Mermen
as the Shitones
Park Chalet
San Francisco, CA
2021-10-30

Recording:
Sound Professionals SP-BMC-12 AudioTechnica binaural mics > SP-SPSB-10-13005 battery box >
Andrea Electronics C1-1021450-1 Model USB-SA-1 (stereo mic input) > phone > USB Audio Recorder Pro > FLAC
Processing: FLAC > Audacity [soft limit -0.1db, -10db at 90hz 1 octave bass rolloff, levels adjusted, limiter, track splits > FLAC 8 > acxi (tagging, image embed, checksums)

FLAC: 16/44.1 (2 channels)
Quality: 3/4 (22khz, very good, murky, difficult space)
Time: 2:19:42.45
Size: 765.8 MiB
Average kb/s: 766
Tracks: 45

Setlist:

Set 1:
01. tuning >
02. Sukiyaki (Kyu Sakamoto)
03. Wild As The Sea (The Sandals)
04. Scrambler (The Sandals)
05. Decoy (The Sandals)
06. TR-6 (The Sandals)
07. Midnight Cowboy (John Barry)
08. Ghostriders In The Sky (Stan Jones)
09. tuning
10. No Matter What
11. tuning >
12. Deep Ocean Vast Sea (Peter Murphy)
13. audience, tuning >
14. Firewater > Baja (The Astronauts)
15. Dead Man (Neil Young)
16. tuning >
17. Heroes (David Bowie)
18. Hot Line (The Vickings)
19. Shig33 8 song set intro >
20. Gyration B (shig33)
21. Lost In The Shadows (shig33)
22. Shooting Star (shig33)
23. Santa Anna (shig33)
24. intro, tuning >
25. Hawaii (shig33)
26. Cavalier (shig33)
27. Astroboy (shig33)
28. Sweet December (shig33)
29. ???

Set 2:
01. tuning >
02. Theme From A Summer Place (Percy Faith)
03. California Dreamin' (The Mamas & The Papas)
04. tuning >
05. Expecting To Fly (Buffalo Springfield)
06. Out Of Limits (The Marketts)
07. tuning >
08. Vampcamp (The Ventures)
09. tuning >
10. Moon Journey (The Ventures)
11. tuning >
12. Whichita Lineman (Glen Campbell)
13. Mr. Moto (The Bel-Airs)
14. The Lonely Bull (Herb Alpert)
15. tuning >
16. Bikini Drag (The Pyramids)

Band:
Jim Thomas - guitar
Jennifer Burnes - bass
Martyn Jones - drums

Recording notes:
* The bar area of Park Chalet is mostly concrete, with full wall windows, and without a full house, making probably for the worst possible acoustics imaginable. Not an ideal setting to record a group. Also there was no real way to get a center stage position due to the layout of the space, that area was taken up by the light show table/crew, and there were tables in front of it. So this recording was done from the left side of the stage. Despite these audio challenges I think it came out pretty well overall.
* The audio was mostly from the band instruments/amps, there were two side fill speakers, but I don't believe the drums were amplified at all, making for an even more challenging recording environment.

Processing notes:
* Applied bass cut at 90hz, -10db, to account for mic bass resonance.
* Corrected some slight channel imbalances.

Notes:
* I can't quite identify set 1 track 29 song, it sounds very familiar, but I can't pin it down. Anyone? I want to say Dick Dale but don't know.
* This evening's Shitones lineup is the Mermen lineup, just playing these songs instead of Mermen songs.
* While a traditional cowboy song, Dick Dale brought the shredding version of Ghost Riders In The Sky to surf music.
* Includes poster and photos. Any future reseeder is given rights to use these photos in their reseed.

* Mermen main website: https://mermen.net/
* About the Shitones: https://mermen.net/oldsite/shitones.shtml
"The Shitones are a surf-inspired band featuring Shigemi "Shig33" Komiyama on drums, Jennifer Burnes on bass, and Jim Thomas on guitar. The Shitones have been going strong for almost 10 years, performing weekly at the Beach Chalet for many years, and at the Sandbar prior to that. Though often playing local to the Bay Area, the band did make a trip to Japan in 2002.
Their repertoire consists of surf cover tunes by greats such as Dick Dale, Jack Nietsche, and The Ventures as well as older rock and roll--Jimi Hendrix, early Fleetwood Mac, Quicksilver Messenger Service. You can never tell what gems might surface at a Shitones show--or who might be sitting in--Dave Jess, Johnny Hamilton, Roger Rocha, Henry Kaiser, Freddie Roulette, Prairie Prince, Jerry Joseph, Brian Richie, Dave Schools and Bobby Vega. Keep an eye here for upcoming events so you don't miss any of the action!".
* About the Mermen: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mermen
"The Mermen are an American rock band from San Francisco, California formed in 1989. They have since moved to Santa Cruz, California. The group's sound was originally rooted in surf and psychedelic rock music of the 1960s, although they have made "sincere attempts to get away from the surf music label"[3] and currently delve into many genres, mainly driven by the melodic visions of the band's founder, songwriter, and guitarist Jim Thomas. The band's music is entirely instrumental and "does a good job of defying description".[3] In concert, the Mermen almost always performs as a trio: electric guitar, electric bass, and drums."
...
Thomas also fronts The Shitones, an associated band that features some of the same personnel (Jennifer Burnes on bass, and Shigemi Komiyama on drums prior to his 2014 death.) While Mermen feature Thomas's original compositions almost exclusively, the Shitones are a cover band that emphasizes instrumental rock hits of the 1950s and '60s by the likes of Link Wray and The Ventures, along with instrumental versions of songs by Neil Young, The Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix and others."

* About Park Chalet (1000 Great Hwy, San Francisco, CA 94121): https://goldengatepark.com/beach-and-park-chalet.html
"Just as the Golden Gate Park meets the Pacific Ocean, you will encounter a historically central building filled with interesting features, as well as an assortment of respectable edibles. The building, set in a Spanish colonial design, is significant in itself, serving as the last built design of architect, Willis Polk, who was well quite known in the San Francisco community. Overall, the Beach Chalet and Park Chalet each possess their own sense of welcoming style when it comes to entertaining the flocks of people who stop by for a bite to eat, a sight to greet, or a decent drink to bring in the night.

Exploring the Beach Chalet
As you enter the first floor of this versatile Golden Gate Park sight, a wraparound mural created by Lucien Labaudt highlights the San Francisco area as it appeared during the 1930s. If you take the time to read the many panels accompanying the endearing scenes, you will gather bits and pieces of how it felt to live in the city during Depression-ridden times. The first floor also offers a wide-range of historical finds at the visitor center, as well as interesting items you may take home with you as you browse the colorful gift shop.
Before the Beach Chalet was erected as an evolving dining and entertainment center, the two-story building was opened in 1925 and served as a changing room for people frolicking about the ocean, which is located across the street. Decades passed and eventually the building fell into poor condition before in 1997, the site was transformed into the brewpub and restaurant that stands today.
As you climb up the attractively carved staircase to reach the Beach Chalet, you will come across an entertaining brewpub and restaurant with calming views that reach past Ocean Beach to the Farallon Islands. When taking your seat at a Beach Chalet table, the menu features a wide-range of American fare with a seashore twist for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Live entertainment is also a part of this amusing atmosphere.

Exploring the Park Chalet
Situated on the ground floor, the Park Chalet offers a different atmosphere for visitors to settle into, including a stone fireplace and lovely glass ceiling. Guests may choose between indoor or outdoor dining, which provides intriguing surroundings, such as a garden and the rest of the Golden Gate Park. Lunch and dinner meals are offered at this establishment, which also supplies live music on select evenings."

* The Park Chalet is at the very foot of Golden Gate Park, right next to the Great Highway, which is right next to beach parking, which is right next to the beach, which is right next to the Pacific ocean. It's a touch too 'formal' for my taste, and not really designed as a space for live music, but the Mermen/Shitones have played there regularly for years, since they are generally considered a 'surf' band, and the Park Chalet is right next to the ocean. Though the waves there are not very good, you want to go a bit futher down the coast for better waves, up to and including the now legendary Mavericks, which features over 50 foot waves smashing straight down onto a rocky bottom given the right ocean swells.

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~ teetering

Images for all shows as well as full size images for this show.

Images for this show:











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