The benefits of being a surf band that plays condo pool parties..

[fenderfan]

Playing heavy surf with the Royal Aces at a huge pool party in Denver on a summer afternoon is a beautiful thing...very funny to have Jersey Shore types of kids come up and tell us that we are "crushing it". I had to check with the bass player to be sure whether that meant we were ok or terrible...

[javabirds]

It's a beautiful thing, man. Just looking at that picture I can imagine nothing but cool. Thanks for posting.

Out of curiosity, what's your set list? And what would you say your top two songs are?

[Tim Armstrong]

Cowabunga!

[gemktm]

Nice job... I think that babes in bikini's adds a lot... are there 2 dudes looking at their phones.

Do you play with a totally clean sound?

[adjason]

You guys ooze coolness

[String Tree]

Surf-Rock on a hot sunny day, outdoors, by a Pool, LOTS of purty womerns in Bikinis ... The ROYAL ACES rock my world!

Hope you get to do many more of them.

[ce24]

I don't see any mics....total surf instrumentals?......cool of you ask me! nice concept no PA......

cheers ce24

[twangplank]

Very cool! I played in a retro styled country band (60s Bakersfield style) and people went crazy when we played "walk don't run"

[fenderfan]

Thanks for the posts, guys!
1) Our set list is pretty big (we often play full four-set gigs, so we've got a lot of tunes). Amazingly, good old Wipe Out always gets a big response, every time, without fail. We combine surf classics (Penetration, Baja, etc) with Link Wray stuff and instrumental versions of rock tunes (White Wedding, That Thing You Do, etc), and that gets us a lot more gigs. When it's time for the slow, pretty tunes, we get good results from Sleepwalk, In My Room, and our instrumental version of Skeeter Davis' "End of the World" - sounds great with deep Tele twang and reverb! And, we do an instrumental medley of Please Please Me/This Boy which goes over really well. A medley of Memphis/Bo Didley/Wham also gets them rocking, and Misirlou almost causes riots at times.
2) I do indeed play clean almost always, through a Fender reverb tank, into a 1965 Showman into a 15" Weber California, with an overdrive pedal used just a few times, for Ghost Riders, Misirlou, and a couple of others where I want just a little extra punch and sustain.
3) We are all instrumental. We just plug a microphone into the Showman for occasional banter with the crowd.

We are playing way more than I thought we would, as this material is going over so well at every type of event - black t-shirt rocker joints, biker rallies, parties, venues of all types, car shows, etc.

[Paul in Colorado]

I was just thinking of you the other day. Glad to hear that you're doing well. Do you ever see Kevin anymore?

Seek out an album called "Sway" by the Blue Hawaiians. (Their steel player is the guy on the Sponge Bob Square Pants cartoons). They do a slow instrumental version of Hawaii Five-O that they call "Martini Five-O." Work up a version with your band. People love it once they recognize it.

[fezz parka]

I only see a pink bikini. What were we talking about?

[fenderfan]

Hey Paul - if you look closely, you'll see that Kevin is the bass player in this surf extravaganza. And, I know that Blue Hawaiians tune very well - it's on my rotation, along with the fabulous Blue Stingrays (not a single tune on their album I don't like).

Fezz - right there with ya...and I PLAYED at the gig!

[R. Stratenstein]

Very, very cool.

[Tim Armstrong]

Tell Kevin I said howdy, too!

[RollingBender]

...I'm a bit surprised nobody has mentioned the coconuts...

Great band concept. I think there is room for more of these types of things. The niches are not as small as most of us believe them to be.

[Paul in Colorado]

I can't see the picture on my home computer. I can't even see my own pictures when I post them. Of course I'm on the ancient "dial up." Time for a trip to the library to get out of this bloody heat!

[Wally]

I dig the surf green drums......"Telstar' just went to the turntable in the jukebox of my mind.

[fenderfan]

Originally Posted by Wally

I dig the surf green drums......"Telstar' just went to the turntable in the jukebox of my mind.

Will do, Tim.

And Wally - our drummer has several beautiful sets of classic 60s Premier and Ludwig sets. They all go great with the surf thing!

[DG_Griffin]

That's awesome! I would love to play in a surf band!

[Big John Studd]

This is awesome! Let's all join surf bands!!!

The two bikini ladies seem sort of neglected. I wish I could have been there to comfort them.

Yeah, I'll bet there opportunities o' plenty out there for ya'll's band. I suspect that in every major city there is someone in charge of booking bands for the Springfield Summer Concert Series (for example), and their boss has just told them, "I need you to line up 20 bands to play Thursday evenings on the square. Here's your budget, and for the love of God don't just hire 20 classic rock cover bands!!!"