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Surplus 1980 Collectiv Ensembl with G.W. Sok - August 23 & 24, 2019

Two drummers.
Four bassists.
Four guitarists.
One oboe.
One bass clarinet.
One vocalist.
One conductor.

This is the Surplus 1980 Collectiv Ensembl with G.W. Sok, and last weekend, on August 23 & 24, 2019, we played one show in Oakland at the Uptown, and one show in San Francisco at Bottom of the Hill.

These shows were the culmination of a lot of stars aligning, and a lot of work on the part of bandleader Moe Staiano.

The history of this project? Well, the regular band, Surplus 1980, you might know, is a rather loud and noisy affair with, at times, two drum kits, three guitars, bundt pans and other odd-ball sound generating items.

When we were asked to perform a show at Studio Grand, a small art gallery in Oakland, thoughts turned to our... um... volume level in their very small room. This inspired Moe to create a unique piece to be performed only once--a more art-gallery-friendly type of composition. We performed it, and the music was archived.

Later on, though, Moe had the idea of creating a large ensemble that consisted of every person who had ever performed with Surplus 1980. And to do so, he would need to compose something new for the expanded group to play. In the meantime, he started mulling over the idea of having previous collaborator G.W. Sok (former singer of The Ex) to add vocals.

He set to work on four pieces, basing part of the composition on the previously-shelved Art Gallery piece, and then arranged the studio time. We recorded all four pieces in an afternoon, and he contacted Sok, who agreed to do vocals. The tracks were sent to The Netherlands, and some time later, were returned with words.

Soon, Italian label Musique à la Coque agreed to release the album, and it came out in March of 2019, and that was that. Or so we thought.

Turns out, G.W. Sok was coming to the United States to tour with English band "Action Beat," and he would be in California at the end of the tour. Moe got the idea that perhaps we could get all 13 people together from the recording, and get G.W. to return to San Francisco after his tour ended in LA, and find two venues, one in the East Bay and one in San Francisco, at which to perform the pieces live with G.W.

What are the chances of that? I would posit that the chances were slim. BUT...

It happened. Everyone committed to doing the shows, and with two rehearsals to work out G.W.'s lyrics and the changes in the music, we went forth.

And it was fantastic! Thanks to everyone who came to the show, the staff at The Uptown and Bottom of the Hill. Special thanks to the sound crew for wrangling the sound from 13 musicians, Zappo & Jonah at The Uptown, and Bryan at BotH. And even more thanks to all the musicians: Drums: Jordan Glenn, Mark Pino; Basses: Vicky Grossi, Jason Hoopes, Steve Lew, Tom Ferguson; Guitars: John Shiurba, Yacob McCann, Bill Wolter; Oboe: Kyle Bruckmann; Bass Clarinet: Paul Costuros; Vocals: G.W. Sok; Conductor: Moe Staiano. -melne (guitar) :-)