looked like this (wet, windy, cold, deserted) for most of my stay, in between torrential downpours:
My hotel, right on Venice Beach, was really cool about letting me check in early. But with the parking lot located on the opposite side of the building from the door and the rain pelting down I just didn’t feel inspired to drag my luggage in yet, so I left it all in the car and drove toward Santa Monica, where Red Elvises got their start on the famous 3rd Street Promenade, in search of lunch. Couldn’t decide where to eat until suddenly I remembered Ye Olde Kings Head Pub, a British restaurant on Santa Monica Boulevard and 2nd Street where I’d always loved to eat fish and chips and drink lager when vacationing and living in L.A.. A little pricey but so good. And only a block from the Promenade, where I walked after lunch, dodging raindrops or trying to, to look for an umbrella.
3rd Street Promenade is not necessarily the best place to buy umbrellas. I ended up at Urban Outfitters, a very cool store, where the guy who walked in just ahead of me snatched up the last two cheap-ish umbrellas from a basket on the floor five steps or so from the door. The basket next to the now empty one contained some others. Price tag? $50. I passed on them. Yes, that’s 5-0... $50 for an umbrella. A small one at that. No way was I going to pay that, I’d rather be wet! But after looking around the store and asking the girl at the door if she knew of any place around there that sold umbrellas, she pointed out the other basket of them, on the opposite side from where I’d seen the $50 ones. And since those were kinda cute and “only” cost $16, I went for one of those. The price of not having raindrops falling on my head.
So, I had arrived in L.A., transported myself to Venice, checked into my hotel, successfully had lunch and protected myself from the rain after already having gotten wet walking around in Santa Monica. What next? I decided at that point to go back to my hotel and freshen up and rest for a while. It was going to be a late night, I knew.
The rain had eased off a little by then so I finally took my bags up to my room. I had a view of the ocean! It would’ve been better had the sand not been wet and nasty looking and if the sun had dared show its face, but it was still nice to be able to see the waves (bigger than usual, with lots of white caps...no daredevil surfers that I could see). I took a shower and tried to relax but was too excited to get any sleep. It was New Year’s Eve and I was back in L.A.!! And I was going to spend the evening with My Favorite Band! I could only have been happier if I’d won the Lottery while there (but I forgot to buy a ticket, of course). I rested some but couldn’t sleep so after a while I started slowly getting ready to go to the show that night.
Finally, I was ready to go to Rusty’s and it sure was a great feeling to drive onto the Pier again. The weather cooperated somewhat by stopping the rain until after the show! I walked around to the front to go in and while waiting for the door guy to explain the concept of New Year’s Eve/advance reservations and so on to the guy in front of the person in front of me, I noticed the big red van driving up. The Pier powers-that-be haven’t allowed vans to park on the structure in several years, so each time when they arrive, Oleg has to drive just past Rusty’s (driving very much farther than Rusty’s isn’t allowed on the Pier anyway; it’s blocked off for pedestrians from that point on) turn the van around, temporarily park in front of Rusty’s to unload and then go park in the other parking lot below, on the beach level. So one can stand there and watch, excitement growing by the moment, as the big van gets turned around and pulled up right in front of Rusty’s. Once he parked and they started getting out I went over to say hello and then helped them carry in a couple of things.
Rusty’s was quite festive that night. They had balloons floating around amongst the surfboards in the rafters and supplied “Happy New Year” party hats to many of us revelers, including the band.
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I met Kat and Jeff, really nice fans/band friends that I’d “met” online in Red Chat, and we, along with Jamie, sat at the band’s table with them and had some dinner. Long time band friend Alex arrived and sat with us too, and I met Igor’s friend Pasha, another nice Russian guy. I greeted Rhodes, a former Fan of the Month and someone I’ve been seeing at the shows for years, and his female friend who I’ve met before as well. I also met Lisa from New Mexico, another former Fan of the Month, who had made it to Santa Monica against all odds. If there’s anybody I’m leaving out, please forgive me. The evils of drink overtook what was left my mind later and disposed of several dozen more brain cells that I probably couldn’t really afford to lose, so some of my memories of the night are, shall we say, not quite all there. I know one thing, though, and that was that I was really really happy and thrilled to be there. I hadn’t spent New Year’s Eve with the Reds since the 1999 Millenium show at that same location.
After dinner and more socializing and so on, the show began. I’d had a couple of beers by then and was ready to rock and roll. So I got up front where I could take pictures adequately as the musical entertainment and dancing began.
This is where I begin to get a little hazy.
I know they started with “Lovepipe.” And then they played pretty much the same songs they’ve been playing at the other recent shows, in November and December, which I’ve written about in previous issues. I remember “Sad Cowboy Song” because people were doing the conga line thing behind me and there was the always-rocking drum solo. I’m pretty sure they played Chris Isaak’s song, “Wicked Game.” And I know they did “Belly Dance” because a bunch of us girls got up onstage to dance. “Boogie on the Beach” is another strong probability.
There were a lot more songs in between all those, trust me, the usual great Red Elvises songs I’ve reported before. But it was New Year’s Eve and I didn’t write them down, so you’ll have to use your imaginations. The balloons above the stage kept getting into the act too as the band members and audience pulled on the balloon strings and batted them out of the way. The band welcomed guest musicians to the stage, including horn players Yuri and (I’m sorry, I forgot the other guy’s name, he had lots of wild dark hair and was also very good at playing Red Elvises music), Sasha (Alex Green), Craig Pilo, former drummer, and Aaron who played keyboards on the northwestern U.S and Canada tour of Fall 2005 as well as in Florida in November. Aaron and Oleg-Schramm played keyboards together at one point, to the delight of the audience, and I can’t remember now if that was during the first, second or third set, but it sure was fun to see and hear. After “Belly Dance” the guys took a break and then played the second set, and Igor kept asking how long we had until midnight.
When Rusty’s remodeled last Spring and painted beige paint over the barn wall/ropes/chickens motif of the sliding wall behind the stage (Aww, I miss seeing those chickens!), they also installed a flat screen TV above the stage. I never really figured out why but it came in handy on New Year’s Eve because a few minutes before midnight Pacific time the band stopped playing and we all watched (on tape, I presume) the Ball drop to light up “2006” at midnight. Woohoo!!! Then we started drinking champagne. Many of us continued drinking beer as well. It was certainly a night for drinking anything and everything and celebrating like crazed monkeys high on life...or insert your own analogy here. Suffice to say everyone was in good "spirits" (heh heh) and there were many happy shouts of “Happy New Year!” and a lot of champagne went down our respective "hatches." Many of us got our glasses refilled once or twice before the band took the stage again so we were, like the song says, “happy like bubbles in champagne.”
I think it was that last set when things got even more...uh...rowdy. A Red Elvises Rusty’s show is always a big giant party and the most fun you can have with your clothes on, I always say. But during this show, not to single anyone out (is there such a thing as "doubling" someone out?), two girls got onstage and one felt the need to sort of improvise a "wardrobe malfunction," exposing her friend’s breast and then going one step further by applying her mouth to it. For quite a long time. Yes, a cheap thrill for all the guys (and girls?) into that sort of thing. So I guess one member of the audience had the most fun she could have with part of her clothes off, or pulled down, I can't remember now how exactly the breast in question was freed to enjoy the night air. Everybody, band members included, was sort of like “whoa!” It was a little shocking even for Rusty’s...but the girls seemed to be having fun. Maybe a little too much fun, because they kept getting on and off stage and a little while later the exposed one managed to somehow collide with part of Adam’s drum kit and damage it. Not to sound judgemental or party-pooperish (a new word I just made up! Whee!), but I tend to think that’s when those of us who occasionally indulge in public drunkenness need to kind of calm down, when property damage starts happening. That was the low point of the evening but, well...accidents do happen. The rest of the time a great time was had by all. I even got onstage more than usual to dance...one time because someone behind me kinda pushed me toward it and I guess I didn’t need all that much convincing. I think I may have spent the better part of the third set up there, but I did try to sort of stay out of the way and not collide with anything or anybody. The music is just so engulfing and even more amazing when you’re onstage, it’s really an incredible experience. And I wasn’t the only girl up there...various girls got up there at times throughout the show, including Russian friend Janna and a couple of the other Russian girls, as well as Jamie and some others I don’t really know.
 Photo by someone with Kayt's camera, (c)2005 |
 Photo from Jamie's camera, (c)2005 |
One of the songs I remember while up there was "Jerry’s Got a Squeezebox” because we all squatted down and then got up again. At least I think I remember doing that! Oh yes, I have a photo to prove that song was played:
There we go! And somewhere in there was “Juliet” and “Winter Reggae” and, I’m pretty sure, “I’m Not That Kind of Guy.” They played a LOT of their classic songs and of course it was the most fun and amazing and rocking show ever. I had a great time, which I’m sure I don’t even need to tell you. My feet didn’t even hurt when I was onstage dancing like they had started doing when I was on the floor in front of the stage. Must be Red Elvises magic!
After the show some of us went to Oleg’s to hang out and I got more drunk than usual and, well, let’s just leave it at that. Let’s also say I doubt I’ll be drinking straight vodka again any time soon....yowie. And much later, the loveseat was my friend for the night. Before losing all my marbles though, I gave Oleg a red rubber duck I found while shopping before the trip, and he really liked it. It was so cute, and he and the duck were both so photogenic!
Photo by Jamie V., (c)2005
The next day, Sasha (for anyone who doesn't know, a former Red Elvises keyboard player and Oleg's current roommate) helped cure my Headache from Hell and brought me back to life by cooking us food and making me a big mug of tea (thanks again, dude, you rock!). When the rain finally let up a little and I felt able to drive once again I went back to my hotel to shower and change clothes, then got invited over to Igor’s to hang out. I took some beer and vodka over (but only drank beer there...heh heh) and it was a nice, rather more mellow afternoon and evening. Most of the people there were speaking Russian (Oleg and Oleg-Schramm were there too), so I spent hours hearing that familiar yet virtually unknown (to me) language, which I do really like hearing, by the way. So my New Year’s Eve and Day were both really nice, spent in the company of the guys and a bunch of other very cool people.
The remainder of my visit to Los Angeles I spent catching up with old friends and seeing the movie “Memoirs of a Geisha” at a theatre on the 3rd Street Promenade, across from the theatre where I saw the film festival premiere of “Mail Order Bride” with the Red Elvises guys several years ago. That street holds many happy memories but there were no street performers, or at least I didn’t notice any, during the rain on Saturday, nor on the Monday night, January 2nd, when I went to the movies.
The last day I was there the sun came out. Naturally. But I didn't spend it at the beach since I had plans to visit a friend in North Hollywood. Next time I'm requesting better weather for the whole trip, okay?
My trip home the next night, Tuesday, the 3rd, was delayed several hours at LAX thanks to United Airlines having a major computer failure, causing thousands of people to have to stand in massively long lines for four to five hours in virtually utter confusion and frustration. I could’ve used some vodka on that line, believe me! I think some other people could have too and it would have been a little more fun! Not to mention it was cold outside Terminal 7 where I spent about three of those hours standing. But eventually I was rebooked onto a plane heading for Newark, New Jersey where I connected at 8:00am or so on the morning of January 4th for a flight on U.S. Airways to Charlotte. My luggage didn’t make it home with me but I went back out to the airport later on that evening and managed to retrieve it. That was a relief since I wouldn't have wanted to lose my old, tacky, now sweat-laden red and black feather boa that Igor wore for part of the show when someone handed it up to him. After that and lying on the stage getting trampled and all, the boa was kind of limp and...well, "eww," but for some reason I tossed it in my suitcase with the dirty clothes and brought it home. I have no idea why! I guess I'm just a little too sentimental, heh heh. It came from a Venice Beach shop in the first place and didn't cost much, so it had a decently long life and long may it wave...or mildew, in infamy! It's now officially retired. Of course, there were a lot of (well, some) less tacky belongings in my luggage that I strongly wanted back, and I have no patience to wait for airlines to find and deliver luggage so off I went to the airport that evening. But even so, having described in a nutshell the annoyance and frustration of the airline fiasco, the good experiences of my trip far outweighed the bad and of course I was still very very happy that I went to L.A. for the show and the merriment.
If you ever get the chance to see Red Elvises on New Year’s Eve, wherever they play, but especially at Rusty’s Surf Ranch, GO for it! It’s a great time and one you’ll never forget, even if you drink too much! So drive, fly, get there however you can, because you won't regret it!
Here’s to a very happy, productive and fun 2006 for us all in which all our dreams come true!! Salut!