INSECT SURFERS - ACID BEACH PARTY

Acid Beach Party 6, review by George Miner

The Echo Club on Sunset Blvd. was the site of last Sunday's (3/18/07) Acid Beach Party 6. A gathering of six mostly surf instrumental bands put together by David Arnson, of The Insect Surfers. A rollicking-reverbed time was had by all in attendance!

The show kicked off with Billy Blastoff And The Retro Rockets who set the tempo for a great show with their full sound and polished presentation.

Outer Wave followed with a set of traditional, but fiery sounds. This is a really professional sounding band that has reverence for the traditional sound while adding a modern attack to their tunes.

The Reventlos and Double Naught Spy Car followed. While not exactly surf bands, their imaginative approaches to instrumental music provided an eclectic and always new and exciting contribution to the proceedings.

The Boardwalkers, a fine band lead by Insect Surfers' bassist Dan Valentie was next. They dispensed with the surf music this night-playing an all Jimi Hendrix set that was notable for a kick-ass rendition of 'Red House'. We knew Valentie had good 6-string chops, but this selection left no doubt. Here's hoping The Boardwalkers put out a CD of their own sometime in the near future.

Finally, The Insect Surfers rounded out the show with their usual manic, precise, guitar-interplay magic that we have all become accustomed to for the past couple of decades. A particularly driven version of Polaris was a highlight.

Midway through the concert the Dumb Angel Gazette gave a slide presentation highlighting the history of L.A. music venues with an emphasis on beat era clubs and the performers who frequented them. With the numerous insights and anecdotes of the times, coupled with rare pictures, this turned out to be a fascinating glimpse of bye gone times.

All in all an enjoyable concert with excellent sound, creative energy and variety a-plenty. Thanks for putting it together David Arnson. I'm already looking forward to Acid Beach Party 7!

by George Miner, March 23, 2007

Since the Insect Surfers are not a purist or "old school" surf band I decided that we needed our own forum of expression for a more modern surf/instrumental presentation. So in January 2000 we started the "Acid Beach Party" with 6 bands playing half hour sets to the accompaniment of psychedelic/psychotronic projections and videos, giant twister (4 twister boards taped together) tournaments, and MCing by KXLU's Reverend Dan. Our goal was for no one to be bored at any time! So far, we are up to number four, and they have all gone great ... Bands featured so far (besides the Insect Surfers) have been: Davie Allan & the Arrows, Banned From The Beach, Black Widows, Boardwalkers, Double Naught Spy Car, Dynotones, Neptunas, Pollo Del Mar, Rancheras, Reventlos, Slacktone, Spi-Fi, Surf Kings.

ACID BEACH PARTY
    Hey...this was the best gig in a long time...hat's off as well to Fred Kiko from KXLU for his multi-media visual assault with two projectors showing pieced together 16mm clips of some very bizarre and entertaining material...
Jim Dunfrund - Surf DJ KXLU FM - January 23, 2000

ACID BEACH PARTY
    ACID BEACH PARTY at Mr. T's, Los Angeles, Jan 22, hosted by David Insect Arnson and MC'd by late late nite KXLU garage/surf etc. DJ (worth losing sleep to listen to or tape!) REVEREND DAN.
    Hats (and antennas) off to Dave Insect for pulling off one of the best live show line ups of psychedelic surf and "push the envelope" instrumental music events, ever. Mr. T's was full to capacity and overflowing with happy instrumental fans last night. ...
    Next up were INSECT SURFERS who always deliver a crowd pleasing hook oriented dueling guitar surf sound both traditional at times and psychedelic other times. They opened with Horizon Rider a psychedelic spaghetti western wonder tune that shows off the dueling guitars of Arnson and Sullivan. There are quite a few new songs, some with greek folk and Mediterranean threads and ringing harmonics goin on. Insects get in some wild ride psychedelic jams. Dave was definitely the man of the hour for putting this supercool show together - he had three screens of video and slides going - some sergeant peppers, some ultraman, some wahini surfers having their way with the tubes - plenty of visual stimulation. ...
Monica Rex - January 23, 2000

The Insect Surfers are being sponsored by Body Glove.