Spin the Bottle, and then spin it again and again!

Saturday June 23, 2017 Livorno

Definitely a sleep in day, but breakfast ends at 10:30, so ya gotta get up at some point. I know there will be a nap sometime later today.

I wandered over to the Diner to meet Jim Bacci, of all things Tikiyaki, around noon. I stop to admire the three tiki carvers work, they are really progressing quickly and wildly. 

It was nice to have an actual conversation with someone-- at the festival it’s loud and there’s so much going on, it’s hard for me to make real connections with people. If you know me, you know I don’t like talking about the weather (although it is spectacular here :) Jim is having a great musical year-- a new EP from Tikiyaki 5-O, and a resurgence of interest in his 80s metal band Hittman with a show at a festival in Germany (check out this vintage video, Jim is on the right with the Flying V, it’s hard to believe anybody every had that much hair ). And, he’s playing tonight. If you didn’t see the video of El Atacor from Tikiyaki’s new EP (shot in my garage) here it is.

Walking around in search of lunch, we found a tiny deli called Il Prosciuttaio. The lady put together a real sandwich from a selection of cured meats and spiced cheeses, with a variety of toppings. Typically, you just get bread, meat and cheese, so we went for ALL the spreads, the sun dried tomatoes being especially flavorful. It’s a feast on focaccia!

I went back to the Diner for some of the seminars, which were in the upstairs air conditioned room, filled with people and a truly amazing collection of 60s Italian guitars. There’s are some real oddball beauties here as the designers were breaking far from the Gibson and Fender tradition. As Dan "Teisco del Rey" used to say, "mother of toilet seat". 

I’m not much for gear, but I’m fascinated by the Silverface Showman conversion to blonde specs, with built in reverb. Then Lorenzo and Bjorn (his partner in Surfy Industries) talked about their new products including the Surfy Trem, which mimics the vibrato from a Magnatone amp. It sounds ridiculously cool.

For the next hour, Lorenzo and I sit down and talk about the recording process, and taking a band from song to finished project. We mostly agree on everything. The audience was attentive, and asked great questions. Apparently lots of people are watching on the Facebook feed to, so I hope I didn’t sound like a total idiot. 

I hung out after the seminar was over to answer more questions while the surf drum talk was going on, then headed back to the hotel for that badly needed nap. I saw a couple taking wedding photos in the dome by the Terrazza, and I’m pretty sure they are the same couple having a huge reception at our hotel. Everybody in attendance is dressed impeccably.

Karen and I went back to Zanzibar for dinner, with a wish for more fish, but she decided on the roast chicken. I had gnocchi with bream. Delicious, and fast, as we can hear the bands starting in the Tiki Garden, just 300 meters away.

The first band I saw was the Reverbly Ones from France. Nice to see a keyboard led band, and a quite an accomplished one at that, not merely holding down pads to fatten up the sound like a garage band might. They started out mellow, and kept upping the volume, but never lost their sense of dynamic. 

I had the honor to introduce the next band as stage hosts Lorenzo and Jonpaul are setting up to play. Lorenzo (drums) and Luca (organ, Fender Rhodes, guitar and theramin) Valdambrini will be filling in for Pablo and Brian of Tikiyaki 5-O. The brothers have done an amazing amount of work preparing, and don’t seem to miss a lick! Jim and Jonpaul are at the top of their game as well, and the whole set becomes some sort of love fest dance party. The crowd is clearly impressed when the opening riff to Pipeline is presented, but becomes a chilling version of Paul McCartney’s "Eleanor Rigby". You can find it on their EP "Tone Control".

The next band is The Wave Chargers from Paris (above). They are the find of the festival for me, I enjoyed their set so much! At heart, they are a slammin’ rock’n’roll band, with a dual lead guitar approach, that also sets some funk rhythm guitar patterns against surf beats. It’s an intoxicating mix, and inspires dancing in the dust. I bought their older 5 song EP, and hope they put out some new material soon, featuring their new lineup. We talked with the new guitarist Louise for a while after the set, and the band has plans for continued touring, and I really hope that this group comes to the US.

Geez, the Space Cossacks. What can you say that hasn’t been said. With just a couple rehearsals after not being in the same room for two years, they delivered when the crowd demanded. Hit after hit from two albums that must be considered classics, as every song was greeted with shrieks of enthusiasm-- the crowd would have been singing along to every word if the songs had lyrics. It was wonderful to see the band back together and enjoying themselves, a beautiful reunion. I can only say "Thanks" to Mark, Doug, Ivan and Katherine for taking the great trouble to make this happen, and continuing to share your music and the live experience of it.

The final band on the outdoor stage was The Phantom Four. The first few songs were mired by a tuning issue, but a replacement guitar was found and the band settled into their groove. It’s difficult for me to describe how a band that pays so much attention to having a relentless beat can inspire such sudden and wild abandon on the dance floor, with unison leaping, flamenco hand clapping, and rhythmic shouts occurring in nearly every song. There were moments when I wished the songs were twice as long, as the mesmerizing Spanish themes were just starting to hypnotize the audience. I’m amazed at how effective cigarette and vape smoke, mixed with the churned dust from the dance area create the atmospherics of an ersatz smoke machine. I long to see the Phantom Four in Amsterdam, where their fan base (from the videos I’ve seen) seems more like a ritual dream dance cult.

After 1AM now, and we squeeze into the Tiki Room to release any possible stores of adrenaline. First, the Bradipos IV take the stage to play six songs from their new album. It’s a sauna up there, but the space is packed from stage to the back wall, bodies pressed almost too close for dancing. Massi, Francesco, Amerigo and Enrico are a tight, and dare I say it out loud, SEXY, unit! Their swagger comes through in every note.

Enrico stays on drums and Lorenzo comes to the stage with his bass player, and they play songs from his new Surfer Joe album, "Swell of Dwell." His tuneful and memorable songs keep the adoring crowd on lock down. Nobody leaves, in fact it seems to get more packed.

Then, in a repeat of last year’s terrific afternoon concert, the Bradipos IV rejoin Surfer Joe, and the 3 guitarateers*, all for one, one for all, party begins. This coupling is without a doubt the world’s finest Astronauts style unit. It’s heavy, it’s light, and it’s fun, and continues until after 3am. 

Back in the hotel, I converse with friends in America who have been watching the goings on all day. The camera and sound feed is capturing everything, not just the bands but the audience as well. In a genre so small, you can find joy through your friends experience. But you better watch your movements, your yawns are being broadcast around the world.

*Guitarateers is a new word. A Google search for it returns no results!