I did promise that I’d regale you with tales from the recent trip to Los Angeles…..and for those of you who keep in touch via my occasional nonsense on Facebook, I apologise that these postcards will mirror what was posted there as ‘live’.
This was the third attempt at getting across to stay with Jonny and Goldie in their Santa Monica home. #1 was postponed in 2020 as a result of travel restrictions around COVID and #2 was called-off at the 11th and a half-hour when I ended up unexpectedly in hospital in June 2024. This time around, it was timed to coincide with The Wedding Present gig taking place in L.A. on Saturday 7 June 2025….but there’s a lot to get through before that particular postcard.
Jonny is an accomplished bass player and a member of two bands. One of these is The Dial-Ups, a much in-demand five-piece new wave/power-pop covers band whose members are Bess (vocals), Lucas (guitar/vocals) Dave (guitar), Randy (drums) as well as Jonny. Despite Bess being on holiday in Ireland while myself and Rachel were in Santa Monica, the band wanted to play a gig in our honour, and arrangements were made to do so on Saturday 31 May, just 24 hours after we had landed. This was how they announced the event:-
“This Saturday’s show at the Trip Santa Monica is a rally in recognition of the arrival of one Vinyl Villain, a historically significant blog-hoster whose participating writers include one Jonny Balfus (aka Jonny the Friendly Lawyer aka JTFL). This weekend marks the landing of said Villain on the shores of Santa Monica, hence a grand welcome show in honor.
While Bess travels to explore the hubbub of Dublin for a bit (just a British Isles coincidence), this outcome creates a Dial-Ups boys night out, where we revisit the old line up, one before Lucas struggled to ride a bike correctly and Bess saved our asses.
For this special one-night only event, you will experience your favorite Santa Monica-based “Hey I love that song” band playing things that Jonny expects will appeal to the musically well-versed Scots, featuring special guests trying to distract us all from Bess’ absence. We will be pounding our chests and thumping our instruments and likely joining y’all in a beer or two, while we enjoy the miraculously entertaining book end sets from our friends Scorpion Wolf Shark (7:00), and Vibrafonics (9:30). The Dial-Ups set will start around 8:00 and go until we say so.
Please feel free to join us on Saturday May 31 @ Tr!p Santa Monica, 2101 Lincoln Blvd. No cover because we love you and need you.
Leis gach deagh dhùrachd,
The Dial-Ups
The Tr!p is one of Santa Monica’s most popular locations for live music, specialising in putting on free shows with the take for the bands and the venue coming from the bar takings, and given there are sixteen beers on tap, as well as another sixty available in cans or bottles, it proves to be a great arrangement. It might not be the most luxurious of venues, but the atmosphere, certainly when it is close to capacity as it was at the Dial-Ups gig, is electric, and the band certainly did not disappoint.
I’m not always a fan of cover bands, but when the set list is as varied as this, and the musicians are full of talent and energy, and know exactly how to get a crowd going, then I’d be happy to go along seven nights a week, albeit my body couldn’t take it!!
Psycho Killer (Talking Heads)
Rock This Town (The Stray Cats)
Driven To Tears (The Police)
Uncontrollable Urge (Devo)
867-5309 (Tommy Tutone)
Radio Free Europe (R.E.M.)
Blister In The Sun (The Violent Femmes)
Vasoline (Stone Temple Pilots)
The Pretender (Foo Fighters)
Rock The Casbah (The Clash)
American Girl (Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers)
Hot For Teacher (Van Halen)
Pump It Up (Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
Look Sharp (Joe Jackson)
And then it was time for the encore. The four members of the band, during the set, been supplemented by different backing vocalists. Two of those backing vocalists were joined by the three members of the opening band Scorpion Wolf Shark, two of whom were going to take shared lead vocals on the encore song, while the other joined in on banjo. It was already a very crowded stage, but there was still room for your humble scribe, proudly wearing a Raith Rovers replica jersey, to make my L.A. stage debut, on cowbell, and occasional yelp through an absolutely manic performance of a minor hit from 2001:-
mp3: Cake – Short Skirt/Long Jacket
What a fun and utterly memorable way to get the holiday going…and I cannot give enough thanks to everyone for asking me to be part of this newly formed L.A. supergroup….oh, and at the point in time when the photo was taken, two of our members were down among what was very much a dancing and entertained audience, while Randy, our drummer, as so sadly is often the case when cameras are pointed in the direction of a stage, finds himself hidden behind the backing singers!
JC
PS : Just so that you can get an idea of just how tight and solid they are as a band, I got Jonny to send me over a video clip of The Dial Ups in full flow with Bess taking lead vocal on their take of Next To You by The Police.
Enjoy!!!!!!!
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 