As was written, in 1994 Pulp Fiction was released to theaters, effectively attaching jumper cables to surf music. Not only did this give rise to countless new surf groups, but 60's acts found a new audience, which gave way to events like the one presented to us here: a recording of a 1995 gathering of surf greats at the Lighthouse Cafe in Hermosa Beach in 1995, organized in part by Paul Johnson (Bel-Airs and PJ and the Galaxies). It was truly a legendary night. I was ten years old, roughly 2000 miles away, and this was roughly around when I bought my first CD, so I can't vouch for that. But today I can get a glimpse!

For those that got into surf somewhere after the 80’s and before bandcamp, compilations were key for exposure to more surf groups. That’s slowed down significantly, with only a handful of notable ones in the past few years (off the top of my head Brave New Surf and Monsters of Surf). Reverb Nation serves a dual purpose of commemorating a great lineup at the Surfguitar 101 convention (the tracks are mostly in the same sequence of the performances) and as a surf compilation.

After a great first day, it was time for a full 12 hours of surf groups from all over the globe.

After years of "maybe next years", I finally got my ass in gear and bought myself a plane ticket to Los Angeles for the Surfguitar101 Convention, organized chiefly by Jeff "Bigtikidude" Hanson as a big ol' meetup for members of surfguitar101.com and, you know, surf nuts in general.

Let's just skip to the end real quick: it was an absolutely incredible time. It was a kinda special thing to me getting to see a scene that I've only been a part of from afar, and the music started good and managed to top itself with each act.