Show Preview: Surfer Blood @ The Casbah Sunday March 3, 2013

As the upcoming weekend is nearly upon us, cooler temperatures and great shows are headed to San Diego. Capping off the busy weekend will be none other than those young whipper snappers from Florida, Surfer Blood. I remember their first San Diego gig when van troubles almost kept them from making their set time. Alas, all was well and their career has taken some interesting twists and turns since that autumn evening. The band signed with industry heavy Warner Bros. Records, and their sophomore release, Pythons, is due out on June 11. Meanwhile, the lads are completing a seven date run through the Golden State, while an upcoming tour with Foals is right around the corner. Getting a chance to hear some new songs as well as the 'older' songs is all I need to head down to the iconic Middletown venue. After all, that is where it started here for this band. The songs are catchy, lead singer JT has a carefree (yet charming) attitude and the band certainly brings a frenetic performance to each live show. I have only listened to Weird Shapes, the single off the upcoming album, and if it is any indication, then Pythons should be a welcome addition to Surfer Blood's discography.

Catch Surfer Blood live this Sunday, March 3, at the Casbah. Grand Rapids set the stage.

Watch a video of Floating Vibes below.

FM 94/9 Indie Jam In Photos: June 5, 2011

Everyone keeps asking me how Indie Jam was this past Sunday, so here are my photos (finally). I seriously had a blast, every year seems to be better than the last. Despite it being a great time, it's also pretty challenging trying to balance running from stage to stage for photos with trying to still be able to hang out with friends and enjoy the beautiful day and amazing bands. I know, I know- poor me. I'm not complaining, but I did skip shooting some bands because I was running around catching up with friends, chatting with Everest and Surfer Blood and some of the other bands, and trying to enjoy some of the food and libations. It was an incredible day for sure.



To see the full photo album, click here. To see just a select few, click 'keep on reading' at the bottom of the post.


Everest











Surfer Blood















The Soft Pack











Band of Skulls











Peter, Bjorn and John

SXSW: I'm Pooped

(this was supposed to be my Friday morning post but I haven't had much luck with wi-fi. I think we're leaving Austin today, so I'm gonna go stalk Conor Oberst and I'll get back to you all later and tell you all about yesterday when I'm in the van.

Today was an amazing but exhausting day. It started off kinda overcast, then got kinda toasty pretty fast, and when you're walking everywhere, and like me, you idiotically decide to carry your 80lb backpack because you believe in the miracle of wi-fi, let's just say by the time I got home an hour or so ago, I was a smelly monkey.

Now I'm all showered, found some wi-fi, and can tell you more about my day.

It was a late start; after the crazy deadend party last night, Matt and I stayed up till the wee hours. He played some songs for me to post, which I'll do as soon as me and this wi-fi establish a more trusting relationship.

Nima and Dani dropped me off at the end of 6th around 2, so I booked it to "Wunderbar" where they were having "Lunch With Germans". It was nice to finally meet Brooke, a publicist I've worked with for a while now, and I helped myself to their spread which had amazing German food. It was nice to have some green, like cold cucumber soup, salad, steamed green beans and carrots, and this yummy stuffed beetroot something or other. I joined a couple bloggers and got some Austin insight on bars and the electronic scene, including Lulu, who went to high school at Bishop's in La Jolla, but has been in Austin for a bit. She stage produces at Elysium, which was kinda funny because since I really sucked at planning a schedule on my Blackberry, the one alert I got was from CHAPPO who were playing there at 4ish.

I hoofed over to the bar and it was pretty empty. Apparently Mr. Heavenly, the band that Michael Cera is in, had played there earlier and it was packed, but when I got there it was pretty empty and the few people who were there seemed to have been waaaayyy overserved. It was luck that after the band playing, Backdrifter, that CHAPPO was to be followed by The Silent Comedy. It was nice to dump my bag by their gear and hang out for a while. As I mentioned, CHAPPO was awesome, and thus far have been my favorite new-to-me band I've seen. Unfortunately, our attempts at finding a quiet space for an interview failed, but I promise to get one before the week ends.

After the show, I waited as the bands loaded up their vans, saw Jake who is tour managing Menomena at the moment, and waited until we were all set to wander for the night. Jeremiah from The Silent Comedy kindly took my bag in the van with their gear, and I was able to let them park it at Matt's place since they're staying a bit out of the city. I wandered around with TSC. We were on the hunt for an artist lounge with free massages and swag, but we were too late, so we wandered to a party being held on the river by their legal reps. It was nice, right next to the Four Seasons, and we drank beers on a small hill as we finally got to see the bats of Austin flying out from the bridge. Quite a unique sight, and the sound of thousands of bats whirring was pretty remarkable from the perspective of a first time witness.

After the open bar shut down, we were all starving and wandering with dozens of ideas on where to go and eat, but I checked Foursquare tips and there was a place across the street that seemed to have many positive reviews. I was afraid that Chapala Cantina would be the equivalent of a Chevy's or El Torito, but was pretty pleased with the food and the service. They bring out a bowl of salsa base to your table and ask your level of preferred spiciness and hand mix in the chiles accordingly. They also bring out this cheesy delicious bean dip. I think we went through 12 bowls at the table. (do the math) Someone recommended I try an avocado margarita if I saw it on any menus, and thank god they said so because it was delicious. We decided it kinda tasted like Yoplait's key lime pie yogurt, only way more awesome.

After dinner we wandered back to 6th and went to Habana, where Warner Brothers had a showcase. To be honest, I wasn't that impressed with the bands and I was so exhausted and sore at that point that I was kinda worthless. We saw Neon Hitch, who has some pretty amazing dance moves, though I violated my promise to myself that I'd skip all dance/electronic/DJ acts. Spank Rock came out for a song, so that was pretty cool, though I was just dreaming about a beanbag at that point. We caught the next band and despite the label hyping them to us, I wasn't really all that impressed. I wanted to stick around to wait for Josh, the tour manager of Surfer Blood, but we decided to split to Bayou to catch Fierce Creatures. Along the way, however, Josh said he was grabbing sushi, so I ended up splitting from the group to hang out with part of Surfer Blood and their crew while they had sake, plum wine and beer. Remember I did an interview with the band at Sunset Sessions and then never posted it because of some things that went a little awry? Well, we're sorting out details for a new one this weekend and after they see the old one, they might actually be okay with me posting that as well.

Eventually they split to go to the WB show to play, I wandered on to Bayou to meet back up with TSC. We hung out, I did a couple shots, and they stayed for Fierce Creatures as I wandered back to Habana to see Surfer Blood. They were awesome, and hopefully my video comes out ok because I was using the back of the speakers as my tripod. The show ended at last call, so nothing else really eventful except some lady screaming at me in Spanish that I needed to pay for beers that were swiped by the band. Oh, and I ran into Fake Problems who were adorable as ever. I searched after parties but decided not even to bother, and wandered back to where TSC were awaiting their van, running into Jarrod Palomar of Augustana on the way. Hopefully I can catch up with him tomorrow, too.

I'm back at Matt's now, the whirring of the highway, the stank of three people in a living room with smelly shoes and such, and I miss my bed, but I can definitely say I am loving South By and I will most definitely be back next year. Sometimes my friends in bands say things like "If we ever get famous" or "If we get rich" and I correct them..."you mean, 'WHEN we get famous'" or "'WHEN we get rich"...so I'll say it like this...next year when I come back and when I have a showcase and when I bring my bands with me, well, this year kicks ass, but next year...

Jeff's Weekly Pick: Surfer Blood @ Bar Pink March 26, 2010

When one starts naming their favorite band of the week, the usual suspects tend to reside in indie hotbeds such as Brooklyn, or Austin, or the Pacific Northwest. Enter the unassuming lads from West Palm Beach, Surfer Blood.These guys are on quite a roll of late, while constant touring and radio play are fueling the fires making them a must see live act.
Last Thanksgiving eve I had the pleasure of witnessing their live set at The Casbah and it was nothing short of amazing. In fact, due to some unforeseen van issues, the band barely made their set time. Things like this do happen, so it was on with the short yet blistering show. Songs were from their full length, Astrocoast. Heck, these guys hardly look old enough to down a beer or ten.
Touring in every nook and cranny from coast to coast brings Surfer Blood back to our fair city, this time to North Park's Bar Pink. A friendly word of advice: arrive early since weekends tend to bring out the best (and sometimes the worst) of the many patrons at the small establishment. I am working up a sweat just writing about their upcoming show. For those under 21, you can watch an in-store performance with The Morning Benders earlier in the evening at M-Theory Records.

Turbo Fruits and Lanterns set the stage.

Watch a vide of Swim below.