The Surf Shack in La Selva, California was ablaze with reverb and BBQ fires
on Saturday nite.

This was the annual birthday romp for Central California surfing great,
Terry Simms (Simba). Terry has graced the cover of Surfer’s Journal and is in
several popular Surfing calendars. He joins many professional tournaments up
and down the West Coast and is sponsored by Harbour Surfboards.
He’s one of the nicest gentlemen you’ll want to meet and is as cool and laid
back as they come. Terry and his roommates live in the West Coast bachelor
pad nicknamed the “Surf Shack”.

Let me set the stage because these guys literally live the fabled Jan & Dean
‘Surfers Dream’ life. The Surf Shack is a house in a wooded area on a windy
road leading down to Manresa Beach, a cliffed surf spot less than a half
mile away. Because of its secluded “secret spot” status (about 10 miles
south of Santa Cruz), the hills of this relatively quiet area are actually
inhabited part-time by Hollywood stars with their summer and getaway homes.

The Surf Shack is decorated outside with longboards literally hanging from
the balcony overhangs and mounted to the side of the house. Inside, you find
a combination of pictures, Surfing posters (including an Endless Summer
movie poster), Surfboards hanging from the walls and ceiling and other
psychedelic beach-related art and trophies. The record collection spans
Blues to classic&modern Surf to Hendrix. Terry’s party guests (about 80 for
the nite) represent a broad range of his friends and associates. This
includes other major name surfers as well as folks involved with the
Surfrider foundation. This partying “clan” is very open and easy going with
a real good vibe about them.  AND…they understand Surf music! The Tube
Sharks and The Parafins got their equipment set up early on.

So, out of the living room of the Surf Shack, about 8PM, special guests,
The Infrareds, opened and lit the evening ablaze
with their hard-hitting reverb soaked set of trad greats and originals. Rory
Fortune and his new group from Monterrey/Pacific Grove, CA should be
considered one of the potent, new up & coming teen Surf bands, much in the
vein of The Stingrays (of San Clemente, CA). As Phil Dirt mentions in
his review, these guys are great to see LIVE and have everything it takes to go
long in Surf music if they want. They recently played at UC Santa Cruz and
have done the obligatory Paradise Lounge gig in San Francisco. Rory played
a bright red Jag through the Parafins’ Super Reverb. Their drummer, Matt,
really rips and shreds on the skins. Kiegan on bass borrowed my David Eden
rig and Cole on rhythm took another Fender blackface. Man, there’s no way
you couldn’t hear them down the street! They played Infraromp and other
original tunes off their CD, The Infrareds, which is available at HepCat Records.
The whole party-going gang was taken under their tow. Many came in from the
BBQ outside and got fixated on the Infrareds loud and raw Surf punk energy.
They’ve studied both trad and modern Surf. The Chantays and The Lively
Ones have influenced them, as well as MoAM? and Satan's Pilgrims.

Next up, The Tube Sharks flipped the party into a dancing barnburner with
our blend of instrumental Surf and Rockabilly. Guitarist, Tom Knezevich
opened on his Harmony hollow-body with his classic Travis-style rendition of
Mystery Train and we kept it rolling through one long set. Hot Rod Lincoln,
Six Days on the Road and the swingin’ sing-along, Shake Shack a Doobie
brought the crowd together. Then, switching to Fender, Tom kicked into the
Surf realm with Miserlou, Malaguena, Dark Eyes and Nado Con Marina. By this
time, the dancers were tearing up the carpet, so we mowed ‘em down with that
bluegrass scorcher, Hot Potato. Tom had Jordan and I working our little
tootsies off! But the crowd and dancers really enjoyed it.

After a short break to move out our gear, The Parafins took right to it. The
lights came down and the dance beats came up. The Surf Shack had been wired
with blinking Christmas lights which gave it a discotheque feel. The
Parafins' band motto is “Real Surfers, Real Surf Music”. They are a mainstay
of the partying Surf and Dance music scene in the Santa Cruz area. Quickly,
they got everyone stomping from the get-go with their mix of bongo-based
Surf, Blues and pop R&B. Vocal tunes ranging from Southbound to Land of 1000
Dances to BareFootin’. On the Surf side, they performed instrumentals like
Diamond Head and Perfidia. They had all the girls up on the floor shimmying
and twisting away. I’m leaning against the wall recovering from our set with
my blackened shades on, doing the “Fly” and enjoying the view. Cool, eh?

Several Cowabungans and long-time surf music fans were at the party.
“Surfin’ with Bernie” Beckwith came down from his nearby abode in Santa
Cruz. Some old-time ‘bungans may remember Laura X, who is now back from her
stint in Denmark. She and Christian came all the way down from San Fran and
really dug the scene. Ron Maeder made a rare public appearance. Cowabungan,
Jim Avery, has been to this gig before, so he knew what to expect---like
bottle rockets and the cops, who promptly shut us down at 11:05PM. Sign of a
great Surf party, right? Jim hung out most of the evening and took a few gig
photos for us. Thanks, Jim!

So, I have to admit. THESE kinds of gigs are simply the most fun per square
minute of Surf music history that you’ll ever want to be part of!

Cowabunga All! (and Get Well Soon, Doug Snyder, cause I know you woulda been
there!)

-bIG wAvE Dave
Bass, The Tube Sharks
http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/4836/tubeshk4.html
 
 

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