guantanamo baywatch

I arrived at 10pm and the Thursday night show hadn’t yet started. The doorman took my camera, to check the bag I assumed. Instead he pulled out a hammer and smashed it to bits. Another $2k down the drain. I resisted the urge to pummel him — I couldn’t risk missing this show. This was the first night of the tour for Portland’s fabulous Guantanamo Baywatch and Chevelle’s hair was purple. Maybe she is a natural purple. I whipped out my shitty camera phone.

The Stork Club drew an impressive weeknight crowd. The Dead Kennedys’ Klaus Flouride was in the house. He seemed particularly pleased with the Chuckleberries‘ cover of the Rutles’ classic “I Must Be In Love.” The Chuckleberries may just be the ultimate Bay Area cover band, moving effortlessly from The Turtles to The Beach Boys. I would like to see them go for it, put on some suits and do all Rutles all the time. MOM was in the house, and not at all naked.

Courtney n’ the Crushers held the middle slot of thee evening. These guys get better and better with every show. Sadly, they will not be in Austin, but do check them out at the Knockout on 3/17, or at the rad Berkeley house party on 3/24 with Guantanamo Baywatch! BTW, Courtney’s new shirts are dope and it came with a free cassette! You can have it for free too! Check out Portland’s Hovercraft Records comp now! The new Courtney record cover is a pic from Oakland’s fabulous White Horse Inn!

guantanamo baywatch

As we speak, thousands of bands across the country are making their way towards Austin, Texas. Guantanamo Baywatch are already scheduled for 7 SXSW shows. For the first show of their tour, they delivered everything you could possibly want: fast, furious, filthy surf punk. They did run out of songs after an hour or so, but hopefully they will stop watching Seinfeld in the van and learn some new tunes before they hit the Texas border. Either way, if you are headed to Tejas, do stalk them. The Burger Records shows are completely ridiculous and you are bound to discover something to love. You may even discover some burning with urination.