Sonic Bullets Festival - Bambi Molesters Setlist

Many thanks to Lada for supplying me with the complete Bambi Molesters setlist from the Sonic Bullets festival, for all who like to keep abreast of these things:
 
Wanganui
Point Break
Wrong Turn
Last Ride
Tempted
Siboney
High Wall
Invasion of the Reverb Snatchers
Kiss Off
Theme From Slaying Beauty
As the Dark Wave Swells

With Chris Eckman - The Strange
Nights of Forgotten Films
Tonight I'll say Anything
River of Twilight
Long Shadows
See it in the Dark
Comin Undone

Chaotica
Mindbender
Double Danger
Malaguena

Latinia`

Sonic Bullets Festival Zagreb 6th December 2014

Thursday December 4^th

We fly into Zagreb, which it seems is to be cold and wet for the duration of our visit, but we refuse to be downhearted.  Firstly, Zagreb is a lovely, friendly city and secondly, on previous visits we have had to contend with snow piled high on the pavements and snowploughs clearing the runway so that we could return to the UK, so a chill in the air and a little (ok, at times a lot) of rain will not deter us. Oh, and thirdly, we are here for the Sonic Bullets Festival, to celebrate twenty years of The Bambi Molesters, who, it is no secret, are my favourite band in the whole world.

We make the short bus journey from Zagreb airport to the centre of town and walk to our hotel, pausing only to remind ourselves of the precise location of the entrance to the Tvronica Kulture, just so we know exactly where to go tomorrow night. Safely checked in, we make our way to Jelaćić Trg, through the bustle of Dolac Market to our favourite Zagreb bar, Ro and Do. Which is about to shut for the afternoon! However, the barman takes pity on us (looking like drowned rats might help here) and we get our first Ožujsko of the trip. The barman is clearly in a hurry, though, so we head down the road for a couple more in Carpe Diem, before returning to the hotel.

Being creatures of habit and weak of will, we are back at Ro and Do in the evening, where a different barman questions the wisdom of ordering Ožujsko and points us instead towards Crna Kraljica, a really rather excellent dark lager. He is also good enough to suggest The Royal India as a good place to eat and this also proves a good choice, so we promise to return for a nightcap after we’ve eaten. This is proving to be a good trip already.

 

Friday December 5^th

We breakfast in the hotel, then head out to explore the city some more. Just north of the central station a large and complicated open-air ice rink is being prepared and we make a note to return to watch the opening later in the day, before heading for the Croatian Parliament building, where we wonder at the apparent lack of security, as a petition of some sort is presented outside the main entrance.

Nearby Lotrščak tower is next on our agenda, to watch the midday gun go off. We’ve witnessed this before, so I prepare myself by sticking my fingers in my ears, but to no avail; the gun goes off and I still jump out of my skin!

We’ve arranged to go the Tvornica Kulture for 4:00pm to say hello to The Bambi Molesters and it’s lovely to see them all again. They’re understandably excited about tonight and also about the just-announced January tour of Brazil, but they’re also pretty busy, so we make our excuses and head back into the city.

It is the season of Advent and Zagreb really does look beautiful as night descends; trees bedecked with white fairy lights, Christmas market stalls, stages and bandstands offering entertainment and everyone, or so it seems heading for the opening of the open-air ice rink. The crowds are such that, to be honest we see very little of the ceremony, although we do catch a few glimpses of some quite spectacular ice dancing, but it’s cold and we’re hungry, so we don’t hang around for too long and make our way to Zrno Bio Bistro for a rather excellent vegetarian meal.

Tvornice Kulture

We’re at the venue for 8:30 and have a short time to spend backstage where we chat with the band and get to meet Chris Eckman and Hrvoje’s brother, amongst others (and Hrvoje also hints that maybe, just maybe, there will be new Bambi moletsers material next year), but first band of the night, B and the Bops are about to take the stage so we go out to see them.

We’ve been to the venue before, but on that occasion the main room was out of commission for some reason and The Bambi Moletsers played in a tiny (and packed) adjacent room, so this is our first real look at the venue proper. It’s pretty huge with a capacity of 1800 and feels fairly sparsely populated at the start of B and the Bops’ sparky rockabilly set, but it fills gradually and by the time My Buddy Moose hit the stage is beginning to feel pretty full.

My Buddy Moose frontman, Luka Bencic is part of The Bambi Molesters live band, so we’ve met him on a few occasions and it’s really good to finally see him in action with his own band, who kick up quite a storm and get a good reaction from the crowd.

And so to the main event. It’s a twentieth birthday party and The Bambi Molesters set includes highlights from the whole of that period. They open with Wanganui and for the next 45 minutes are at their dazzling, spellbinding best. In addition to Luca, the band are joined by the excellent Soldiers of Love horn section, so for much of the set there are seven of them on the stage, weaving their magic. Point Break, Farewell Malasaña, Theme From Slaying Beauty, Siboney, As the Dark Wave Swells, a simply stunning Invasion of the Reverb Snatchers… And the band seem to be having a wail of a time.

Then Chris Eckman takes to the stage and we’re not watching The Bambi Molesters any more, but instead The Strange. It barely makes a difference, to be honest. OK, this isn’t instrumental music anymore, but the band’s grasp of drama, dynamics, atmosphere and melody remains the same and the crowd is completely in their thrall.

 

 

A note for gear enthusiasts;  I’d been wondering how Dalibor’s recently acquired Rickenbacker would work with The Bambi Molesters, since we’ve grown so used to hearing him play a Jazzmaster, but he plays the new guitar throughout this portion of the show and it sounds mighty fine to me and it returns several times  later in the night.

The Strange section of the evening lasts for around 25 minutes and then we’re back to The Bambi Molesters to take us through to beyond 12:30, when they close with Malagueña. The crowd want more, of course and we know we will get it, since there’s been no Latnia yet and, sure enough they return to play it, with Chris Eckman joining on acoustic guitar to make The Bambi Molesters an eight-piece for the finale.

I can’t really be subjective about the Bambi Molesters; I love their music and I like them very much as people. Every time I’ve seen them has been special to me in one way or another, but this show was awesome. I’ve never seen a surf band play to such a huge and enthusiastic audience and I’ve rarely seen one play as well. Tonight will live long in my memory.

As they finally leave the stage, the crowd starts to thin quite considerably, but The Bambis clearly want to party and have invited along one of their favourite bands, The Flaming Sideburns to close the show. We watch maybe 20 minutes of their raucous, rocking garage set, before giving in to exhaustion and staggering back to the hotel. In our defence, we have an early start in the morning and I am due on stage in Brighton in around 20 hours and we have to make the house ready for our guests Surfer Joe and his band, but that’s a whole other story…

HangNine FM Playlist December 6th 2014

Here is the playlist for HangNine FM show on North Sea Surf Radio, first transmitted on December 6th 2014


Bristol Express
The Eagles

Smash Hits from... 

Wanganui

The Bambi Molesters

Play Out of Tune 

Point Break

The Bambi Molesters

Dumb Loud Hollow Twang 

Last Ride

The Bambi Molesters

Sonic Bullets: 13 From the Hip 

Standing on the Nose in a Stylish Manner

The Bambi Molesters

Dumb Loud Hollow Twang 

As the Dark Wave Swells

The Bambi Molesters

As the Dark Wave Swells 

Bikini Machines

The Bambi Molesters

Intensity! 

Napuljska Gitara

The Bambi Molesters

Intensity! 

Farewell Malasana

The Bambi Molesters

Sonic Bullets: 13 From the Hip 

Bubble Bath

The Bambi Molesters

Sonic Bullets: 13 From the Hip 

Theme From Slaying Beauty

The Bambi Molesters

Sonic Bullets: 13 From the Hip 

Hawaii Joe

The Bambi Molesters

Dumb Loud Hollow Twang deluxe 

Margaya

The Bambi Molesters

Dumb Loud Hollow Twang deluxe 

Point of No Return

The Bambi Molesters

As the Dark Wave Swells 

Thunderin' Guitar

The Bambi Molesters

As the Dark Wave Swells 

Mindbender

The Bambi Molesters

As the Dark Wave Swells 

Invasion of the Reverb Snatchers

The Bambi Molesters

A Night in Zagreb 

Glider

The Bambi Molesters

A Night in Zagreb 

Chaotica

The Bambi Molesters

Sonic Bullets: 13 From the Hip

                          

HangNine FM Playlist November 29th 2014

Here is the playlist for HangNine FM show on North Sea Surf Radio, first transmitted on November 29th 2014


Bristol Express

The Eagles

Smash Hits from... 

Whittier Blvd

The Exotics

Go Go Guitars 

Teenage Cactus Twist

Dirty Fuse

Last Wave 

Punto Muerto/Journey to Calfuria

Bang! Mustang

The Big Twang Theory 

El Senor Surf

Surfer Joe

Senor Surf 

RIP Tide

The Q-Trons

The Q-Trons 

Mother's Little Helper

Tony Dynamite and Shooting Beavers

Surfin' Jack Flash 

The Last Time

The Nematoads

Surfin' Jack Flash 

Stranded

The Surf Creatures

X50 

Big Bad Bass

Jet Harris

The Best of Jet Harris and Tony Meehan 

Vampire Fucker

The Squadron Leaders

In Which We Surf

 

BaTmoBile

The Squires

Surf-Age Nuggets

The New Victor

Dirty Fuse

Last Wave 

Suicide Ride

Mark Brodie and Beaver Patrol

Shores of Hell 

Ace of Spades

Link Wray

The Best of... 

Hey Cosacus

Los Coronas

Adios Sancho 

Freakout

The Grande Bois

Meltdown 

Dominique

Pirato Ketchup

Speed Surfer  

Last Train from Sepia City

Bang! Mustang

Surf NSA

HangNine FM Playlist November 15th 2014 (Surf Revival Special)

Here is the playlist for HangNine FM show on North Sea Surf Radio, first transmitted on November 8th 2014, including a countdown of my top 15 surf revival tunes


Bristol Express

The Eagles

Smash Hits From The Eagles 

The Unsophisticated Señor

The Reverb Syndicate

Mondo Cacti 

Forgot to Put the Chain on Baxter

The Thurston Lava Tube

The Pink Elephant with Nipples for Tusks 

Fiesta del Cossacapulco

The Space Cossacks

Tsar Wars 

Tierra del Fuego

Langhorns

Langhorns 

Lawrence of Arabia

Los Venturas

Kaleydoskop 

Sad Song

The Squadron Leaders

Greatest Hits  1939-45

Let’s Go Down to Brighton

The Razorblades

Gimme Some Noise 

Bombay Potatoes

The Space Agency

Bombay Potatoes 7” 

Vostok 1

Surfin' Lungs

Hang Loose with the Surfin' Lungs

Defcon 5

Man or Astroman

Defcon 5 4 3 2 1 

Rell Sunn Aloha

Slacktone

Into the Blue Sparkle 

Bubble Bath

The Bambi Molesters

Sonic Bullets 

Unto the Resplendent

The Mermen

The Amazing California Health and Happiness Road Show 

Ewa on the Beach

Frankie and the Poolboys

Frankie and the Poolboys 

Paganini

The Phantom Four

Morgana 

Adios Sancho

Los Coronas

Adios Sancho 

As the Dark Wave Swells

The Bambi Molesters

As the Dark Wave Swells
                        

HangNine FM Playlist November 8th 2014 (Classic Surf Special)

Here is the playlist for HangNine FM show on North Sea Surf Radio, first transmitted on November 8th 2014, including a countdown of my top 15 classic surf tunes


Bristol Express

The Eagles

Smash Hits From The Eagles 
 

Cat on a Hot Foam Board
The New Dimensions
Cowabunga! The Surf Box 

Baja

The Astronauts

Cowabunga! The Surf Box 
 

Pintor

The Pharos

Cowabunga! The Surf Box 
 

Telstar

The Tornados

Telstar 
 

Atlantis

The Shadows

The Original Chart Hits 
 

Mr Moto

The Bel-Airs

Cowabunga! The Surf Box 
 

The Rising Surf

Richie Allen and the Pacific Surfers

Cowabunga! The Surf Box 

Thunderin' Guitar

Jeujene and the Jaybops

Ultimate 60's Surf Classics 
 

Sleepwalk

Santo and Johnny

Santo and Johnny
 

Blue's Theme

Davie Allan and the Arrows

Bullseye a Sixties Retrospective
 

Night of the Vampire

The Moontrekkers

Intergalactic Instro's 
 

Jezabel

The Illusions

Cowabunga! The Surf Box 
 

Ali Baba

Dave and the Customs

Surf Age Nuggets 
 

Siboney

Johnny Fortune

Siboney Single 
 

Latin'ia

The Sentinals

Sunset Beach 
 

Run Chicken Run

Link Wray

Rumble The Best of... 
 

Dimitrius

The Atlantics

The Explosive Sounds of... 
 

Margaya

The Fender IV

Roots of the Cramps
 

Malaguena

The Trashmen

Tube City
 

The Wedge

Dick Dale and his Del-Tones

King of the surf Guitar 
 

Tally Ho!

PJ and the Galaxies

Rare Surf Volume 1 
 

Far Away Places

Eddie and the Showmen

Squad Car