surfs up at the icehouse tavern

I have been hearing about the Icehouse Tavern for probably close to a year now but had never been until lastnight. It's a 21 and over bar located behind the Arcadia Ice Rink, at 3855 E. Thomas Rd and has a very cool vibe to it that you just feel as soon as you walk in. The staff there is very friendly and provided excellent service the whole night. 

This saturday was a blizzard of Surf Rock with two bands, The Surfside IV and Thee Jaguar Sharks. Beth and I got there kind of early to check the place out and fell in love with the place as soon as we walked in. The bar itself is very small and is a great place for small shows, but the back of the bar shows the Arcadia Ice Rink through large thick plexiglass windows which had people skating most of the evening and was quite entertaining with couples young and old skating around and kids with what looked like walkers on the ice to help stabilize them while they skated around. 

The first band to go on was the Surfside IV. I had never seen them before and knew nothing of them except they played surf music. It was all instrumental, vintage surf rock from the likes of The Ventures, which I have always dug. They had a good stage presence and seemed like a nice bunch of guys, unfortunately this seemed like an off night for them, missing changes, and hitting a couple of off notes throughout their set. It's times like these I start feeling bad for the band. I really think they had some good tunes, it just seemed like an off night, and you could tell they knew it too. They did have girls during their set getting on the dance floor and dancing to the music which is always fun to watch. They finished their set with Wipeout which is pretty much a staple in any surf bands repertoire. I will definitely check these guys out again.

Next up was Thee Jaguar Sharks, led by guitarist Jim Miles. I have seen Thee Jaguar Sharks before at the Ruby Room and although I dug The Ventures when I was a kid, I wouldn't say I am a surf rock afficianado by any means, but these guys make me wish I was. Watching this band transports me to a different time, with Jim on the guitar rocking out, Nick on drums in really badass Aviators, the beautiful Megan gogo dancing to her hearts content, and the witty banter from their bassist who will remain nameless until I found out what his name is.  They all make me feel like I am back in the 60's watching a surf band with a gogo dancer. Of course, I wasn't even around in the 60's but watching this band makes me feel as if I were and I love it. To be fair, I think that The Surfside IV might be a little more authentic sounding, but because they were having a rough night, they didn't transport me to a different place like Thee Jaguar Sharks were able to do. 

All in all I had a great time, I got my drink on, I got my music on, and I found a great new place to watch live music and possibly some violent hockey events.