Billy Bootleggers Surf Matinee

Introduction

Afternoon gigs are a great idea. They enable you to hear great live bands without the worry of having to leave for the last bus. Although I had to leave this one early, I had a great time talking with the headliners, who are from Toronto, Canada, and Mark's sister is a dental assistant in London.

This gig was Prehistoric Sounds presenting three bands for an afternoon of Surf/Garage Surf/Punk, so no singing, but lots of introductions, and it is free.

You can easily get a drink, and there is an indoor and outdoor bit, which is great on a sunny day, and though I have been here many times, I just noticed that you can get food as well, which is a plus if you are hungry.

This is as much about the venue and presenters who pulled it together as the music. We need places and promoters like this to put together these events, and we should always try and support them in any way that we can.

So I was just going to share some videos I took and found, and links to the bands as well. However, I seem to have found more to write and also some information from the various bands' pages to provide you with a little more information for you to read.

They are all brilliant, and as I am writing this, I am listening to the "Return of the Wasagas"

The Milk Lizards

I thought they were brilliant, although they had a stand-in drummer. Shades of Link Wray and Dick Dale and "Rumble", and "Misirlou" made appearances in their set.

This is their Bandcamp page:

The Screaming Seagulls

This was who I came to see, but I couldn't find a Facebook link until I visited their Bandcamp page. The guitarist's sparkly dress was most impressive, as was the music.

There is a choir called the Screaming Seagulls and a band, the Screamin' Seagulls, who have not been active for fifteen years.

These were main reason for me to come to this gig because the bass player is Sandy, a great friend of mine who I wrote about in this recent Pride story:

This is their Bandcamp page:

Mark Malibu And The Wasagas

They are Canada's original Surf Punks.

Existing originally from 1979-1982 these groovy teenagers lived far from the west coast but they mixed their 60s influences with their 80s attitude.

Considered a touchstone of the Toronto surf scene, they reunited in 2014

Unfortunately, due to prior commitments, I couldn't stay for their set, but I chatted with the whole band and found out that they were from Toronto and close to some of my Canadian friends.

I bought a CD of theirs, "Return of The Wasagas" and it is what I expected, lots of Surf Punk and a great album.

This is their Bandcamp page:

Conclusion

Everything about this made it a damned near perfect event. As well as Sandy, I got to chat with a few guys and musicians, then my friend Lynn (there are so many spellings of that name, but I think I got the right one) and Sheila turned up and introduced me to their friend Fiona.

When talking with Mark Malibu, Mike from the Wasagas, we found we had a lot in common, and their lovely Go-Go dancer gave me a big hug, though she was a little disappointed I could not stay. I didn't catch her name but next time I will stay and enjoy them.

Thank you, everyone, for reading. I had a lot more to say about this than I thought. An absolutely excellent gig.