Surfrider Foundation Music Outreach Program

Congratulations, Keely!

2012-01-26T12:07:00.000-08:00

We are excited to share that San Francisco Chapter Music Outreach Program volunteer extraordinaire Keely Gerhold has moved to Portland, Maine to join the Reverb team as the Tour Greening Logistics and Office Operations Coordinator!

Reverb shared the news in today's Reverb e-newsletter.

Please join us in congratulating her!

If you're a regular reader of our blog then you've seen her show reports! You can find her bio here on the Reverb Who We Are page, where she gave us a shout out:)

We are so excited for you, Keely!

The Sweet Bones, Realstar Movement, WaitingRoom - San Francisco Community Music Center - 1/12/2012

2012-01-12T19:39:00.000-08:00

The San Francisco Chapter is the beneficiary of a free, all ages concert happening this Friday, January 13, 2012 at the San Francisco Community Music Center (544 Capp at 20th St) from 8-11:30. Join Us! You'll be treated to some great music from an all girl rock band called WaitingRoom, a Latin American rock bank called The Sweet Bones, and a hip hop rock group called The Realstar Movement. Thanks to San Francisco Chapter member and Music Outreach Program volunteer Nick Arlas for putting this event together!

Green Day surprises guests at San Francisco Chapter's Rip Curl Pro Search Kick Off Party

2011-11-14T18:40:00.000-08:00

Taken from the Surfrider HQ e-newsletter SOUP, circulated to readers today:

On November 1st, Surfrider Foundation and Rip Curl teamed up to host the Rip Curl Pro Search Kick Off Party in San Francisco, CA featuring lo-fi garage rocker Ty Segall and the recently reunited Kut U Up featuring Transworld SURF Editor-in-Chief Chris Cote. After an insane day of overhead, offshore surf at the opening day of the Rip Curl Search in San Francisco, things got even better when punk rock legends, and Bay Area locals Green Day showed up and surprised the crowd with a 16 song set. Green Day rocked the house for a solid two hours, previewed new songs and talked about the importance of protecting oceans, waves and beaches. In addition to being an awesome night, proceeds from the evening were donated to the Surfrider Foundation San Francisco Chapter and their campaign to Save Sloat.

Green Day setlist and videos from show posted here.

San Francisco Chapter Vice Chair Michael Stewart and Sustainable Surf greened the Rip Curl Pro Search. Check it out:

Surfrider Foundation Partners With The 2011 Honda Civic Tour

2011-07-14T12:31:00.001-07:00

YAY, Surfrider! Just read this in the weekly e-newsletter (SOUP, Issue 122) sent out by the Surfrider HQ office in San Clemente, CA:

We're going on tour! Surfrider Foundation has been invited to go on the 2011 Honda Civic Tour this fall with Blink-182 & My Chemical Romance! Surfrider will be partnering with Reverb, a company dedicated to creating "green" tours (in the past they have worked with Jack Johnson & the Dave Matthew's Band). Our goal is to engage fans and raise awareness regarding environmental issues such as single-use plastics and water quality. Click the link below to purchase tickets and support Surfrider, or sign up to volunteer at a concert event!

I dug up the tour schedule ...

8/5/11 PNC Bank Arts Center
Holmdel, NJ w/ Manchester Orchestra
8/6/11 Nikon at Jones Beach Theater
Wantagh, NY w/ Manchester Orchestra
8/7/11 Nikon at Jones Beach Theater
Wantagh, NY w/ Alkaline Trio
8/9/11 Comcast Center
Boston, MA w/ Manchester Orchestra
8/11/11 Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
Buffalo, NY w/ Manchester Orchestra
8/12/11 Jiffy Lube Live
Bristow, VA w/ Manchester Orchestra
8/13/11 Hershey Park Pavilion
Hershey, PA w/ Manchester Orchestra
8/14/11 The Comcast Theatre
Hartford, CT w/ Manchester Orchestra
8/16/11 ^ Bell Centre
Montreal, QC w/ Manchester Orchestra
8/17/11 ^ Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
Toronto, ON w/ Manchester Orchestra
8/19/11 Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
St. Louis, MO w/ Manchester Orchestra
8/20/11 First Midwest Bank Pavilion
Chicago, IL w/ Manchester Orchestra
8/21/11 Riverbend Music Center
Cincinnati, OH w/ Manchester Orchestra
8/23/11 Marcus Amphitheater
Milwaukee, WI w/ Manchester Orchestra
8/25/11 ^ MTS Centre
Winnipeg, MB w/ Rancid, Against Me! *
8/26/11 ^ Credit Union Centre
Saskatoon, SK w/ Rancid, Against Me! *
8/27/11 ^ Rexall Place
Edmonton, AB w/ Rancid, Against Me! *
8/28/11 ^ Saddledome
Calgary, AB w/ Rancid, Against Me! *
8/30/11 ^ Save-On Foods Memorial Centre
Victoria, BC w/ Rancid, Against Me! *
8/31/11 ^ Rogers Arena
Vancouver, BC w/ Rancid, Against Me!
9/1/11 White River Amphitheater
Seattle, WA w/ Rancid
9/3/11 USANA Amphitheater
Salt Lake City, UT w/ Rancid
9/4/11 Comfort Dental Amphitheater
Denver, CO w/ Rancid
9/7/11 Xcel Energy Center
Minneapolis, MN w/ Matt and Kim
9/8/11 Wells Fargo Arena
Des Moines, IA w/ TBA
9/9/11 Sandstone Amphitheater
Kansas City, MO w/ Matt and Kim
9/10/11 Verizon Wireless Music Center
Indianapolis, IN w/ Matt and Kim
9/11/11 DTE Energy Music Theatre
Detroit, MI w/ Matt and Kim
9/13/11 Blossom Music Center
Cleveland, OH w/ Matt and Kim
9/15/11 First Niagara Pavilion
Pittsburgh, PA w/ Matt and Kim
9/16/11 SPAC
Saratoga, NY w/ Matt and Kim
9/17/11 Susquehanna Bank Center
Camden, NJ w/ Matt and Kim
9/18/11 Farm Bureau Live at Virginia Beach
Virginia Beach, VA w/ Matt and Kim
9/20/11 Charlotte Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
Charlotte, NC w/ Matt and Kim
9/21/11 Aarons Amphitheatre at Lakewood
Atlanta, GA w/ Matt and Kim
9/23/11 Cruzan Amphitheater
West Palm Beach, FL w/ Matt and Kim
9/24/11 1-800-ASK-GARY Amphitheatre
Tampa, FL w/ Matt and Kim
9/26/11 Woodlands Pavilion
Houston, TX w/ Matt and Kim
9/27/11 Gexa Energy Pavilion
Dallas, TX w/ Matt and Kim
9/29/11 Hard Rock Casino Albuquerque Presents: The Pavilion
Albuquerque, NM w/ Matt and Kim
9/30/11 Tempe Beach Park Amph.
Phoenix, AZ w/ Matt and Kim *
10/1/11 Honda Center
Anaheim, CA w/ Matt and Kim
10/2/11 Sleep Train Amphitheatre
Sacramento, CA w/ Matt and Kim
10/5/11 Shoreline Amphitheatre
Mountain View, CA w/ Matt and Kim
10/7/11 Red Rock Resort, Spa & Casino
Las Vegas, NV w/ Matt and Kim
10/8/11 Hollywood Bowl
Los Angeles, CA w/ Matt and Kim
10/28/11-10/30/11 (Exact Date TBD) VOODOO Music Experience 2011
New Orleans, LA

Cloud Cult at Black Cat 5/28

2011-05-30T17:54:00.000-07:00

Cloud Cult brought their multi-media show back to DC last weekend at the Black Cat. DC Surfrider’s MOP was happy to join them and talk OCEANS to folks at the show. We didn’t talk to a lot of folks (slow night for some reason!) but we had a good time and the show was great. Thanks to Gayathri Sriskanthan and Shelley Alingas for volunteering to be at the show! Huge thanks to Connie Minowa of Cloud Cult who got us on the guest list—thanks Connie!

Brett Dennen and Reverb at 930 Club

2011-05-30T17:49:00.001-07:00

Brett Dennen was at the 9:30 Club last Saturday the 21^st of May and DC Surfrider’s Music Outreach Program was on hand to talk ocean pollution to concert attendees. Big thanks to Kate Brennan for taking the reigns, as I was out of town—great job Kate! Apparently Brett let all of the volunteers come backstage. He put on a great show despite being out all day picking up trash and playing an outdoor mini-concert at DC Surfrider and Barefoot Wines’s clean up at Anacostia Skate Pavilion. Huge thanks to Reverb for letting Surfrider be a part of this event!

Xavier Rudd at 9:30 Club

2011-05-18T18:00:00.000-07:00

DC Surfrider’s Music Outreach Program was on hand for Xavier Rudd’s show at the 9:30 Club last Friday night. Thanks to Kate Brennan for volunteering! It was her first time representing Surfrider but she did a great job. HoneyHoney opened for Xavier and put out a great round of warm stompy blues. Xavier Rudd brought his tribal beats and signature didgeridoos. The crowd ate it up.

At the Surfrider table we talked to a good amount of fans, and signed up some people for our campaign against plastic bags in Virginia and Maryland. Altogether a great evening of music and talking oceans! Thanks again to Christi Thompson at Thompson Artist Management and Sarah Flynn with Xavier Rudd for hooking Surfrider up with this great show!

Rob Machado's Melali: The Drifter Sessions - Slim's SF, 4/12/11

2011-04-18T21:45:00.000-07:00

by Brooke Tessman, Surfrider SF Chapter Volunteer

On Tuesday night, Neel Singh, Adam Weiner, Rachel Kippen and I arrived to a crowded house at Slim's in San Francisco. We had the opportunity to set up the Surfrider outreach table in a prominent position close to the front door.

We, along with everyone else, were here to see opening band, Con Brio, and Rob Machado's Melali: The Drifter Sessions. The crowd hushed as the band performed live, and in sync, as The Drifter Sessions surf film ran in the background. A truly mesmerizing experience...

(From Left to Right) Adam, Rob Machado, Rachel, & Brooke

Here's a link to Melali: The Drifter Sessions Surf Film and Music Tour Dates:

http://www.robmachado.com/thelatest.asp

Throughout the night, current Surfrider members stopped by our table to say hello, along with a lot of new folks looking to learn more about our organization. We had about 25 folks (of all ages) sign up and ask to receive our Surfrider newsletter. In between sets, Sunny (see photo inset of Brooke, Sunny, Rachel) stopped by to sign up for our raffle in the hopes of winning our reusable Surfrider bag. Sunny has already been surfing for a year and a half...go Sunny!

Brooke, Sunny, and Rachel

Thanks to everyone for your continued support of Surfrider and yet another successful show. Special thanks to Tracey Buck of Slim's for helping to coordinate the show. We look forward to working with Slim's again in the near future!

Introducing Neel Singh!

2011-02-07T22:57:00.000-08:00

by Neel Singh, SF Surfrider

Greetings followers of the MOP Blog!

My name is Neel Singh. I’ve just accepted the position as the new coordinator of the Music Outreach Program (MOP) for San Francisco’s chapter of the Surfrider Foundation. Nicole Parisi-Smith has done such an amazing job bringing the MOP from the DC Chapter to SF and has left me with physically small but substantially large shoes to fill! I’m looking forward to continuing the great outreach work she’s done with our MOP crew and the musical artists and venues that share in the Foundation’s values of protecting our oceans, beaches, coastlines, and the people and wildlife who share those environments.

Being from the Fiji Islands and a Surfrider member you’d think that I’d be an avid surfer. I must confess like Matt (DC MOP Coordinator) that I’m not, but I still feel at home being next to the ocean. There is no greater feeling of peace and serenity for me than sitting on the beach, listening to music and the waves with my dog, Miles. I am a huge music enthusiast of various genres, a hobbyist musician, and proponent of environmental protection. Joining SF Surfrider’s MOP has given me the opportunity to bring together the most important and fulfilling aspects of my life. It is my goal as our chapter’s new MOP Coordinator to work together with various artisits, venues, and our volunteers to reach out to people like you – fans of oceans, beaches, wildlife, and of course music.

Some of the shows we’ve had the blessing of being a part of include Jack Johnson, Katchafire, SOJA, My Peoples (formerly Kapakahi), Bayonics, Oceanroyal, and many more…

If you’d like more information or would like to become a member of the Surfrider Foundation and the Music Outreach Program please feel free to email me at neel[@]sfsurfrider.org, or visit the chapter website at www.sfsurfrider.org. Keep following our blog and twitter for upcoming concerts, beach cleanups, and other events. Hope to see you at the next show!

Introducing Matt Gove!

2011-02-07T22:51:00.000-08:00

by Matt Gove, DC Surfrider

Hello MOP blog readers! My name is Matt Gove and I am currently running the Music Outreach Program for the DC chapter of the Surfrider Foundation. If you have been following our blog you may have noticed that I have been in this position for about a year. Last year we made it to 15 events, so thank you to all my MOP Volunteers who came out to help! I couldn’t run the program without you.

I’m going to come clean readers: I am not a surfer! I have attempted to surf 3 times, with water-logged and sand-scraped results. I am an ocean enthusiast however, snorkeling, diving, and fishing whenever I get the chance. I also work in the blue world, working with coastal managers for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). I am very excited to be volunteering for an organization that I have been watching peripherally for years—Surfrider is definitely well known in the ocean and coastal professional world!

For those of you not familiar with Surfrider’s Music Outreach Program: basically we spread the Surfrider message at concerts. Specifically, we partner with venues and artists to talk to concert-goers about Surfrider’s national and local initiatives, hoping to spark action or awareness in the general public. It’s extremely rewarding to have discussions with people about our oceans and coasts—and their favorite bands!

If you are in the DC area and want to volunteer, please send an email to govematt[@]hotmail.com and I will get you on the email list. Last year we were at shows for State Radio, Mason Jennings, Rogue Wave, Ben Harper, and the Dave Matthews Band. You don’t need any skills or knowledge to volunteer, just a love for our oceans and a willingness to help out. Thanks for reading!

Donavon Frankenreiter - 9:30 Club - 11/25/2008

2011-02-07T22:42:00.000-08:00

by Chris Woods, DC Surfrider

Wow - this was an incredible night! Donavon allowed the members of DC Surfrider to come to the 9:30 Club early for sound check, and hung out with us before the doors opened to the public.

photo: me & Donavon

Then we had a great spot for the Surfrider table in the back of the venue, and were able to talk with a lot of Donavon's fans, who are psyched about the work that we are doing!

photo: Our DC Surfrider table

Many thanks to Donavon and his touring team!

Brian Wilson (The Beach Boys) - Warner Theater - 11/18/2008

2011-02-07T22:25:00.000-08:00

by Chris Woods, DC Surfrider

Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys came through Washington, DC and was kind enough to let Surfrider DC set an outreach table up at his show at the Warner Theater. He was promoting his new album, That Lucky Old Sun.

Surfrider CEO Jim Moriarty interviewed Brian back in September. Awesome stuff! Check it out here.

Neil Halstead - Talking Head Club - 3/25/2009

2011-02-07T21:54:00.000-08:00

by Chris Woods, DC Surfrider

Earlier in the month, on March 8, Surfrider's San Francisco Chapter set up an outreach table at Neil's show at the Great American Music Hall. He came through the Washington, DC area on March 25, and played at the Talking Head Club in Baltimore, MD. It was great to see him there.

Nicole and I really appreciated that he was personally in touch with us prior to the show, and took the time to talk with us at the shows. He's a great guy, and a fantastic musician. I'm really enjoying his new CD, Oh! Mighty Engine.

Just happened upon this interview with Neil:

Neil Halstead: My Green Buddy.

Here he is, playing with Jack Johnson and band, plus Zach Rogue, summer 2008:

Cloud Cult at the Black Cat

2010-11-04T18:25:00.000-07:00

DC Surfrider’s Music Outreach Program was able to attend Cloud Cult’s show at the Black Cat last Monday November 1^st. Special thanks to Connie Minowa of Cloud Cult for getting us on the guest list! It was a learning experience for me as it was MOP’s first time at the Black Cat—their staff was very helpful and we got a great spot in the back by the merchandise table. I had some interesting conversations with a handful of attendees and about 15 people signed our ledger in support of passing a 5-cent bag fee bill in Virginia and Maryland. A few people mentioned Cloud Cult’s commitment to environmental causes—way to go Cloud Cult, hope to see you again next time you are in DC.

Broken Coast in Annapolis

2010-08-17T19:27:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Broken Coast for hosting DC Surfrider in Annapolis last Sunday. It was a gorgeous evening for some live reggae at the Federal House. Thanks to Eric Weimer of Proud Lion Music and Artistry for inviting us out and to Lexi Noruk for coming out and volunteering!

DMB in 100+ DC Heat!

2010-07-25T16:11:00.000-07:00

The Dave Matthews Band ripped Nationals Stadium Friday night, playing from 8:30 until 11:30! Surfrider volunteers Matt Gove and Steve Reidy were on hand to hand out some reusable shopping bags and sign people up to support DC Surfrider’s goal of passing a bag-fee bill in Maryland and Virginia. Much thanks to Reverb for hosting us at their Eco Village—specifically, thanks to Amy Makowiecki and Greg Hansen! It was ultra hot, but the huge crowds and Surfrider love from concert goers made for a great evening.

DMB at National's Stadium

2010-07-17T17:02:00.000-07:00

The Dave Matthews Band is playing Nationals Stadium. This is only the second time this huge venue has hosted a musical act. Reverb has been very kind to invite DC Surfrider to be a part of their set up once again at a show, and we are excited to spread the Surfrider gospel to the masses! If you can wade through the crowds, come and say hi to our volunteers!

Gipsy Kings

2010-06-27T18:04:00.000-07:00

The Gipsy Kings are bringing their internationally flavored dance party to Wolf Trap next Friday July 2^nd. Surfrider will be outside the gates talking about plastic bags and possibly handing out reusable bags. Come on out and join us!

The Drifter

2010-06-19T10:25:00.000-07:00

The DC Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation partnered with DC Adventure Films for a showing of The Drifter at the Arlington Cinema and Draft House. Volunteer Matt Gove talked with a lot of stoked Surfrider fans about all of the DC Chapter’s ongoing political efforts and activities. The Drifter had some beautiful footage and focused on surfer Rob Machado’s efforts to get away from it all and back to surfing’s roots. Definitely worth checking out!

Mason Jennings

2010-06-19T10:20:00.000-07:00

Mason Jennings played just outside of the District at The State Theater in Falls Church,Virginia, last week. Surfrider was there, talking to people about our push to add a bag fee in Virginia. Thanks to Mason for letting us tag along!

State Radio at Wolf Trap

2010-06-19T09:58:00.000-07:00

State Radio was back in DC for a riotous show at Wolf Trap last week. Before the show the DC Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation partnered with Calling all Crows and the DC Chapter of the Sierra Club for a service project at Groundwork Anacostia River DC. Thanks to the 30 or so volunteers who showed up for a muggy but rain-free day of serious yard work!

State Radio - The Independent, San Francisco. Sat 5/22 & Sun 5/23/2010

2010-06-03T11:39:00.000-07:00

by Nicole, San Francisco Chapter volunteer

I love that State Radio and their fans are participating in local nonprofits' community service projects on the band's current tour! When the band was in town the weekend of May 22 - 23, they joined the Surfrider San Francisco Chapter for our May 23 beach cleanup!

The night before the cleanup San Francisco Chapter members Garrett, Jay and myself set up a Surfrider outreach table at the band's show at the Independent.

photo: myself, Garrett, and Jay

State Radio's Chad Urmston gave Surfrider a shout out from the stage, and talked about our May 23 beach cleanup. Chad pointed our outreach table out to the crowd, and encouraged the band's fans to come talk with us about the cleanup and the other stuff that we're working on. It was a very thoughtful and thorough shout out!

photo: State Radio on stage @ the show

We ran into Chapter member Carolynn at the show, and signed up a new Surfrider Foundation member!

photo: Carolynn & myself, in a San Diego Chapter Rise Above Plastics t-shirt!

photo: newly registered new Surfrider Foundation member!

We also got to see the San Francisco Giants' Barry Zito play drums with the opener, Kelley James:)

photo: Barry Zito & Kelley James on guitar (right)

The cleanup the next day, on May 23, was awesome. 37 State Radio fans had pre-registered for the cleanup through State Radio's service organization Calling All Crows, and some fans came out to the cleanup decked out in State Radio gear.

photo: fans with Chad and Matt from State Radio

photo: orientation. photo by Aldrin Bulayo.

photo: signing in. photo by Aldrin Bulayo.

They were really excited to get to see Chad, his wife Sybil, their dog Lefty, drummer Mike “Mad Dog” Najarian, and tour members Matt Wilhelm and Jody Stegens Wilhem, as well as Emma Jones Samler from another State Radio nonprofit partner, Facing History and Ourselves.

photo: Chad from State Radio. photo by Aldrin Bulayo.

photo: "Mad Dog" and Jody from State Radio, Emma from Facing History and Ourselves.

We collected about 20 bags of trash, and got some great photos. Thanks to Chapter member Neel who brought his girlfriend and some friends, including professional photographer Aldrin Bulayo who took about 50 AWESOME shots for us!

photo: the cleanup crew! photo by Aldrin Bulayo.

photo: cleanup in progress. by Aldrin Bulayo.

On Monday evening I joined State Radio and their fans for a public event hosted by the Global Fund for Women, Facing History and Ourselves, Calling All Crows, Asylum Access, and a number of other organizations, held at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco.

photo: myself and my friend Brittany, in front of the "meet & greet" area. Thanks to Emma for adding me to the VIP reception guest list!

The event was a community conversation between Global Fund for Women's Kavita Ramdas and Sheryl WuDunn, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of "Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide." There were a lot of people there, and it was a very well done event.

photo: the event

As always, I continue to be impressed with State Radio and Calling All Crows - they are amazing! Thanks, too, to the Independent for hosting us! I got to meet the Independent's General Manager, Glen, who stopped by to check in on us. Thanks to Matt and Eric from Calling All Crows for setting everything up for us, and for being so awesome!

Colbie Caillat

2010-05-19T17:27:00.000-07:00

Surfrider’s Music Outreach Program will be representing at the Colbie Caillat show Thursday June 17 at Wolf Trap. Caillat already has one double platinum album and is working on another with her 2009 release Breakthrough. This California native (and self proclaimed Jack Johnson fan) will be channeling the good vibes in a beautiful outdoor setting—come check her out and say hello to our Surfrider volunteers.

State Radio Back in Town

2010-05-19T15:34:00.000-07:00

State Radio is coming back to the DC area! They will be playing in the great outdoors at Wolf Trap on Wednesday June 16. Surfrider’s Music Outreach Program will be on hand.

Join Surfrider (and possibly members of the band!) at a service project earlier that day for a stream clean up at Pope Branch Creek, a tributary of the Anacostia River. State Radio’s service arm, Calling All Crows, as well as the DC Chapter of the Sierra Club are helping organize the clean up—for more information visit DC Surfrider’s website.

It's a State Radio Weekend :: San Francisco, CA. Sat May 22 & Sun May 23.

2010-05-19T15:07:00.000-07:00

The San Francisco Chapter is going to have a State Radio-filled weekend ...

Please stop by to say hello to us on Saturday night, May 22, at State Radio's show at the Independent. Opening the show is Kelley James. Doors are 8:30, tickets are $20. The event is 21+.

I really like the venue's write up of the band:
For generations of American bands, the music and the message have been inextricably linked. Word and deed are one in the same, and the only thing more moving than the rousing call to action is the song that transports the words like a shell casing. Following the hard travelin’ path of Woody Guthrie, these bands sing about ordinary people in extraordinary ways and can turn the world inside out with three chords and the truth. These are the tenets by which State Radio’s Chicoree Stokes, Chuck Fay, and Mike “Mad Dog” Najarian are driven, and they once again flex that strength and sense of purpose on their third album, Let It Go. But this is no soapbox symposium.

On Saturday, join our Chapter out at Ocean Beach, Stairwell #17, from 10am-12noon for our regularly scheduled Beach Cleanup. We'll be joined by State Radio, their service organization Calling All Crows, and the band's Bay Area fans. No need to RSVP, and all ages are welcomed to help us pick up trash off the beach! We'll provide bags, gloves, and a little lesson about marine debris.

This is not affiliated with Surfrider, but you can also join State Radio on Monday night for an event co-sponsored by Facing History and Ourselves, as well as Asylum Access that will feature one of the authors of the book Half The Sky.

Looking forward to this weekend - I hope State Radio plays this song. Awesome video just came out yesterday ...

More info about the video and the lyrics are here.

Mason Jennings at The State Theater

2010-05-19T15:04:00.000-07:00

Mason Jennings will be at The State Theater in Falls Church, Virginia on Friday June 11. Surfrider will be there with him, representing for the oceans.

This Minneapolis-based singer-songwriter is known for his catchy folk tunes and distinct sound. Part of Jack Johnson’s Brushfire Records label, Mason released his latest album, Blood of Man in 2008. It’s going to be a great show!

Surf Movie: THE DRIFTER

2010-05-19T14:40:00.000-07:00

The DC Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, along with DC Adventure Films, presents THE DRIFTER. Celebrate World Oceans Day, Capitol Hill Oceans Week, and International Surfing Day at the Arlington Cinema and DraftHouse Thursday, June 10th at 7:30pm. Tickets are $8.

“This highly acclaimed film showcasing Rob Machado in a soul-searching odyssey across Indonesia shows the complexities of self-discovery that lie far beyond the every-day creature comforts of life in California. The spectacular cinematography caught by the Red One camera takes the audience on a breathtaking backseat ride as the film moves from overcrowded streets and line-ups to the desolate island of Sumba where the true culture of Indonesian people is revealed.”

Raffle prizes including Rob Machado autographed product, DVDs, and sponsor giveaways (Hurley, Warner Brothers, Sire Records, etc).

My Peoples - Cafe Du Nord, San Francisco - 4/30/2010

2010-05-05T12:04:00.001-07:00

by Nicole Parisi-Smith, San Francisco Chapter

Last Friday, April 30th, Keely and I represented Surfrider's San Francisco Chapter at the My Peoples show at Cafe Du Nord.

photo: Keely and I at the booth

San Diego-based band Stranger opened, as did Dogman Joe. Thanks to My People, we had a great spot right inside of the front doorway, near the bar, where we shared space with the merch booth.

We had a few people sign up to receive our Chapter's e-newsletters, and also talked with a few fans about our beach cleanups.

photo: me sporting the Rise Above Plastics t-shirt from the 2008 Jack Johnson Tour

Great show, as always!

photo: My Peoples on stage

Thanks again to My Peoples, and Cafe Du Nord, who were really nice to us when we showed up at the venue.

Coming Up - Beach Cleanup with State Radio - San Francisco, Sun May 23

2010-05-05T11:05:00.000-07:00

by Nicole Parisi-Smith, San Francisco Chapter

photo: Surfrider San Francisco Chapter members coordinating a 2009 beach cleanup.

Join the San Francisco Chapter on Sunday, May 23 for a Beach Cleanup with members of the band State Radio, their service nonprofit Calling All Crows, and the band's fans. (We'll also be joined by members of the Lehigh University San Francisco Alumni Club and members of the public.)

To participate in the cleanup, meet at 10am at Ocean Beach, Stairway #17, directly across from the Beach Chalet.

Surfrider will provide trash pickers, gloves, trash bags. Please bring your own water in a refillable water bottle.

This is an all-ages event, and is open to the public - the more the merrier!

We'll wrap up the cleanup at 12noon.

No need to RSVP, but if you'd like to informally RSVP via Facebook and help us spread the word about the event, then go here. You can also check out State Radio/Calling All Crows' event posting for the Cleanup, here.

State Radio and Calling All Crows are encouraging their fans to attend a human-rights related event on Monday night, May 24. More details here. This event is not affiliated with Surfrider, though we support it:)

These events coincide with State Radio's Bay Area visit for their concert at the Independent on Sat, May 22.

Katchafire - The Mezzanine, San Francisco - 4/25/2010

2010-04-28T15:12:00.000-07:00

by Nicole Parisi-Smith, San Francisco Chapter

Thanks to Jimmy Vargas who invited the San Francisco Chapter to set up an outreach table at the Katchafire and Rebel Souljahz show at the Mezzanine in San Francisco on Sunday, April 25th! Big thanks, too, to Al from the venue who helped me get set up, and gave us an awesome spot right inside of the Mezzanine front entrance, and right across from the merch booth!

Thanks to our awesome spot, I was able to talk with a lot of very warm and friendly Katchafire and Rebel Souljahz fans who passed by our outreach table on their way to the venue's main floor.

photo: me hanging out at our outreach table

The highlight was meeting a fan who was wearing a 2010 Kokua Festival t-shirt. She said that she'd just returned from Hawaii that day, and had attended the Kokua Festival the previous day where she got to see Ziggy Marley, Jack Johnson, Adam Topol and Jake Shimabukuru perform together. She, like many fans I spoke with, took our 2010 Beach Cleanup Postcard, and expressed interest in our beach cleanups.

photo: Ziggy, Jack, Adam and Jake on stage at Kokua on Saturday. Photo from www.Twitter.com/Brushfire

The Rebel Souljahz and Katchafire show was fantastic, and the crowd very enthusiastic and engaged in the show. I was really impressed with Hawaiian band Rebel Souljahz's set.

photo: Rebel Souljahz on stage at the Mezzanine

I loved Katchafire's shout out to the Hawaiians in the house who, he said, have been supporting the band since the very beginning. That got a loud response from the audience:)

photo: Katchafire on stage at the Mezzanine

Thanks again to everyone who made the outreach possible, and to the awesome fans.

Luke Brindley at The Barns

2010-04-25T16:25:00.000-07:00

Luke Brindley invited Surfrider to represent at his show last week at The Barns at Wolftrap. The Alternate Routes opened the evening with a fun set and Luke put on a great performance with a full backing band. If you haven’t been to the Barns it’s a beautiful venue—an actual barn remade into a classy performance space. Matt Gove was on hand to talk to fans about Surfrider’s goal of passing a bag bill in Virginia. It was an intimate and relaxed evening of great music and ocean conversation—thanks Luke!

State Radio and Save My Oceans Tour

2010-04-25T16:05:00.000-07:00

State Radio and the Save My Oceans Tour hooked up at The George Washington University’s Mt. Vernon campus last Saturday and Surfrider was there to help spread the ocean love. The weather was crummy but that didn’t stop hundreds of students from taking the pledge to reduce their environmental footprint. You can take the pledge online at their website.

About 40 students also took the time to write a note to DC Mayor Adrian Fenty, letting him know they are not happy about him attempting to use the DC Bag Fee funds for non-conservation activities.

State Radio was integral to spreading the oceans word, and invited “Bagman” onto the stage to do a twirl. They even helped out at Surfrider's cleanup that morning at Kingman Island, thank you State Radio for leading by example!

Check out this interview with Chad from State Radio on the PBS website, which features photos from the cleanup!

Surfrider and Reverb at Ben Harper

2010-04-24T16:32:00.000-07:00

Surfrider's Music Outreach Program was at Ben Harper's show at Pier 6 on April 20. Surfrider volunteers Brian Dalton and Matt Gove took in the beautiful evening in Baltimore, talking to lots of fans about ocean pollution and plastic bags. Much thanks to Reverb staff Amy and Kristen who let us participate in the event! They also let us be a part of their Eco Village and their raffle--awesome.

Many Marylanders signed our petition to pass a bag bill in MD, and a few folks even wrote postcards to DC Mayor Adrian Fenty—see picture. Ben Harper and Alberta Cross sounded great under the big tent, if you haven’t been to Pier 6 I recommend a visit.

Save My Oceans Tour w/Disney OCEANS Film - UC Berkeley - 4/21/2010

2010-04-22T10:06:00.000-07:00

by Nicole Parisi-Smith, San Francisco Chapter

This is a follow up to my Saturday post about the Save My Oceans Tour concert with the Cold War Kids ...

Last night fellow San Francisco Surfrider Chapter volunteer Keely and I set up an outreach table at the Save My Oceans Tour screening of the new Disney enviro film, OCEANS.

photo: me & Keely

Students who had taken the online Save My Oceans Pledge previous to yesterday began lining up outside of Cal's Wheeler Auditorium sometime before I even arrived at the venue at 6:30pm. Once the film's coordinators arrived, and set up an EZUP outside of Wheeler Auditorium, all students were re-directed to a new line, which had formed in front of the EZUP. After collecting their hard tickets from the EZUP, students entered Wheeler where they waited in a second line outside of the theater doors.

photo: Outside of Wheeler Auditorium

We set our Surfrider table up right outside of the theater doors, where we could talk with students about Surfrider (and answer their questions about where to pick up their OCEANS tickets:)

Keely and I canvassed line #2 outside of the theater doors, to make sure that the students received info about Surfrider, even if they weren't able to stop by our outreach table.

We left some materials on our outreach table while we were inside the theater watching OCEANS, which was an awesome film!

photo: Keely waiting for OCEANS to start!

This concludes the Surfrider San Francisco Chapter's participation in the Save My Oceans Tour. Thanks to everyone who made it possible, including Disney rep Maureen, who helped us out with set up last night!

Coming Up - My Peoples (formerly Kapakahi) - Cafe Du Nord, San Francisco - Fri April 30

2010-04-21T15:52:00.000-07:00

Thanks to My Peoples (formerly Kapakahi) Surfrider San Francisco will have an outreach table at the band's EP Release Party on Friday, April 30 at Cafe Du Nord.

Doors at 8:30 Show at 9:30pm
Tix are $10 in advance/$12 at the door.

photo: My Peoples

The show will also feature the San Diego-based band Stranger, who were voted Best World Music at the 2009 San Diego Music Awards, and San Francisco's Dog Man Joe, who is also a great supporter of our Chapter.

If you make it to the show then please stop by the Surfrider outreach table to say hello! This is our first show at Cafe Du Nord - looking forward to it! But not our first show with the very awesome My Peoples - they rock:)

Coming Up - Katchafire - Mezzannine, San Francisco - Sun April 25

2010-04-21T15:45:00.000-07:00

The Surfrider San Francisco Chapter will have an outreach table at the Katchafire show this Sunday, April 25, at Mezzanine in San Francisco.

Katchafire is New Zealand’s Premier Reggae Band. Since 2002 they have recorded three full length albums, a dub remix album and a Live CD. With years of touring under their belt, the band is constantly in huge demand in New Zealand, Hawaii, Australia and around the world.

photo: Katchafire

Other artists on the bill include: Rebel Souljahz, Jah Warrior, Hi-Fi, Shelter.

Doors 8pm, Show 9:30pm
Advance tickets can be purchased here.

If you make it to this show - which is sure to be fantastic - then stop by the Surfrider booth to say hello! Thanks to Jim Vargas, manager of Bayonics, another friend of our Chapter, for inviting us out to the show!

Save My Oceans Tour w/Cold War Kids - UC Berkeley Campus - 4/17/2010

2010-04-19T15:20:00.000-07:00

by Nicole Parisi-Smith, San Francisco Chapter

On Saturday the San Francisco Chapter set up an outreach booth at the Save My Oceans Tour stop on the University of California at Berkeley campus.

The event coincided with "Cal Day", which is essentially an annual open house for prospective students and their families. So campus was hopping during the Save My Oceans event, especially since it took place on the lawn outside of Cal's main library, in Memorial Glade.

The event kicked off with a warm welcome given by Ian Campbell of The Marketing Division, who coordinated the logistics for our participation in the tour stop.

photo: Neel, Nicole, Keely, Ian, Emily, Lani

Ian was joined on stage by Jessica, the Cal student who helped coordinate the event, and "the plastic bag monster." Thanks, Ian for giving Surfrider a shout out, and for encouraging event attendees to stop by our booth!

We were set up towards the back of the event, in a "Village Green" area, alongside 2 water-themed non-profits, 2 Cal media organizations, and the Save My Oceans Tour booth.

photo: by Ken Chan

Ian, Jessica and the Plastic Bag Monster were followed by a great performance by the Cold War Kids. I'd heard of them numerous times, but this was my first time seeing them live - great show! I also really appreciated that they were there supporting the Save My Oceans Tour.

photo: by Ken Chan. Cold War Kids on stage.

The awesome Surfrider San Francisco Chapter volunteers present at the event with me were Neel and Keely, as well as Cal Surf Club Officers Lani and Emily. Lani and Emily came directly from the campus clubs forum, where they had been tabling all day long, talking with prospective students and family members about the Cal Surf Club. They were awesome! We were also joined by Neel's friend, Lani who helped us out by taking great group photos of the Surfrider crew in our booth:)

photo: Emily, Lani, the Plastic Bag Monster (a very good humored Cal student), Keely, Neel, Nicole

We got to talk with some very young prospective Cal students, an alum, an incoming freshman and his dad, fellow environmental activists who wanted to know more about Surfrider, and a graduating Cal senior who will be attending grad school at Scripps in the fall, and wanted more info about the San Diego Chapter. Thanks to an awesome Surfrider membership promotion that Ian put together for us, we were able to enroll several new Surfrider members at the event.

photo: Keely and Neel

Also thanks to Ken Chan of Studio Dream, who was taking photos for the event organizers, and was kind enough to send the photos to me, for use on this blog. Thanks to Laura and Kyle from Surfrider HQ who helped us get involved with the Save My Oceans Tour!

We are looking forward to doing outreach at the Cal screening of the new Disney film OCEANS this Wednesday night, in Wheeler Auditorium.

State Radio at Save My Oceans Tour

2010-04-13T10:29:00.000-07:00

State Radio is back in town! After a great show at the 9:30 Club a few months ago, SR has teamed up with the Save My Oceans Tour for an afternoon concert at The George Washington University's Mt. Vernon Campus. Surfrider will be there to spread the good word on ocean advocacy. I’m not sure if the general public can purchase tickets to this show but it’s worth a try, especially if the weather is nice!

Luke Brindley at Wolftrap

2010-04-13T09:52:00.000-07:00

Surfrider’s Music Outreach Program will celebrate Earth Day by reaching out to fans at Luke Brindley’s show at the Barns at Wolf Trap. Luke is a DC-based, roots rock favorite who co-owns Jammin’ Java in Vienna, Virginia. Luke and his brother’s album Playing With the Light was named “one of the top 12 debut records of the year” by Paste Magazine. Come check out a local artist and say hi to our MOP volunteers!

Surfrider at Ben Harper!

2010-04-13T09:04:00.000-07:00

Surfrider will be representing at Ben Harper's show in Baltimore at Pier 6 next Tuesday the 20th of April! The show is part of a cool program organized by Reverb called the Campus Consciousness Tour: “CCT aims to inspire and activate students in an electric atmosphere while leaving a positive impact on each community the tour visits. In addition to educating and mobilizing students, the tour includes many greening elements and is run to have a minimal environmental footprint.”

Reverb is a great organization that provides greening programs for artists' tours while conducting grassroots outreach and education with music fans as well as a number of businesses in the music industry including venues, record labels, and radio stations.

Alberta Cross will open—these Brits have a great sound, check out their website.

Surfrider San Francisco Chapter's April 2010 e-newsletter :: MOP Feature

2010-04-06T15:26:00.000-07:00

Yay! The Music Outreach Program made it into the Surfrider San Francisco Chapter's April 2010 e-newsletter.

Sign up to receive future editions of the e-newsletter here.

Coming Up - Save My Oceans Tour - George Washington University & UC Berkeley - April 2010

2010-03-25T17:07:00.001-07:00

artwork created by Shepard Fairey

From the most recent Surfrider Foundation e-newsletter, SOUP:

Surfrider Foundation is coming to a college campus near you. In conjunction with Disneynature's Earth Day release of their new documentary film OCEANS, this tour will visit 7 college campuses nationwide with a series of music, film and art installations that celebrate our collective passion for the oceans and educate students on what they can do to help protect them. Admission will require that students take the Save My Oceans pledge to reduce plastic consumption.

More info about the tour, including info about each college campus stop, here.

The Surfrider Foundation will have an outreach table, managed by local Surfrider volunteers, at each stop on the tour. The Washington, DC stop at George Washington University and the Bay Area stop at UC Berkeley will be overseen by the Surfrider Music Outreach Program.

At the UC Berkeley event we will have Chapter representatives present at the OCEANS film premiere event, and the concert. (Artists to perform at the concerts TBA.) Please come by the Surfrider San Francisco Chapter table at these 2 events to say hello!

* University of Florida (Gainesville) 3/23 – 3/27

* University of Southern California 4/13 – 4/16

* UC Berkeley 4/20 – 4/23 - more info here.

* Arizona State University (Tempe) 4/20 – 4/24

* San Diego State University 4/20 – 4/23

* University of Hawaii (Manoa) 4/20 – 4/23

* George Washington University 4/20 – 4/24 - more info here.

Surfrider at the DC Environmental Film Festival

2010-03-15T16:07:00.000-07:00

Surfrider will be representing at the DC Environmental Film Festival at the end of March. Come check out the film Bag It Sunday March 28^th, 2:45 at the Carnegie Institution for Science (Elihu Root Auditorium, 1530 P St., NW). “This film chronicles the global production, use and disposal of plastic bags and other plastics, documenting the environmental consequences of these products, including the effects of plastics on a wide range of species, lands, waterways and oceans. The film also identifies smart alternatives and solutions” Surfrider volunteers will be on hand to talk plastic bags, particularly about the recent bag fee that was implemented in DC and has already reduced usage by 60%!

Globalistic - Yoshi's San Francisco - 3/3/2010

2010-03-10T21:42:00.000-08:00

by Keely Gerhold, Surfrider San Francisco Music Outreach Program volunteer

Surfrider helped kick off the Globalistic series at Yoshi’s Restraurant in San Francisco March 3rd with a little help from the band Mucho Axe.

photo: Mucho Axe

Mucho Axe was full of South American flavor and brought great live music to Yoshi’s Restaurant. Globalistic is a live music series at Yoshi’s every Wednesday that brings global music to San Francisco by featuring local bands with a knack for worldly music. Before the band takes the stage, a Bay Area DJ spins a few tracks to get the crowd into a dancing and festive mood. This week is was DJ Beto.

photo: Neel and I at the Surfrider table.

The Music Outreach Program was represented at the entrance of the venue and got a shout out from our accommodating host, Robin Applewood, so the crowd knew what we were all about. Neel Singh and I represented Surfrider and had a few interested folks stop by to chat and get a reusable Surfrider tote bag. Thanks to Yoshi’s for allowing us to be the first non profit to rock it at Globalistic, the band Mucho Axe, our tabling friend Lindsey, the Yoshi’s staff and Robin!

photo: Lindsey and Neel.

Rogue Wave at the 9:30 Club

2010-03-07T07:07:00.000-08:00

The Music Outreach Program represented Surfrider at the 9:30 Club last Friday. Thanks to Ed Stack at 9:30 and Justin Little at Zeitgeist Management for allowing us to be at the show! Beth Gunter and Matt Gove talked up the crowd about plastic bags and other garbage that ends up in our waterways and ultimately the ocean. Rogue Wave sounded great and a full crowd was on hand!

MOP at Rogue Wave this Friday!

2010-02-28T17:36:00.000-08:00

Surfrider will be representing at the Rogue Wave show this Friday March 5th at the 9:30 Club! Thanks to Ed Stack at 9:30 and Justin Little at Zeitgeist Management for allowing us to be a part of the show. Come check out RW's great music and say hi to our Surfrider volunteers!

State Radio Brings It

2010-02-28T16:10:00.000-08:00

by Matt Gove, Surfrider DC Music Outreach Program Coordinator

Thanks to State Radio and their volunteer organization Calling All Crows for partnering with Surfrider DC for a great stream cleanup last Saturday February 27.

photo: Surfrider and State Radio fans with members of the band and Calling All Crows staff

We had great turnout for the cleanup and State Radio lead singer Chad Urmstom was kind enough to stop by and rally the crew.

photo: Chad and Surfrider DC Chapter Chair Julie

photo: Surfrider DC member Christina Elefante collecting trash

There was an enormous amount of trash - including a boat, many car tires, and more chairs than we could count.

photo: Jody, Matt, and CR English from the Calling All Crows/State Radio Tour crew.

Later that evening State Radio put on a great show and gave a shout out to the cleanup volunteers and to DC Surfrider. Thanks to Surfrider DC Chapter member Jason Rubin who helped me out at the show!

photo: State Radio on stage at the 9:30 Club

Much thanks to the 9:30 Club for letting us put out some information during the concert. We look forward to working with Calling All Crows again in the future--thanks everyone for coming out!

And this 2009 Surfrider Wavemaker Award goes to ...

2010-02-28T00:50:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to DC Surfrider Chapter Chair Julie Lawson, amazing supporter of the Music Outreach Program, who is the recipient of the 2009 Surfrider Foundation Wavemaker Award for Chapter Leadership.

The Surfrider Foundation's Board of Directors gave out several 2009 Wavemaker Awards in different categories. Here's a photo of all of the 2009 Wavemaker Award Recipients. It was taken by Marketing Assistant Kyle Lishok at the February 2010 Awards Dinner in San Clemente, CA.

photo: Back Row (L-R): Jerry Collamer, Brock Wilson, Randy Renick, Julie Lawson, Rick Saveri, Kerry O'Bryan, Manase Mansur, Julie Steinleitner. Front Row (L-R): Belinda Smith, Kirk Holmes (AVEDA), Robb Havassy.

Read about all of the 2009 Wavemaker Award Recipients here in this Surfrider HQ press release. Here's an excerpt:

Chapter Leadership Award
Julie Lawson – Washington, DC Chapter

Julie’s efforts have made the Chapter a viable, credible and well-organized group. Her work has included a leadership role in the passage of the Washington, DC Bag Tax Bill, and assistance on other bag bans and bills. Additionally, Julie has worked tirelessly to recruit and train new activists, served as a mentor to other chapters and participated in numerous EarthShare presentations, leading to a 35% increase in pledges for the Foundation.

photo: Julie giving her award acceptance speech at the 2009 Wavemaker Award Dinner.

As an example of Julie's work, check this out - on April 1, 2009 the DC City Council held a hearing on Bill 18-150 "The Anacostia River Cleanup and Protection Act of 2009." Julie was invited to testify at the hearing, on behalf of Surfrider DC. This is her testimony -

Julie also testified at the January 20, 2010 DC City Council Committee on Government Operations & the Environment's hearing on Bill 18-521 "The Human and Environmental Health Protection Amendment Act of 2009."

Watch her testimony here. She is introduced about 23 minutes into the start of the hearing.

Another 2009 Wavemaker Award Recipient, also a friend of MOP, is Belinda Smith from the Surfrider San Diego Chapter. Belinda received the Distinguished Service Award, in part for her leadership on the development of a brand new Surfrider film “The Cycle of Insanity: The Real Story of Water." This film coincides with Surfrider's "Know Your H2O" campaign.

photo: Belinda

Here's the film's trailer -

The Cycle of Insanity: The Real Story of Water - TRAILER 1 from Surfrider Foundation San Diego C on Vimeo.

“The Cycle of Insanity: The Real Story of Water" will premiere on March 21st, World Water Day, in San Diego.

Congrats again to the 2009 Wavemaker Award Recipients!

Thanks to Kyle, Laura, Vickie, Belinda, and Ed, who all helped me gather the photos for this post.

Calling All Crows & Surfrider DC Service Event - Sat Feb 27

2010-02-25T14:37:00.000-08:00

From today's DC Surfrider Chapter e-newsletter -

From the Calling All Crows Facebook Page -

The link takes you to this page -

If you are a Surfrider member, then to sign up to volunteer at the service event go here.

If you are not a Surfrider member, but are a State Radio fan or a member of the public then sign up to volunteer at the service event by emailing Matt, Calling All Crow's Co-Director at matt(@)callingallcrows.org, or see the Calling All Crows outreach table at State Radio's Friday night show at the 9:30 Club to sign up for the service event.

Matt and Jason from Surfrider DC will be representing the Chapter at the State Radio show at the 9:30 Club on Saturday night. (Surfrider will not be there on Friday night.) If you go to the Saturday night show then stop by the Chapter's outreach table to say hello!

Coming Up - Globalistic - Yoshi's San Francisco - Wed March 3

2010-02-24T15:40:00.000-08:00

The Surfrider San Francisco Chapter will have an outreach table at Globalistic next Wednesday, March 3rd. The event will be held at Yoshi's in San Francisco's Fillmore District.

We will be represented by Neel, a superstar MOP volunteer, and a new member of our Chapter who hails from the Minnesota-Superior Surfrider Chapter that she helped found in 2008, named Keely. Welcome, Keely!

Every Wednesday Yoshis SF’s new weekly live music series, “Globalistic,” brings the best in local world music to a world-class venue. Reggae, Afrobeat, Afro-Brazilian, World Jazz and Latin-themed parties alternate each week.

Speakers from green orgs and humanitarian NGOs educating awareness of Global responsibilities, plus worldly drink specials on Leblon Caparinia, Don Q Cuba Libre and Fat Tire, round out the Globalistic experience. Stamp your passport to global groove every Wednesday at Yoshis SF!!!

$5 Every Wednesday
Doors 9pm
Music 9pm-2am

Produced by Bay Vibes, Maisha Productions, Beyond Jazz, and another friend of our Chapter - Bayonics Manager Jimmy Vargas.

The 2010 San Francisco Ocean Film Festival - Pier 39, Fisherman's Wharf - 2/5 & 2/7/2010

2010-02-17T17:07:00.000-08:00

by Nicole Parisi-Smith, San Francisco Chapter MOP Coordinator

Several amazing San Francisco Chapter volunteers volunteered to help out at this year's all volunteer-run San Francisco Ocean Film Festival.

photo: volunteer in the bright yellow vest! Guests checking in at the SF OFF box office at Pier 39. Courtesy of SF OFF Facebook page.

Most of our Chapter volunteers helped out on Friday night, February 5th, for the inaugural SF OFF "Surfing" program. One of the films shown during "Surfing" was "Surfbus."

I was unable to make it on Friday night, so I helped out on Sunday afternoon, February 7th. One of the films I caught during my program was "Free Swim." Watch the trailer here.

photo: Packed House for the "Surfing" program. Courtesy of SF OFF Facebook page.

A big thanks to our San Francisco Chapter Volunteers who helped out at SF OFF - Christy O'Connell, Dan Robinson, Sam Diamond and Brooke Tessman!!

photo: Dan Robinson on the right. Courtesy of the SF OFF Facebook page.

Thanks to Frank Firmat and Chris Connors who coordinated the SF OFF volunteers, including the Surfrider crew.

Thanks, too, to SF OFF for listing us as a "Community Partner" in the SF OFF program that everyone received when entering the event.

Here are some shots of the program.

photo: front of program

photo: community partners page

Thanks to SF OFF, too, for listing us on the "welcome" board on display right inside the event lobby! (Sorry, I didn't get a photo of the board.)

Thanks, too to SF OFF for listing us on the SF OFF website! Here's a screen shot.

photo: SF OFF website

Looking forward to SF OFF 2011!

Oceanroyal - Red Devil Lounge - 2/10/2010

2010-02-12T12:06:00.000-08:00

photo: Oceanroyal with Nick and Brooke

by Brooke Tessman, San Francisco Chapter volunteer -

On Wednesday night, Nick Arlas and I were given, well, a musical royal treatment by Bay Area band Oceanroyal. They performed for a crowded house at the Red Devil Lounge in San Francisco. I hadn't been to a show on a Wednesday night in a while, so I was skeptical regarding the potential turnout.

Nick and I arrived at 7:30pm and set up the Surfrider outreach table in a prominent position close to the front door. The band, Northern Son, opened for Oceanroyal and quickly had everyone grooving to the music. Not a bad turnout for a Wednesday night!

Oceanroyal took the stage around 10:00pm as people continued to stream through the doors. Boasting a mellow, poppy sound, Oceanroyal is reminiscent of the early 90's band, the Gin Blossoms. Oceanroyal is: Kurt Seefeld, Brian London, Chris Garber, and David Chen. Having released their debut album, "Sympathetic Vibrations" last year, the group proved to be in excellent form. You can check out the band's website here.

After Surfrider received several stage shout outs from the band, I learned that Nick was on his school's crew team, along with several of the guys from Oceanroyal.

Throughout the night, current Surfrider members stopped by our table to say hello, along with a lot of new folks looking to learn more about our organization. Between sets, some of the guys from Oceanroyal signed up for Surfrider membership too. Thanks to everyone for your continued support and yet another successful show. Surfrider looks forward to working with Oceanroyal again soon!

Coming Up - State Radio in the District - 9:30 Club, Sat Feb 27

2010-02-08T09:07:00.000-08:00

Surfrider will be representing at the State Radio show Saturday February 27 at the 9:30 Club in DC! State Radio has some great tracks, come check them out and say hi to our Surfrider volunteers. Surfrider's DC Chapter has partnered with State Radio's activism group Calling All Crows to host a stream clean-up that day. For more information on the stream clean-up check out the Surfrider DC Chapter website. Calling All Crows has graciously allowed us to represent at the show and has given us two free tickets, which will be raffled as door prizes at the next DC Chapter meeting February 16th. See you there!

Music Outreach Program gets Shout Out from Jim Moriarty!

2010-01-25T14:48:00.000-08:00

This is a belated post, but on December 10th the Surfrider Foundation's CEO Jim Moriarty spotlighted the Music Outreach Program on his blog, Oceans Waves Beaches!

I found out about the post indirectly through Twitter - didn't have anything to do with it:)

Coming Up - Oceanroyal @ Red Devil Lounge - Wed Feb 10

2010-01-25T09:57:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Nick, one of our awesome San Francisco Music Outreach Program volunteers, we have just added a new band to our list of supporters - the Bay Area band Oceanroyal.

photo: Left to Right: Kurt Seefeld, Brian London, Chris Garber, David Chen

Their bio states that they are influenced by a range of artists, from Tom Petty and Oasis to The Beatles and Hall & Oates. Oceanroyal self-released their debut album, "Sympathetic Vibrations" last year. I love their music - for a preview, check out their website.

Our first show with Oceanroyal is Wednesday, February 10th at the Red Devil Lounge in San Francisco. Doors open at 8pm. Tickets are $5 in advance or $8 at the door.

The San Francisco Chapter will be represented by Brooke and Nick. If you go to the show then please stop by the Surfrider outreach table to say hello!

Thanks again to Oceanroyal and Nick!

Kapakahi - Slim's - 1/22/2010

2010-01-23T12:25:00.000-08:00

By Nicole Parisi-Smith, San Francisco Chapter

Last night Zachary and I represented the San Francisco Chapter at Kapakahi's first show of 2010, at Slim's in San Francisco. It was Zachary's first Music Outreach Program show, and he did a great job! He's an active member of our Chapter's Education Committee. Last night I learned that he has a passion for the trumpet. He is in good company; some of our other active MOP volunteers are also musicians:)

Thanks to Steve, Kapakahi's Drummer and Manager, Zachary and I were given a prime spot for Surfrider's materials at the Merch Booth, which is located to the left of the stage. We were in the middle of the Merch Booth, with Still Time's Manager Jill and Still Time's merch on our left, and Kapakahi's Merch Coordinator Steve and Kapakahi's merch on our right. Zachary and I had a great time hanging out with Jill and Steve during the show.

photo: me hanging out at the booth

The members of Still Time and Kapakahi also stopped in regularly to hang out, too. It was really fun to get to know them, and we really appreciated their enthusiasm for Surfrider!

photo: Mike from Kapakahi and Zachary

DJ Deedot got the party started shortly after the doors opened at 8pm last night, and then the San Francisco-based band Jahlectrik played a reggae-inspired set including some fun Bob Marley covers.

photo: Zachary surveying the crowd

Fans continued to trickle in; it was noticeably crowded in Slim's by the time Still Time took the stage. Hailing from San Luis Obispo, about a 5 hour drive south of San Francisco, this musically-talented band also happens to be a big Surfrider supporter!

photo: Jill and I, with Still Time on stage

Jill told us that Still Time had performed at a recent benefit at the awesome live music SOhO in downtown Santa Barbara for a fundraiser event organized by the Surfrider Santa Barbara Chapter! Nick, who plays guitar for Still Time entered our Surfrider San Francisco Chapter t-shirt raffle, and joined our Chapter's email list. I was excited to hear that Still Time will be touring the country soon.

Zachary and I did some great outreach. We got to introduce Surfrider and our 2010 Beach Cleanups to some new fans, provided a returning beach cleanup volunteer with our new schedule, and even helped a Santa Barbara native re-new her Surfrider membership. She told us that her parents are huge Surfrider fans, and had attended the benefit with Still Time that Jill had told us about. Awesome! It was also sweet to hear from at least 2 fans that they remembered seeing Surfrider at other shows, and were happy to see us at Slim's last night.

However nothing tops the FOUR separate Surfrider Foundation shout-outs that Lansky and Mike Dayao of Kapakahi gave us from the stage last night. Mike made a nice heartfelt statement about ocean stewardship, too.

Kapakahi played my favorite song "She Could Be The One" and debuted some new songs last night, which they hope to record this spring. It was a great set! Zachary loved the new horn section. I also really appreciated that Kapakahi donated proceeds from last night's show to the Haiti relief effort. They are so awesome!

photo: Kapakahi on stage

Thanks to Kapakahi and everyone at Slim's for hosting us last night! Thanks again to Zachary for all of his help.

Coming Up - Kapakahi @ Slim's - Fri Jan 22

2010-01-06T16:59:00.001-08:00

The San Francisco Chapter will be conducting outreach at this upcoming Kapakahi show.

Friday, January 22, 2010
Slims
333 11th Street
San Francisco, CA

note: the "click here" option does not work; please see below for show details.

Kapakahi is headlining the show. The openers are Still Time, Jahlectrik and DJ Deedot.

Showtime: 9:00 PM (Doors: 8:00 PM)
Ticket price: $13 in advance, $15 if you purchase your ticket the night of the show
Tickets available on-line here.
This show is All Ages (note that the minimum age is 6)

Here's Kapakahi's write up about the show:

Reggae-Rock band, KAPAKAHI, returns to Slims in San Francisco to debut new songs and a new direction at their 2010 Kick Off Party, Friday January 22nd, 2010!

In 2009, Kapakahi released their Light Up EP, which was featured on the iTunes US Reggae home-page under “What we’re listening to”. Their self-produced music video for the title track reached homes in over 17 countries through channels like MTV, Channel V and ABS-CBN. Following the release, Kapakahi rocked shows with bands like Ozomatli, Blondie, UB40, Iration and SOJA in support of their album….2009 was a good year, but was only a foundation for the future.

Recently, the five members of Kapakahi have added 2 horns (trombone and trumpet) as well as keys to the group to give them a new, fresh, full sound: “We are meant to be an 8 piece band with a full horn section and keys…that’s the sound that we have always heard in our head and to realize it is really something special” states drummer/manager Steve Salta.

The new songs are more uniform, hit harder and involve their emcee, Lansky, more. “He’s become a full-time member of the band,” says Mike Dayao, lead singer and guitarists, “and our music reflects that,” adding, "the new songs better reflect the members of the band and who we are as a group."

“We’re really excited about the new direction of our music. We think it’s catchier, edgier and we think people will respond to it more than our old stuff….of course, we’ll still play our old songs,” comments Chris Jones, bass player and vocalist.
What’s this new direction Kapakahi keeps talking about? Come to Slims on January 22nd and find out. Along for the show will be SF’s Jahlectrik opening the night, friends of Kapakahi from San Luis Obispo, Still Time, and co-producer of Light Up, DJ Deedot on the 1’s and 2’s.

Also check out this great promo video for the show:

We hope to see you there!

Surfrider MOP post shows up on Facebook!

2009-12-02T21:45:00.000-08:00

Thanks, Kapakahi!

Music Outreach Program featured in Surfrider CEO's Podcast

2009-11-30T16:37:00.000-08:00

posted by Nicole Parisi-Smith, Surfrider San Francisco's Music Outreach Program Coordinator. A post very similar to this one appears on her personal blog, Pop Culture Activist.

Surfrider Foundation CEO Jim Moriarty has a podcast called "On The Beach."

Some info about the podcast, from the Surfrider website:

Surfrider Foundation is made up of a mosaic of amazing people. These people come at the idea of coastal conservation from many angles and have different life stories. What they have in common is a love of our oceans waves and beaches. Twice a month we will explore this mosaic by releasing an audible interview with a key player in our movement.

Jim's most recent podcast features DC Surfrider Chapter Chair Julie Lawson.

This is what Jim had to say about his talk with Julie:

Everything about this podcast fascinated me.

The Washington DC chapter is one of the few non-coastal chapters in our network. Julie Lawson and the DC crew have created muscle that is not only tied into the local watershed and the distant beach, but also the federal government around them. Lastly, rather than working to pass a blatant plastic bag ban, the DC chapter worked with other groups to tie the plastics issue to economics.

Julie and I sat down and walked through these issues and a few others. Don't let her humility fool you, this woman is a rock star.

Julie Lawson, recorded on the streets of Washington D.C.

Listen here!

You'll hear Julie and Jim talk about Surfrider's volunteer-run Music Outreach Program.

Thanks to everyone who helped me start the program - especially Julie and Laura Mazzarella, Surfrider's Marketing Manager.

Thanks, too, to DC Surfrider members Eli Kiljanek, Eric Dean, Jason Rubin, Joyce Rosado, Megan Kelley, and Mike Childs who not only supported me, but who literally stood by my side and helped me represent DC Surfrider at MOP's first few shows.

For a full list of "Friends of MOP" please see this blog's sidebar. Thanks, too to Surfrider San Francisco and DC Surfrider's Music Outreach Program Coordinator Chris Woods, who help keep it strong!

Brett Dennen - 9:30 Club - 11/17/2009

2009-11-29T22:07:00.000-08:00

By Chris Woods, Surfrider DC Music Outreach Program Coordinator

On Tuesday, November 17, Ian Achimore, a California native, and I, a future California transplant, attended an excellent Brett Dennen and Grace Potter & the Nocturnals show.

We set up our Surfrider Foundation booth in the newly remodeled corner of the 9:30 Club, and displayed our chapter's new tee shirt designs, as well as memberships that come along with tote bags with an excellent surfing design. There was a lot of interest in our new 2010 Surfrider Foundation calendars. (Shoot us an email to get your copy- an excellent stocking stuffer!)

photo: Ian @ the booth

We signed up many new fans to our email list, and met some great folks. We were introduced to two ladies that were huge Surfrider and Brett Dennen fans, and had participated in the Barefoot Beach Cleanup with G.Love and Tristan Prettyman.

photo: Ian @ the booth talking with fans

Brett and Grace both put on excellent shows.

photo: Grace Potter performing @ the show, Flickr PZAO

And for those of you who like artists whose live shows are even better than their albums.....Go check Brett Dennen out ASAP!!!

photo: Brett performing @ the show, from Flickr PZAO

That's all for now, stay tuned for Surfrider Foundation's Music Outreach Programs next excellent concert.

Love concerts? Love DC Surfrider?

2009-11-17T11:26:00.000-08:00

posted by Julie Lawson, DC Surfrider Chapter Chair. This was also emailed out to all DC Surfrider Chapter members yesterday.

The DC Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation is looking for a new Music Outreach Program Coordinator. The Music Outreach Program started in 2007 and works with touring and local musicians to bring the Surfrider message to fans and concertgoers. MOP has given our volunteers access to shows by Jack Johnson, Donavon Frankenreiter, Colbie Caillat, Brian Wilson, Brett Dennen, Xavier Rudd, Incubus, ALO, G. Love, Matt Costa, and many more.

Our current coordinator, Chris Woods, is shipping off to the West Coast this winter, and we need a new person to organize and attend these shows and events! The position involves not just running a table at shows, but also recruiting volunteers and training them. You'll work independently, but under the advisement of a DC Chapter leader and MOP founder Nicole Parisi-Smith (currently based in San Francisco).

It's an excellent opportunity to get more involved with Surfrider, learn skills, make contacts, and, of course, get free concert tickets! (Like all chapter roles, this position is unpaid.)

Requirements:

- Enjoy live music and already go to shows of your own accord, and follow tour schedules and artist nonprofit interests
- Able to stay out late on weeknights
- Comfortable directing volunteers and doing outreach
- Proactive, dependable, timely, and organized

Preferred candidates will also have regular access to a car, as some venues are not Metro-accessible.

Because of the sensitive nature of networking within the music industry, we are asking interested candidates to submit a formal application (cover letter addressing the requirements above, and resume), obviously a more stringent process than we use for most volunteers. The deadline to apply is December 7.

Send questions and application materials to dcchapter@surfrider.org. For more information about MOP, visit our website and the MOP blog.

Colbie Caillat - 9:30 Club - 10/17/2009

2009-11-06T17:36:00.000-08:00

photo: Julie Lawson & I

by Megan Kelley, Education Coordinator - DC Surfrider Chapter

DC Surfrider was out tabling at the Colbie Caillat concert on Saturday October 17th in Washington, DC. Julie Lawson (DC Surfrider Chapter Chair), Chris Woods (DC Surfrider Music Outreach Program Coordinator) and I helped educate and gain support for local campaigns in Maryland, Virginia and the District.

photo: Chris Woods and his brother Timmy.

We gathered signatures, linked concert goers up with Surfrider, and enjoyed a great show. We even met a surfer from Hawaii - go figure! Thanks to Colbie and the staff at the 9:30 club for supporting the Surfrider Foundation!

photo: Our view from the DC Surfrider table of the main floor of the 9:30 Club - before it became full of Colbie fans!

Bayonics - The Elbo Room - 10/30/2009

2009-11-06T17:33:00.000-08:00

by Brooke Tessman, San Francisco Chapter Volunteer

On October 30th, The Surfrider San Francisco Chapter had the opportunity to participate in our second Bayonics show. The venue took place at the Elbo Room in the Mission District.

photo: Brooke & Nicole

Nicole Parisi-Smith and I arrived around 9pm. We were welcomed by a festive, Halloween influenced vibe that continued to get stronger throughout the night. Nick Arlas joined us at our outreach table at 10pm.

photo: Brooke & Nick

Nicole, Nick and I represented the Surfrider outreach, while opening band Orgone took the stage. Orgone is a California funk and soul band hailing from LA. I had the opportunity to chat with Orgone's trumpet player Devin Williams.

Having grown up in SF proper, but now living in LA, he loves playing SF gigs and having his good friends come out to support him. Devin was very interested in Surfrider's water quality testing program, and the “Clean Water at the ‘Bu” Campaign.

photo: Orgone's Devin Williams & Brooke.

Bayonics, our band headliner,finally took the stage around 11:30pm to an eager(and sweaty)crowd. Bayonics is best described as a funky, Latin influenced hip hop sound that easily gets your booty shakin'!

Several folks stopped by the Surfrider table, asking questions about our organization, while Nick and Nicole handed out Surfrider brochures.

Special thanks to Bayonics Manager, Jimmy Vargas. Congratulations on another successful show! Surfrider looks forward to working with you and Bayonics again soon!

Wild & Scenic Film Festival - Delancey Street Foundation Theater - 10/21/2009

2009-10-24T17:49:00.000-07:00

review written by San Francisco Surfrider Member Christy O'Connell

I attended the Wild & Scenic Film Festival on Wednesday night, held at the Delancey Center Foundation screening room on the Embarcadero in San Francisco. The film festival was started by the South Yuba River Citizens League, SYRCL, a watershed advocacy group based in the Sierra foothills. The event was hosted by two Bay Area non-profits - International Rivers and the Women's Environmental Network. This film festival is the largest of it's kind in the United States. The festival travels from city to city so that a lot of people can see the films and hear their messages.

The Wednesday night San Francisco event was emceed by Michelle Chan, host of KPFA's radio program "Terra Verde." "Terra Verde" is a live public affairs program that investigates and analyzes environmental issues from a global perspective. The festival screened 11 films which varied from animation shorts to documentary style flicks.

The turnout was a variety of WEN members and pro-environment, Bay area folks. The Surfrider Foundation was one of five organizations co-sponsoring the event. (Our San Francisco Chapter's logo appeared in the film festival program.) Our table was shared with The Greywater Alliance.

I has the opportunity to learn more about greywater systems and how they can benefit homeowners. However, the purpose of the festival was to bring awareness to many topics covered by each film.

A few examples of flicks ranged from a clever animation about animals in the zoo, to how coal is ruining the Appalachian region of West Virginia's residents, pollution infecting the largest wetlands ecosystem in Puerto Rico, to one man's dutiful efforts to save the endangered Lora sea turtles from extinction.

This particular film, "Papa Tortuga" was extremely heart-warming. It followed Fernado from Tecolutla, Vera Cruz, Mexico on his daily chores of saving Lora sea turtle eggs from poachers and relocating them to safe nests til they are ready to hatch. He has a team of volunteers and has promoted his efforts through education. He invites local and distant school children to be a part of the annual release of 30, 000 baby sea turtles into the great big ocean.

photo: Children releasing the turtles

Check out the "Papa Tortuga" trailer --

It is quite remarkable to witness how one man's efforts have dramatically affected the life span of this ancient species of turtles.

photo: Papa Tortuga

It just goes to show you, that one person really can make a difference. Personally, I am going to follow-up on the mission and progress these films are promoting. They certainly have opened my eyes to environmental crises that are existing in a variety of national and international locations due to human consumerism.

Thanks to Karolo Aparicio of International Rivers who coordinated our Chapter's participation in the festival!

Kapakahi - Great American Music Hall - 9/30/2009

2009-10-13T17:06:00.000-07:00

photo: Kapakahi @ Cafe Du Nord, June 28, 2009. Flickr photographer joesuave.

by Nick Arlas, San Francisco Volunteer

Neel and I rolled down to Slim's on September 30th to catch three reggae bands that are building larger fanbases at every show they play. Kapakahi, Philly based group The Movement, and DC-based SOJA rounded out the lineup that kept the audience stirring it up until close to 1am. The Movement, a talented 4-piece group, got the crowd going early with harmonizing vocals/rhymes combined with an excellent blend of electric reggae-rockin' guitars, bass, and irie beats. Local group Kapakahi followed with a high energy set that left the the crowd amping for the headliners SOJA to come on stage. After much anticipation, SOJA stepped up and got the crowd immediately singing their subtle lyrics and dancing to songs with a dub and traditional reggae feel. On the outreach side, we were able to spread the word about Surfrider Music Outreach Program to some future volunteers, as well as pass out a few beach clean-ups schedules-thanks to Hillary for the help. SOJA and Artist Chris Pederson also helped us out by placing a stack of schedules at their tables. Pederson's work is 100% epic surfscape fantasies and you can check it out at foreverstoked.com.

"Searching For Michael Peterson" & Music by Beau Young - The Victoria Theatre - 10/7/09

2009-10-12T16:05:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, October 7th the San Francisco Chapter had an outreach table at a surf film and music event at the historic Victoria Theatre in the Mission District of San Francisco. The theatre, built in 1908 as a vaudeville house, is now a city landmark and the oldest operating theatre in San Francisco.

110 event attendees watched a film by Australian Jolyon Hoff called "Searching for Michael Peterson" and heard music performed by Australian Beau Young.

Surfer Magazine has named Michael Peterson one of the 50 Greatest Surfers of All Time.

The film's website states that in 1977, in front of 20,000 people, Michael Peterson beat future 4 times world champion Mark Richards to win the first event of the surfing world tour. It was his last competition and he was only seen occasionally until 1983 when he was arrested in a 15-car police chase from Coolangatta to Brisbane. He never surfed again and, after years in Boggo Road goal, he was finally diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

photo: Michael Peterson @ Sunset Beach, 1975. By Dan Merkel.

This film beautifully tells his story. The Australian tour had 22 sell out shows through March & April this year, and recently premiered in the USA at the NY Surf Film Festival. The NY Surf Film Festival has a nice interview with director Jolyon Hoff, here.

We really appreciated the tour's invitation to have our Chapter at the event. Jolyon wore one of our Chapter's t-shirts on stage when he did the film's introduction, and gave us a shout out!

Australian singer/songwriter and former 2 x World Longboard Champion Surfer (2000, 2003) Beau Young opened the evening with a 45 minute performance on the stage where the film would be shown later that night. Beau's first album "Waves of Change" was released in Australia and Japan in 2005, debuting at #13 on the independent charts in Australia, and then reaching #10 in the following weeks. Beau's second album, “One Step at a Time”, came out last year.

Beau also gave our Chapter a shout-out from the stage, during his performance.

This video interview with Beau features his music.

The film & Beau are currently touring So Cal. You can check out the remainder of their dates, here.

Jolyon, Beau, and Tour Manager Rick Christian all visted our outreach table and talked with us about our Chapter's events and programs, and also promoted our upcoming events from the stage.

Photo: Rick, Jolyon, Beau

Tim, a Surfrider Music Outreach Program volunteer, did a great job capturing attendees attention when they walked in the front door, and were passing by our outreach table.

photo: Tim & I

Tim and I spoke with a lot of Surfrider members, and handed out a lot of our Beach Cleanup Schedule Postcards, and got a lot of enthusiastic responses to our invitation to the October 15th Chapter surf film/music event at the Park Chalet. It was a great night!

Thanks to Beau, Jolyon, Rick, and Suzy for inviting us out to the event.

Coming Up - Bayonics

2009-09-29T09:55:00.000-07:00

On October 30 the Surfrider San Francisco Chapter will have an outreach table at the Bayonics show at the Elbo Room in the Mission District of San Francisco, thanks to the invitation of Bayonics manager Jim Vargas. Also performing that night will be Los Angeles-based band Orgone.

The show starts at 10pm.
Tix not on sale yet, but when they become available, they can be purchased online here.

The band is also performing at the Elbo Room on Oct 31.

Brooke, Nick and Neel will be representing the chapter at the show.

Coming Up - Kapakahi

2009-09-29T09:30:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, September 30 the Surfrider San Francisco Chapter will have an outreach table at the Kapakahi show at Slim's, thanks to the awesome support of the band - particularly drummer Steve Salta. Also performing that night will be The Movement and SOJA.

Showtime: 9:00 PM (Doors: 8:00 PM)
Ticket price: $18 in advance/$21 at the door
Tickets available on-line at: slimstickets.com
Ages 6 and Over

We partnered with Kapakahi back in July - it was awesome! Kapakahi is a Hawaiian term which means "mixed up." We are very much looking forward to partnering with the band again this week. Nick and Neel will be representing Surfrider at the show, as Kapakahi's guests.

Check out Kapakahi's new video for LIGHT UP:

The Washington, DC based band SOJA has created their own blend of conscious roots music entwined with the traditional rhythms of reggae, it "comes across with passion and depth." (Washington Post '06) Since 2000, the quintet has issued three full length albums and two EP 's– their latest, "Stars and Stripes" (2008), is their fourth for the group's own label, DMV. The band released their second DVD "SOJA Live In Hawai'i ~ A Marc Carlini Film", followed by the album "Born In Babylon" earlier this year.

Colbie Caillat - Radio Alice 97.3 Now & Zen Festival - 9/27/2009

2009-09-29T00:47:00.001-07:00

On September 15th the Surfrider Foundation announced that platinum singer-songwriter Colbie Caillat has partnered with Surfrider as an official supporter!

As supporter, Colbie is working with Surfrider to promote the organization and increase awareness about the importance of marine protected areas. Colbie is currently on tour in support of her new release, Breakthrough, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard charts. She has invited Surfrider's chapters to set up outreach tables at selected cities on her tour, which began on September 15th and wraps up at the end of October.

For a complete list of tour dates, go here.

“We are extremely excited to be working with Colbie,” says Matt McClain, Surfrider Foundation’s Director of Marketing and Communications. “We are looking forward to working with her so that she can share her passion and enthusiasm for marine life and environments with her fans.”

Growing up in Malibu overlooking the Pacific Ocean, Colbie’s relationship began with the beach the moment she was born. Throughout her childhood, and to this day, Colbie and her family vacation on Kauai; walking the pristine beaches and enjoying the ocean. The beach is a place she retreats to when writing, and the salt water, cool breeze and grainy sand beneath her feet makes her feel at home. That sense of ease and nature underlies the mellow laid-back songs that have made her one of today’s most popular recording artists.

“The ocean has played such an important role in my life and musical career, it is disheartening to know that the health of some of our most gorgeous beaches and beautiful waves is at risk,” Colbie warns. “Only five minutes from where I was born, the Surfrider Beach in Malibu is one of the most polluted in the country. By joining up with the Surfrider Foundation, I’m able to make a difference and help protect our coastlines for future generations.”

The Malloy brothers directed a really funny video that was shot on a beach north of Malibu, for Colbie's new single "Fallin' For You." You can watch it here.

Alexis Henry, Surfrider's Communications Manager, worked with Colbie's management and Sarah Savage of On Board Entertainment in order to coordinate an outreach tent for the San Francisco Chapter at Radio Alice 97.3 FM's Now & Zen Festival. Thanks, all!

The festival took place on Sunday, September 27th at Sharon Meadow in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California from 11am - 6pm. The artists performing included Dashboard Confessional, Howie Day, Colbie, and Train.

The Surfrider San Francisco Chapter was one of three nonprofits there - the other two were Conservation Value and Amnesty International. Sarah hooked us up with a great booth spot, next to the bands' merchandise tent and the VIP tent, and within close proximity to the stage. The festival provided us with a tent, folding table, chair, and allowed us to pull onto the lawn to load and unload our gear, and then provided us with a VIP parking spot. It was a really well-run event, and we were very thankful to get to participate in it.

Thanks to the very awesome Surfrider volunteers who helped out at the festival - Cristin, Mellie, Rachel, Jules and Victorianna!! Plus our mascots Fritz and Shorty who got a lot of attention from dog-loving fans. We had so much fun!

photo: Jules, Victorianna, Cristin, Nicole.

photo: Rachel, Victorianna, Cristin, Mellie, Nicole.

When the festival gates opened at 11am, we watched mostly teenage girls run to the front of the stage, to secure a good spot on the grass, in preparation for Colbie's 1:45pm set. By the time she took the stage the lawn was full for as far as I could see!

When fans stopped by our booth I'd ask them who they had come to see. I really enjoyed watching them smile when they said Colbie's name:) I had fun comparing notes with them about favorite Colbie songs, and hearing them talk about the duet with Taylor Swift, and other concerts they'd gone to. They were super cute!!! It was fun to watch Colbie's fans smile really big when we talked about Colbie's connection to the ocean, and I told them about Colbie's partnership with Surfrider, and specifically the outreach that we were doing on the Breakthrough Tour. Everyone who stopped at our booth - not just her fans - thought that was very cool. Yeah, Colbie! :)

Before the gates opened Colbie's Lighting Director, Joel, stopped by our tent to introduce himself and to tell us how much he loves Surfrider. He came back several times during the day to hang out and learn more about our chapter. We really enjoyed meeting him!

We were busy talking with fans from the moment that the gates opened until after the music had ended. I couldn't believe how busy we were! It was FANTASTIC! We handed out our beach cleanup calendar postcards, talked with fans about plastics in the ocean, commercial fishing practices (fans specifically asked about shrimp harvesting), shark fining, distributed the Monterey Bay Aquarium-produced Seafood wallet-sized guides, showed photos of a bird who died as a result of marine debris, had 73 fans sign a petition stating that they support a tax on plastic bags, collected 2.5 pages of email addresses for the San Francisco Chapter's e-newsletter mailing list, sold 10 Surfrider t-shirts, 1 sweatshirt, and 6 branded Chico bags, resulting in $265 for the chapter.

We also played a fun game with 3 jars of plastic items collected at 3 different beaches - one jar was from a San Francisco cleanup, another from a cleanup in Indonesia, and the third from a cleanup in El Salvador.

If a fan could correctly identify which jar came from which location, then the fan won a Chico bag to encourage the fan to use reusable bags instead of plastic bags.

It was really fun to see families and friends swirl the contents of the jars around and puzzle out which jar came from which location, and to hear their reasoning for how they arrived at their "final answers."

It was also really great to see some kids play the game and talk with us, and then come back with their friends and family members later on in the day so that their friends and family members could play the game, too.

Fans really spent a lot of time at our booth, listened to our talks, and engaged in thoughtful conversations with us. I loved it when fans asked questions and shared their personal experiences with us. The fans were amazing. It was a super rewarding day!

photo: Rachel talking with a young mom.

I particularly enjoyed talking with two Sacramento State students who had learned about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch from a sociology professor. The guys had a long talk with us about their experiences with upstream water pollution sources in their community. I also really enjoyed talking with a younger girl who came to the booth on her own to talk with us. Her father, who is a park ranger, takes her on beach cleanups and has taught her a lot about the impacts of marine debris on wildlife. She was very cute.

This might be my favorite group of the day, though. I loved the groups of teenage girls who came to our tent together.

This fan inquired about purchasing this sweatshirt, but didn't have cash in her wallet. The festival grounds did not have an ATM so she left the festival grounds to visit a neighborhood ATM, and then came back to purchase this sweatshirt. She was awesome!

We also met a good number of fans who are from So Cal, or take family camping trips down to spend time at San Onofre State Park and surf Trestles. In addition to hearing from Trestles fans, we also connected with a good number of fans who were not only interested in the beach cleanups, but who were also excited about our chapter's annual Women's Paddle Out, which takes place at Ocean Beach on Sunday, October 4th at 10am. I'm psyched at the prospect of having new people get involved with Surfrider and the marine debris issue!

I particularly enjoyed Howie Day's performance. I first saw him open for OAR in 2005 and have been a fan ever since. And of course Colbie's set was amazing. She opened her 45 minute set with "I Won't" and closed with "Fallin' For You."

These videos were recorded at the festival. Enjoy!!!!!!!

And of course the sing-a-longs were a lot of fun!!

Thanks again to everyone who made this day possible!

Chi McClean - Surfrider's annual Conference for California Chapters - San Francisco, CA - 8/15/2009

2009-09-09T12:20:00.000-07:00

photo: Chi McClean. Taken by Alan Hondale.

Each year the Surfrider Foundation organizes a conference for the leaders of the California Surfrider Chapters, held at a hotel in California. This year's conference took place Friday, August 16 - Sunday, August 18 at the Hilton on Kearny Street in San Francisco. Chapters represented at the conference included the San Diego Chapter and the Humboldt Chapter, and many chapters in between, as well as National Staff Members Michelle, Chad, Ed, Angela, Bill, Nancy, Pete, and Sarah.

photo: Michelle Kremer presenting to the group at the hotel. Taken by Nancy Hastings.

On Saturday night the San Francisco Chapter organized a private outing on the environmentally-friendly cruise ship the Hornblower Hybrid, around the San Francisco Bay.

photo: The Surfrider crew in front of the ship. Taken by Nancy Hastings.

photo: Surfrider Foundation Staff and Surfrider Chapter Leaders.

Surfrider supporter, musician and San Francisco resident Chi McClean volunteered to donate his time and talents to us, and played a beautiful long set on the top level of the ship.

"Something Out There", Chi’s debut album released in 2009, is often described as melodic and soulful, drawing on complex guitar riffs, solid drum beats, upright bass playing, gritty B-3 organ, and vintage electric pianos. You can listen to full tracks from "Something Out There" here.

photo: beatboxer Marty Benson of the San Diego Chapter joined Chi on "the stage."

Chi graciously played his guitar and sang for us from the time that we left the dock, until we returned back to the dock. I particularly enjoyed hearing Chi cover Ben Harper in the open air, on the water, underneath the stars. It was a beautiful night! The Surfrider crew also had a great time chatting with Chi - he's a great guy. We really, really appreciated his thoughtfulness and contributions to Surfrider!

photo: Michael Stewart, who negotiated the cruise contract for us, and Wes Womack, our San Francisco Chapter Chair, with Chi McClean.

Check Chi out, here:

His tour dates are posted on his Myspace page.

Bayonics & Aphrodesia – The Great American Music Hall - 8/21/2009

2009-09-09T11:55:00.000-07:00

by Neel Singh

Nick reppin’ Surfrider SF!

On August 21st, recent Surfrider member and Music Outreach Program (MOP) all-star Nick Arlas and I attended the Bayonics and Aphrodesia show at the Great American Music Hall.

Bayonics is a local band, mixing smooth Latin melodies with Jazz, Funk, Timba, Hip Hop, Reggae, and Rock. They’ve been rocking shows since 2001 and have been featured on bills with other local favorites such as Native Elements and 40Love.

San Francisco based Aphrodesia is an 11-piece ensemble that has been blending African music with polyrhythmic funk undertones since 2003.

Jim Vargas, the manager of Bayonics, contacted us and we were fortunate to be able conduct outreach at this event. We shared a table with Pete, the drummer from Bayonics, (selling merch) who’s a really cool, down-to-earth guy, and who’s also got chops on the kit!

The show started off with a chill atmosphere. GAMH was only about a third full when Bayonics took the stage, but they still brought their good vibes and energy, and rocked a full hour set.

Bayonics on Stage

By the time headliner, Aphrodesia took the stage the venue was full – a good mix of people of all ages bringing their positive energy together to celebrate the gift of music in one of the most beautiful venues in San Francisco. Also, let’s give some big ups to Gus, the MC, and DJ Jeremiah for keeping the vibes and groove going throughout the night.

11-piece Aphrodesia plus a few guests

Outreach for us was a success too! We signed up one new member, who had recently moved here from back east, added some new people to our email list, and raffled one of our stylish Surfrider T’s away (winner pictured below).

Raffle winner, Nick, and me

Overall it was a really great time of good music and good people. Nick and I met some of the members of Bayonics, all really cool, positive guys. Pete, from Bayonics, told me at the end of the show how much he appreciates the efforts of Surfrider and the MOP and welcomed us to table at any of their shows in the future, so let’s stay in touch!

Kapakahi - Slim's - 6/19/2009

2009-06-24T12:12:00.001-07:00

Photo: Neel and I at the Surfrider/Save The Waves Coalition outreach table. Poor quality photo taken with my cell phone.

On Friday night new Surfrider volunteer Neel and I represented the San Francisco Chapter at the Kapakahi show at Slim's in San Francisco. It was a great success!

Steve Salta from Kapakahi invited us to conduct outreach at the show, set everything up for us with the venue, and put Neel and I on the guest list. He was fantastic!

We shared a table with Lindsey Davis, Office Manager & Outreach Coordinator for the Save The Waves Coalition, and Stranger, one of the opening bands from San Diego.

Photo: Lindsey and Neel at the Surfrider/Save The Waves Coalition outreach table. Poor quality photo taken with my cell phone.

Kapakahi played a great set, and guitarist/lead vocalist Mike Dayao gave Surfrider a shout out in the middle of one of their songs. It was awesome:) We were psyched to see Steve, who had been so supportive of us, on drums.

Check out this video from a previous show.

This is my personal favorite song, performed here solo acoustic by Mike:

We met a bunch of people who had not heard of Surfrider, but were interested in our work, and signed up to receive our chapter's e-newsletter. We met a member who needed to renew his membership. And we met a woman who lives at Ocean Beach who really wants to come out to our upcoming beach cleanups. It was a great all-ages audience. What a fun night! Thanks again to Kapakahi, Steve, and Slim's!

Rogue Wave - The Independent - 6/7/2009

2009-06-10T16:43:00.000-07:00

photo: Bethany and Wes

Surfrider San Francisco Chapter Chair Wes, his wife and Surfrider member Bethany, and I conducted outreach at this show on Sunday night. I'm a big Rogue Wave fan from when they opened for Jack Johnson on his 2008 tour, and had been looking forward to this show.

It was another sold out show - this time a benefit for an organization that was raising scholarship funds for children. (See earlier blog post.) We had a table in the back right corner where the merchandise booth would have been set up if it hadn't been a benefit show, and were able to connect with some Rogue Wave fans who were unfamiliar with our work - most notably two young members of the Monterey Bay Aquarium who were psyched to learn about us, and signed up for our Chapter's email list.

We also got to meet two great guys from the Independent staff - Jason and Terry - who helped us out, and gave us a shout out over the sound system during a set break. Thanks again to Jason, the Independent's House Manager that night, who took care of us, as well as John from the Independent and Justin from Rogue Wave management who made it possible for us to be there.

photo: Bethany and Nicole

Wes, Bethany and I distributed information about our beach cleanups as well as our chapter's other programs, as well as seafood and sushi wallet-sized guides. Since Rogue Wave is a big proponent of organ donation, I also partnered with the California Transplant Donor Network for this particular show, and we had official organ donation registration forms available at our outreach table, for fans who wanted to sign up to donate their organs.

If you would like to register as an organ donor and you are a California resident, then go here. It's quick and easy. Also make sure that your family members and loved ones know about your decision to be an organ donor, and how important it is to you.

Thanks to everyone who made our participation in this show possible!

Cloud Cult - The Independent - 5/12/2009

2009-06-10T16:25:00.000-07:00

photo: Cloud Cult

This was such a fun show! Mellie and I had a table in the far right corner, next to Cloud Cult's merchandise booth, where we had a great view of the live painting taking place on stage, and were able to closely observe and participate in the silent auction for the 2 paintings being created on stage during the show.

At the end of the night one painting sold for about $1600, and the other for about $900. I watched one excited new owner talk with the painter, Connie, about how to transport the painting home to her apartment in a taxi cab. It was wonderful! Yet also very difficult to describe in a manner that does the events of the evening justice!

But check this out, for starters:

It was a sold out show, and the room was full of a lot of excited fans. We met a handful of Surfrider members, and also got to talk with some Cloud Cult fans who were unfamiliar with our organization's work.

Thanks again to Jason who was the Independent's House Manager that night, who took excellent care of us, as always! Thanks to John from the Independent and Connie from Cloud Cult for granting us permission in advance to set up the outreach table, and for providing us with a guest list spot.

photo: Mellie, Connie from Cloud Cult, and Nicole

If you have the opportunity to see a Cloud Cult show, then don't pass that opportunity up!

Coming Up - Kapahahi

2009-06-10T15:57:00.000-07:00

Surfrider and the Save the Waves Coalition will be conducting outreach at Kapakahi's "Light Up" CD Release Party.

Thanks to Kapahahi and their manager, Steve, for reaching out to us, and for inviting us to the show! Thanks to Slim's for making table space available to us!

Details:
Friday, June 19, 2009
Slim's in San Francisco
Special musical guests include DJ Deedot, Stranger from San Diego and Bayonics.
Doors are at 8pm, Show is at 9pm.

Tickets are $13 in advance, and can be purchased here.

Like the multi-cultural mix of musicians that make up the band, Kapakahi is about celebrating diversity in all its fun, funky glory. Their music is a fresh and progressive mash-up of Reggae, Ska, Hip-Hop and funk and their energetic stage show grabs the attention of whatever crowd they're in front of. They dubbed the title “Urban Aloha” to describe their sound and vibe.

Forming in San Francisco in 2005, Kapakahi has grown into a regional touring act with an expanding fan-base from San Diego, to San Francisco, to Hawaii to the Pacific NW. Their love of music and work-ethic keep them focused on writing, recording, touring and spreading their music around the globe.

Based out of San Francisco, CA, the members include: Mike Dayao (Lead vox/Guitar), Steve Salta (drums/percussion), Chris Jones (Bass/Vox), Josh Hoover (sax), Lansky (sweet flows)

Their upcoming release "Light Up" is part of a movement started by the band called LIGHT UP.

LIGHT UP is a movement to strive to be higher than the individual.

It came from the simple idea to Light Up one’s life. After being together for 4 years, writing, touring and meeting people on the road, the band realized that their music can stand for something more than just a good time. Light Up is the idea that their music can be a positive force in the lives that they come to touch. It is the connection they seek and the bond that they make in that moment when a person can relate to their music.

Download the title track, "Light Up", here, for free. Hope to see you at the show!

Coming Up - Rogue Wave

2009-05-08T11:18:00.000-07:00

Photo taken at the Gorge in WA State, on the 2008 Jack Johnson tour.

The Surfider San Francisco Chapter will have a presence at the Sunday, June 7th, 2009 Rogue Wave show at the Independent. We are very excited to have this opportunity to talk with fans about Surfrider! Thanks Rogue Wave, Zeitgeist Management, and the Independent!

Doors are at 5:30pm, show starts at 6pm. Tickets start at $18.

This is the 4th Annual Benefit for the D.A. Taylor Charitable Foundation.

On March 20, 1995, D.A. Taylor died from meningitis as a teenager. His family and friends founded the D.A. Taylor Charitable Foundation in 2006 to honor D.A.'s spirit and the quintessential and symbolic good that he represented.

Rogue Wave is a Bay Area-based indie-pop band with Brushfire Records. They are also a Clif Bar & Co "GreenNotes" artist partner.

GreenNotes supports emerging musicians - passionate about the environment in their own right – who may not yet have the resources, expertise, or funds to integrate environmentally friendly touring practices.

GreenNotes provides artists with the resources and the technical assistance required to integrate several eco-friendly touring practices. These include: fueling their buses with biodiesel, printing on recycled paper using soy-based ink, selling organic cotton t-shirts at shows, working to provide locally and organically grown foods backstage, and buying renewable wind energy credits to offset their remaining carbon dioxide emissions (CO2, a greenhouse gas, is the major cause of global warming).

Rogue Wave contributed the song "Chicago X 12" to GreenNotes' album "Protect the Places We Play." A portion of the sales of this album benefit the Surfrider Foundation!

Check it out and download free tracks here.

Last Friday I went to see the premiere of "D Tour" at the San Francisco International Film Festival. What an amazing film and story. If you have the opportunity to see this film, then don't miss it!

D tour chronicles Rogue Wave's Pat Spurgeon's search for a living organ donor and the challenges associated with finding a viable match. Pat’s choice to keep touring and working toward the band’s goals is put to the test; the absolute need to perform dialysis daily and to focus on his health became top priority while being on the road. D tour also addresses issues with the health care system, the lack of affordable insurance, the importance of organ donation, plus much more.

We hope to see you at the Independent on June 7th!

Coming Up - Cloud Cult

2009-05-06T19:51:00.000-07:00

Surfrider's San Francisco Chapter will have an outreach table at Cloud Cult's show at the Independent in San Francisco on Tuesday, May 12th.

The doors open at 7:30pm. The show starts at 8pm. Tickets are $15. Tix are still available at the Independent Box Office (open M-F from 11am-6pm) for purchase, with no surcharge.

TreeHugger.com just awarded Cloud Cult a "Best of Green Award" for "Best Indie Rock Band."

Check out this write up from the Discovery Channel's Planet Green:

Cloud Cult hasn't garnered the big-time recognition of a band like Radiohead, but they're a great example of a band that's green because they really believe in it.

The Minnesota-based band is led by Craig Minowa, who, when not busy writing, recording and touring with the band, is a scientist for the Organic Consumers Association, so he really knows his stuff. Disappointed by the options available elsewhere, Craig started his own record label, Earthology Records, which along with the band's studio (and Minowa's home) is located on a small organic farm in Northern Minnesota, is powered by geothermal power and wind energy, and the recording studio is built from recycled and salvaged materials.

Cloud Cult CD inserts and print materials are on 100 percent post-consumer recycled paper and printed with non-toxic soy inks by a local, family-owned print shop. Cloud Cult's CD shrink-wrap is not the industry standard toxic PVC; instead, they are packaging all of their materials in a 100% earth-friendly shrink-wrap, made of non-toxic biodegradable corn cellulose.

On tour, the band offsets all of its energy use through renewable energy credits, its van runs on biodiesel and even boasts solar panels on the roof, and also plants trees to offset the shipping and other resource depletion incurred when producing their albums. Oh, and Cloud Cult donates all profits, after expenses, to environmental charity work.

Look for us at the show! We'll be talking with fans about our new Music Outreach Program Campaign, Hold On To Your Butt! (That'd be cigarette butts.)

Brett Dennen "Make You Crazy" Cover Contest

2009-04-23T15:32:00.000-07:00

I just received the below email message from Surfrider supporter Brett Dennen.

Good luck if you enter this contest!

And come check out the Life is Good Festival in San Francisco on Saturday, May 16th, 2009. It'll take place from 11-5pm, at Speedway Meadow in Golden Gate Park. Unfortunately Brett is not performing at the San Francisco festival. Next opportunity to see him in SF is the Outside Lands Festival, August 2009.

- Nicole

***************************************************************

Hey everyone!

The big news comes in a video message from Brett.

Brett Dennen's song "Make You Crazy", from his new album Hope for the Hopeless offers a meaningful plea for social change hidden in a pop gem. Perform your best cover version, using any live instrumentation you like (no karaoke!), and submit your video to Brett's Youtube channel, for a chance to win a trip to the Life is Good Festival in Boston, MA. Anyone who uploads their video to Brett's channel is automatically entered to win. Contest deadline is May 31st, 2009.

On June 20th, the winner and their guest will join Brett Dennen, along with the Blind Boys Alabama and SteveSongs, at the Life is Good Festival, taking place in Boston Commons in Boston, MA. The winner and their guest will be flown to Boston and will also get a double occupancy hotel room on June 19th and June 20th. The winners will also be able to meet Brett at the show!

Go here for a detailed explanation of the prize.

Please feel free to write us with any questions you may have at:info@brettdennen.net

Thank you for your support!

Brett Dennen.net

Neil Halstead - The Great American Music Hall - 3/8/2009

2009-03-09T00:45:00.001-07:00

What a great show! Thanks to Brooke, for helping out! Thanks to Neil, Adam Parfitt, Ben Hall, management, and the GAMH staff, for a wonderful night!

Brooke and I arrived 30 minutes before doors, where we were warmly greeted by Mary, GAMH's House Manager, Neil, and David, who was running merch tonight.

After taking a photo with Neil, Mary invited me to the GAMH staff meeting, where I was warmly received by the GAMH staff, and got to tell everyone what Surfrider is all about, and what we would be doing at tonight's show. It was great! Neil was also very interested, and we got to talk with him about our campaigns, before the doors opened.

It was a seated show, so before the show started, I wandered the room, approaching fans at tables, and handing out the sushi wallet-sized guide, and a few beach cleanup schedule postcards. Most people were unfamiliar with Surfrider, but were willing to talk with me about it for a second or two. I met a lot of people who were very dedicated Neil Halstead fans:)

We raffled off a t-shirt, which went to winner Nathaniel, and had a lot of people express interest in our regular beach cleanups.

Neil gave us a shout out from the stage, explained a little bit about what we were talking about that night, and encouraged his fans to stop by our table. It was amazing!

Since we were located in a back corner of the room, right next to the merch table, we received some visits after the show had ended, when fans came over to purchase t-shirts and cd's, or to talk with us. Neil's shout out really helped. It was a great set up!! Thanks again to the GAMH!

Thanks again to everyone involved in the tour, who all asked me questions about the Music Outreach Program, and our Chapter. It was great to see the members of another Brushfire band, Rogue Wave, at the show, in the audience, too.

Neil performed this song tonight - "High Hopes" - awesome.

What a beautiful show. The audience was so attentive the entire time - full house. It was perfectly quiet in the room, except for the music coming from the stage. Which I may add was supported by a fake yuletide log, and beautiful shadows in the shape of leaves, that panned on the curtain, hanging behind the musicians. If Neil comes to your town, then you should definitely check it out:)

Neil Halstead on surfing - video interview.

Matt Costa - Slim's - 2/25/2009

2009-03-07T17:48:00.000-08:00

by Nicole Parisi-Smith

Andrea, Emma and I represented Surfrider at the Matt Costa show, which was held at Slim's, but was part of San Francisco's annual Noise Pop Festival. We really appreciated all of the support that we received from the festival organizers, the promoter, the venue, the musicians, and management. It went really smoothly.

Since several bands performed that night, before Matt's set, there was a lot of merch. We shared a table with the merch teams from Noise Pop and Matt Costa. It was a great spot, because we were able to talk with fans who we might not have otherwise met, who were looking to purchase show-related merch.

We also circulated throughout the crowd, before the show started, and between every performance, to proactively talk with fans. I think we talked with just about every single person in the venue, that night:) We handed out more of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Sushi wallet-sized guides, as well as information about our chapter's beach cleanups.

Carolynn, who designed and handled the order for our 2009 Beach Clean Up Postcards, brought a box of postcards with her, to the show, for us. Carolynn was the one who first pointed out that Matt was coming into town, at the December Chapter meeting. Thanks, Carolynn!!

Here she is, holding up the postcard that she created.

We met a lot of really great people at the show, including Sean Stringfellow, of Slim's staff, who had coordinated our participation for us. Sean, with his new Save Trestles t-shirt. Sean surfs at Trestles, when he is visiting his parents, who live near San Clemente. Thanks, Sean!

We also met 2 members of the Surfrider Huntington Beach Chapter, who had flown up just for Matt's show. While in the audience, I was approached by a fan who saw my t-shirt, and really wanted information about Surfrider. We also met a very interested fan, at the very beginning of the night, who was amazed when we told her about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, one of Andrea's favorite issues. It is so rewarding, when we get to talk with interested fans about Surfrider campaigns.

Thanks to Matt, for taking the time to snap a photo with us, with his new San Francisco Chapter t-shirt. Thanks to Andrea and Emma for all of their help!!

Matt ended the show with this a capella song, "Will I Lie In Your Arms", which I absolutely LOVE. (This was not filmed at the Slim's show.)

Coming Up - Neil Halstead

2009-03-07T17:30:00.001-08:00

San Francisco Chapter show - Sunday, March 8th, 2009
The Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA
Show information here.

Washington, DC Chapter show - Wednesday, March 25th, 2009
The Talking Head Club (next to Sonar), Baltimore, MD
Show information here.

This photo was taken this past August, at the All Points West festival in Jersey City, NJ. Neil stopped off at APW along with Jack Johnson, with whom he was touring over the summer.

Donavon Frankenreiter - The Independent - 2/21/2009

2009-02-23T23:18:00.001-08:00

photo: Dan, Lotti, Brooke, Nicole with Gary Jules.

by Nicole Parisi-Smith, San Francisco Chapter

What a great show! A big thanks to everyone who facilitated a very smoothly run evening - the Independent's House Manager, Jason (coincidentally, a fellow Surfrider member), and the chapter's amazing on-site volunteers - Dan, Brooke, and Lotti.

We had a cocktail table in the far right corner, right next to Gabe and the merch booth. We distributed our brand new 2009 beach cleanup schedule postcard, National's "10 Ways" and "Rise Above Plastic" handouts, and the wallet-sized seafood and sushi guides.

The show sold out in advance of the show night. It was a full house, with a line of fans snaking down Divisadero Street, in place before the doors had even opened.

Lotti and I circulated through the crowd with these handouts, and talked with fans before the music started, and between breaks. I met 2 Surfrider Lifetime Members, a lot of people who were already familiar with Surfrider but weren't on our Chapter's email list, and a handful of people who were not familiar with the organization. Thanks to Dan and Brooke who took care of the t-shirt sales, Surfrider membership registrations, and fans who stopped by the table!

photo: Dan and Brooke at the Surfrider table.

We signed up a few new Surfrider members, and helped 1 or 2 fans renew their Surfrider memberships. Everyone who completed a membership form with us received a free Surfrider t-shirt, which turned out to be a great incentive to get people to register on the spot. We also sold a few t-shirts to fans who were already Surfrider members.

We also held a successful raffle. Fans who gave us their name, email address, and for the purposes of the raffle - their cell phone numbers - were entered into a drawing to win a Surfrider t-shirt, that night. The winner of the drawing was a great Surfrider member that I met while circulating throughout the audience with Surfrider handouts, named Cory. It was great to see such an enthusiastic Surfrider and Donavon fan win the raffle.

\
photo: Surfrider volunteers, Gary Jules, and Corey.

After the show ended, since we were right next to merch, and since Gary Jules came by to say hello to us (creating a buzz around our table), we were able to reach a few more fans on their way out of the show. It was great! We tossed our Surfrider San Francisco branded Chico bags into the crowd that had gathered around our table, and received a very positive response from fans who appreciated the free reusable bags:)

The show itself was great. Gary Jules played an opening set to an enthusiastic audience, and later joined Donavon and his band on stage for 3 songs. The show ended with an acoustic performance of "Call Me Papa." At several points during the evening, Donavon held the mic out to the audience, to sing into. There was a lot of singing along, generally speaking, throughout the night. What a fun show!!

Thanks to Chapter members Damian and Zeina who came by the table, to say hello, while they were at show.

Additional thanks to Tony at the Independent, Tom at Partisan Arts, Allen at Another Planet Entertainment, Tito, Donavon, and Gary!

Special thanks to Surfrider San Francisco Chapter members Andrea, Adelina, Woody, Barbara, Sara, and Carolynn, and Washington, DC Chapter member Chris, who helped out in the days leading up to the show.

Absynth Quintet - The Starry Plough - 2/19/2009

2009-02-20T14:15:00.000-08:00

The San Francisco Chapter launched their brand new Music Outreach Program last night, at the Starry Plough Irish Pub in Berkeley, CA, thanks to the support of the Nor Cal band Absynth Quintet. Mandolinist Bird Jowaisas contacted us through our Music Outreach Program page on the Chapter website, and invited us to come table at the show. We were so excited to work with these guys - who are all active Surfrider members and surfers, from the Humboldt Surfrider Chapter.

San Francisco Chapter members Zeina Barkawi, Damian Sinnott and I headed over to Berkeley, where we received a warm welcome from the Starry Plough staff, and the band. Utilizing a cocktail-sized table, we set up our materials right inside the front doorway, next to the stage, and the merch tables. We were able to hang our brand new, smaller-sized banner on the wall behind us, directly facing the audience. It was a great spot!

photo: Zeina and Damian working the table.

We met some great people, gave away some Surfrider San Francisco Chapter branded, reusable Chico bags, signed some people up on our mailing list, handed out information about safe seafood choices, and talked a lot about our Chapter's 2009 strategic plan.

Members of the Absynth Quintet came by several times to check in on us, and to talk with us about Surfrider, and the surf that they're catching while on tour. The band is in Santa Cruz today. The Santa Cruz Chapter will have a table at tonight's show.

The music was phenomenal. There were 3 bands on the bill. We got to catch great sets by The John Howland Trio, The Cyndi Harvell Band, and Absynth Quintet.

The Absynth Quintet is composed of Ian Davidson on banjo, Bird Jowaisas on mandolin, Ryan Roberts on guitar, Mike Schwartz on drums, and Rudy Luera on upright bass.

The Eugene Weekly places the sound "somewhere along the spectrum of acoustic-improvisational-gypsy-jazz...plucky and tight à la David Grisman" with "a dash of Eastern European exoticism that puts you in a smoky, understated hash bar kind of mood". Check them out, here! They played a lot of great material off of their new album, "Indigo Shoes."

After the show, the band came over to our table, where we got to thank them for their support, and take some group photos. It was a great night!!! Thanks again to Absynth Quintet, and particularly to Bird, for the invitation, and for coordinating all of the details with the venue, for us! Thanks to Zeina and Damian for all of your help!

Upcoming San Francisco Chapter Shows

2009-02-18T11:05:00.000-08:00

photo: Damian Sinnot, Emma Shlaes, Sara Dack, Nicole Parisi-Smith.

The San Francisco Chapter's Music Outreach Program Committee met on Wednesday, February 4th at Coffee to the People to talk about these upcoming shows, at which we will have a presence:

** Thursday, Feb 19 - Absynth Quintet - Starry Plough, Berkeley, CA.

Show is at 9pm, tickets are $8. Multiple bands on the bill - The John Howland Trio, The Cyndi Harvell Band and The Absynth Quintet. The Absynth Quintet is composed of Surfrider members from the Humboldt Chapter. They contacted us, and invited us to come table at the show. The Santa Cruz Chapter will be tabling at the band's Santa Cruz show.

** Saturday, Feb 21 - Donavon Frankenretier, with Gary Jules opening - The Independent, San Francisco, CA.

Doors are at 8:30pm, show is at 9pm, tickets are $20. The venue expects this show to sell out, but tix are still available on the Independent website.

** Wednesday, Feb 25 - Matt Costa - Slim's, San Francisco, CA. (Part of Noise Pop Festival.)

Doors are at 7pm, show is at 8pm, tickets are $20-22.
Multiple artists are performing at this show: Matt Costa, An Horse, Robert Francis, Two Sheds.

If you attend one of these shows, then please come by the Surfrider table to say hello!

Thanks to the staff at the Starry Plough, The Independent, Slim's, Noise Pop Festival, as well as management and agents for Absynth Quintet, Donavon Frankenreiter, and Matt Costa!

SAVE TRESTLES!

2009-01-18T22:42:00.000-08:00

Up to this point, the Music Outreach Program has based a lot of its work around Surfrider's national Save Trestles Campaign. When conducting outreach at shows, we educated every music fan that we spoke with about this campaign.

"Save Trestles" is a campaign to save California's San Onofre State Park, 6 miles of beaches, a Native American burial ground, a nature conservancy, 9 endangered species, a state campground serving low income residents, biking/jogging paths, and a famous surf spot (Trestles) from the construction of a private 16-mile, $9/trip toll road, and a housing development.

Surfrider has been working on this campaign for 10+ years, in partnership with the Sierra Club, CA State Parks Foundation, Natural Resources Defense Council, Endangered Habitats League, Sea and Sage Audubon Society, Defenders of Wildlife, WildCoast and countless others.

For more information about the campaign, click here.

Or check out this fantastic video, produced by Huell Howser.

In addition to educating music fans about the campaign, and how this would set a precedent for allowing development in our state parks, nationwide, we asked music fans to sign a petition to save Trestles.

By February of 2008 we had collected 26 pages of signatures, representing concerned music fans hailing from California, Washington, DC, South Carolina, New Jersey, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Texas, North Carolina, Nevada, Hawaii, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, and even St Croix in the US Virgin Islands.

On February 6, 2008 the California Coastal Commission held what turned out to be a historic public hearing in San Diego, to determine if the proposed development for the park was in keeping with California state law.

Since a member of the Washington, DC Chapter could not be present at the hearing, we contacted the California Coastal Commission staff, and learned how to submit our petition signatures, and a coverletter declaring our opposition to the development, for the hearing record. Then, we partnered with Dana Flach, a member of Surfrider's San Diego Chapter, who was kind enough to present our petition signatures to the commissioners, in person, at the hearing.

You can see Dana make her statement, here:

Since the hearing was streaming live on the internet, I was able to watch Dana make her speech from my apartment in Washington, DC. Thanks again, Dana!

You can see more footage from the historic hearing, here:

Check out this LA Times article, for more details about the day.

After the California Coastal Commission rejected the development proposal, 8-2, that day, the developers appealed to the US Secretary of Commerce. The US Secretary of Commerce agreed to hold a public hearing, to give the public the opportunity to voice their concerns to the Secretary of Commerce. That hearing took place on September 22, 2008 at San Diego's Del Mar Fairgrounds.

I happened to be in San Diego at the time of the US Secretary of Commerce hearing, and was able to represent the Washington, DC Chapter in person. It was soooooo exciting! I was joined by several members of the Washington, DC Chapter, who have recently relocated to San Diego - Darryl, Peggy, and Jonathan.

In advance of the hearing, I submitted my formal request to make a public statement during the hearing, and was very excited when I was assigned a speaking number - #318. Unfortunately, when the hearing ended at 8:30pm, there were still about 80 people ahead of me, who also didn't get a chance to speak. Ah well! As you can see from the slideshow below, at least I was present all day, and did a lot of sign waving:)

Surfrider - and all of the music fans who signed our petition, plus all of the artists, management, venue staff, and our friends at Walther Productions who made this all possible - received some great news on December 18, 2008, when the Department of Commerce announced that it would uphold the California Coastal Commission's decision!

The proposed development project is FINALLY, OFFICIALLY ILLEGAL under California state and federal law! Woooohoooooooooo!!!!!!

Thanks again to everyone who made the Music Outreach Program's contribution to this historic victory, possible.

Donavon Frankenreiter - The Recher - 11/21/2006

2009-01-16T01:34:00.001-08:00

Review by Nicole Parisi-Smith. Originally posted to the Surfrider Washington, DC Chapter message board on December 4, 2006 ---

Megan Kelley and I tabled at Donavon Frankenreiter's show at the Recher in Towson, MD on Nov 21st. It was a big success!!

It was a sold-out show, and it was a really fun crowd. We met a lot of great people, who had traveled to the Recher from all over the region, in order to see Donavon. A lot of fans already knew about Surfrider, and were familiar with the Save Trestles Campaign. We thanked fans who donated to the cause with Save Trestles gear - tshirts and trucker hats. We actually ran out of hats! My favorite moment of the night was watching a fan take the hat, and then immediately place it on his head. Since he was a bigger guy, I could see the hat, all night, bopping around the room:)

We collected fans' names and email addresses for the chapter email list, and signatures on the national Save Trestles Campaign petition.

Thanks to Julie and Galen for lending Megan and I a folding table, and for providing us with the tabling merchandise. Thanks to Darryl for lending us the Save Trestles Campaign materials. Thanks to Donavon's tour manager, Hugh, for allowing us to table, and for helping us set up that night! We really appreciated the support! Finally, thanks to the Recher staff, and Walther Productions, who were so helpful and accomodating.

photo: Nicole and Megan after the 9/7/2008 Jack Johnson show in Camden, NJ.

The Wood Brothers & Piers Faccini - Rams Head On Stage - 2/6/2007

2009-01-16T01:24:00.000-08:00

Review by Nicole Parisi-Smith. Originally posted to the Surfrider Washington, DC chapter message board on February 7, 2007 ---

I got to the venue (Rams Head On Stage, in Annapolis, MD) before the doors opened and had no problem getting in, or setting up. Piers' road manager, Peter, was great and put me in touch with the venue's manager. Megan Kelley was going to join me but got stuck at work- thanks for trying, Meg!

I set the materials up on the baby grand piano to the right of the stage, and hung our chapter banner from the front of the piano.

This was a seated show- venue serves finger food and drinks during the shows. As people came into the show and sat down at the tables, I approached most of the customers, told them about Surfrider, put in a plug for Brett Dennen and Piers Faccini, talked about the Save Trestles Campaign, and gave them copies of our December 06 magazine and Save Trestles info sheets to read while they were waiting for the show to start. People were really receptive- they listened to my pitch, anyway, and at least 2 customers were already Surfrider members:)

I hung out by the piano, next to the stage, wearing a Save Trestles t-shirt, and made sure I was visible to fans who wanted to come up to sign the Save Trestles petition I had mentioned when I handed out magazines.

In the course of this I met Wayne from Everloving, which is Piers' record label, and a gentleman from XM Radio. They were wonderful, and Wayne told me that Surfrider is more than welcomed to table at ANY Everloving artist show we want to! Everloving put out Jack Johnson's first album. See www.everloving.com for a list of the label's artists.

Piers' set was fantastic, but too short (about 45 minutes)- I wish they could have played longer. The sound was great, and they received lots of positive feedback from the crowd.

Piers, who plays the guitar, was joined on stage by Adam Topol on drums and Jose Esquivel on bass. Both Adam and Jose are in another band, Culver City Dub Collective. Adam is also in Jack Johnson's band. Adam wore a "Save Trestles" button on stage and asked about the t-shirts, but unfortunately we were out of size large. Jose took a DC Surfrider sticker for his guitar case. After the show, they helped me pack up the table and asked me questions about Trestles.

The Wood Brothers were also fantastic- they put on a great show with a stand up bass and guitar. Made me want to take out the violin I gave up years ago and start playing again:) Educated a bunch of people about Surfrider, got some signatures on the Save Trestles Campaign petition, and handed out some stickers and buttons.

Thanks to all who made this night possible!

ALO & Brett Dennen & Lucas Reynolds - The State Theater - 5/5/2007

2009-01-16T01:21:00.000-08:00

Review by Nicole Parisi-Smith.

This show was a co-bill: ALO played a set, and then Brett Dennen played a set. Lucas Reynolds, of the band Blue Merle, opened the show.

Brett was joined on stage by drummer Randy Schwartz, and ALO bassist Steve Adams.

The musicians and their managers were very welcoming to the Washington, DC Chapter, and were excited to have us there! It was a great show!

One of the highlights of the show was when Zach Gill, who plays the keys for ALO (and also for Jack Johnson) gave us a shout-out from the stage, during their set. This was thanks to Surfrider member Jeff DiNunzio, who I met for the first time, at the show. Unbenownst to the Surfrider table, Jeff wrote a message about Trestles on the back of a Washington, DC Chapter sticker, and proactively handed it to Zach, who read it from the stage. Thanks, Jeff!!

Thanks to Jason Rubin, who came to the show to help me run the Surfrider table!

Xavier Rudd - 8x10 & 9:30 Club - 7/28/2007 & 7/29/2007

2009-01-16T01:18:00.000-08:00

Review by Nicole Parisi-Smith.

Thanks to support from the concert promoters, Walther Productions, we were able to set up a table at both of Xavier's DC-area shows. Saturday night at the 9:30 Club, and Sunday night at the 8x10. Thanks to Eli Kiljanek, who helped me run the table at the 9:30 Club!

These were fantastic shows. Xavier has a really dedicated fanbase. At the 9:30 Club show, our booth served as a meeting place for fans who had come to the show from all over the region, and were staying at area hotels. I really enjoy providing a conduit not just for us to engage in conversations with fans about Surfrider and the artists, but also as a conduit for fans to meet each other, and make new friends.

I have a lot of respect for Xavier because he strongly supports ocean conservation issues, including Australian free surfer Dave Rastovich's stance against the slaughter of dolphins and whales. Check out this video, filmed at an Xavier Rudd show, towards the end of 2007:

The 8x10 show was a lot of fun, too. It was a sold-out show, and fans were standing out in front of the venue before the show started, holding big hand-made signs indicating that they were looking for tickets for sale. I saw a lot of fans get in that way, which was awesome:) I heard that Xavier had wanted to say hello, but did not have a chance to come by the Surfrider table. Thanks to everyone who made this possible!

ALO - 8x10, The State Theatre - 10/12/2007 & 10/13/2007

2009-01-16T01:13:00.000-08:00

Review by Nicole Parisi-Smith. Originally posted to the Surfrider Washington, DC Chapter message board on November 1, 2007 ---

Both of the ALO shows went really well.

The band gave a shout out to Surfrider from the stage on both nights and mentioned one of our campaigns. They were really interested in the plastic marine debris information that I printed out for them off of Captain Charlie Moore's Algalita Marine Research Foundation website.

Zach Gill (keys) stuck a Save Trestles sticker on one of his instrument cases. Their manager, Jenna, took a DC Chapter sticker for her scrapbook:)

I tabled by myself on Friday night at the 8x10. Eli Kiljanek tabled with me on Sat night at the State. In both cases we met a bunch of Surfrider members who haven't come out to an event in a while. We encouraged them to come out to movie night, etc!

We also collected signatures on Surfrider National's BEACH Act petition addressed to US Senators from MD and VA, and also continued to collect signatures on the Save Trestles petition.

We handed out the sustainable seafood guides to fans(which Dan from ALO was very interested in) and info on plastic marine debris.

It was a lot of fun! Thanks again to Eli, and to Jenna, ALO, the 8x10, and the State!

The John Butler Trio - 9:30 Club - 11/6/2007

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photos: Nicole Parisi-Smith, Joyce Rosado, Eric Dean; JBT; Nicole and Joyce

Review by Nicole Parisi-Smith. Originally posted to the Surfrider Washington, DC Chapter message board on November 10, 2007 ---

Previous note -
Just wanted to let everyone know that we will be tabling on Tues Nov 6 2007 at the John Butler Trio show at the 9:30 Club.

The John Butler Trio is sponsored by Clif Bar's Green Notes Program. The band is working with MusicMatters to green their current tour. Media is handled by Grist.

from the Clif website: http://clifgreennotes.com/musician/band.php?id=20

CLIF Bar and GreenNotes are incredibly proud to team up with JBT to help them grow their message of hope and peace on the road, and to give fans a Good Excuse to join them. Through the partnership with CLIF Bar, JBT is taking the following steps on tour:

Fuelling the tour bus with biodiesel
Offering an organic cotton t-shirt option to fans
Using 100% recycled paper and soy based inks for all printed materials Reducing the amount of waste produced while on tour
Recycling on board the bus and backstage at venues
Requesting organic food backstage at all shows
Minimizing the idling of their bus when not in use
Staying at hotels identified as more sustainable
Offsetting the tour's remaining CO2 emissions by purchasing renewable wind energy credits from NativeEnergy

They are inviting one non-profit to table at each show. We were selected to partner with JBT on Tues Nov 6. Woohooo!

We were invited to send 2 volunteers. Joyce and I will be there. If you are coming to the show then please come by to say hello!

Our website will be featured on Grist.org. Our info isn't up yet, however. So check back soon!

Thanks to the John Butler Trio, Clif Bar, MusicMatters and Grist!

Show Review -
Joyce Rosado and I received help on Tuesday night from chapter member Eric Dean who came to the show on his own. Thanks, Eric!

It was a great night.

The night started off with a brief meeting with JBT's tour manager. We then found JBT's merch manager, Julie, who had the MusicMatters, Clif Bar and Grist materials for us, for the table. Another member of the tour crew stopped by our table to learn about Surfrider. Julie asked us for some Surfrider materials for John Butler to read backstage. They were all really nice and very helpful.

In order to attact fans to our table, MusicMatters provided us posters advertising a free raffle, with raffle tickets to be picked up at the Surfrider table. Joyce hung these posters all over the inside of the 9:30 Club. The raffle prize was for an autographed copy of JBT's newest cd, a JBT hat, and a box of Clif bars. NICE!

The raffle tickets asked for the contestant's name and email address. As a result of completing the raffle ticket contestants will be put in touch with Grist and our Surfrider chapter. NICE!

At the table, in addition to handing out and collecting raffle tickets, we also distributed free Clif bars, information about Grist, and Surfrider materials- including information about:

*Safe Seafood Choices wallet sized guides
you can download and print one for yourself here.

*Information about Marine Debris

We also collected signatures on 2 Surfrider National petitions:
*Save Trestles (see below for more info)

*BEACH Act Reauthorization

We connected with former and current Surfrider members unaffiliated with our chapter, a lot of very enthusiastic JBT fans, and members and staffers from other DC based environmental organizations who were interested in learning more about Surfrider.

Joyce did a great job taking photos for us! Check out the slideshow, featured on this blog, as well as 2 of the 3 photos associated with this post.

The JBT show was amazing. They are very socially conscious musicians. This was definitely reflected in their fanbase. For example we met an Australian wearing a "One" t-shirt who recently moved to DC to work for Greenpeace. Awesome show, awesome people.

Thanks again to Joyce and Eric! You are awesome:)

Incubus - Virgin Festival - 8/4/2007

2009-01-16T01:01:00.000-08:00

Review by Nicole Parisi-Smith. Originally posted to the Surfrider Washington, DC Chapter message board on February 21, 2008 ---

We partnered with Incubus in August 2007, to conduct outreach to their fans at the Baltimore, MD Virgin Festival. The festival took place at the Pimlico Racetrack.

We were orginally supposed to set up a traditional Surfrider table at the festival, but due to space restrictions we weren't able to have our own booth.

However Eli Kiljanek and Felipe Bermudez partnered with Incubus and their greening partner, MusicMatters, and helped distribute MusicMatters-produced postcards to fans explaining the things that Incubus was doing to "green" their 2007 tour.

Thanks to Incubus and their manager, who were really great to Eli and Felipe. I was on-site with the Spitfire Agency, helping to "green" the overall event, and got to catch the Incubus set, too. I really enjoyed it, knowing how much the band and management support Surfrider:)

Matt Costa - 9:30 Club - 3/5/2008

2009-01-16T00:51:00.000-08:00

Review by Nicole Parisi-Smith. Originally posted to the Washington, DC Chapter message board on March 10, 2008 ---

We had a great Surfrider turnout! Julie Lawson, Chris Woods, Felipe Bermudez, Eric Dean and myself! Thanks, everyone!!!

The 9:30 Club was very welcoming from the moment that Julie and I arrived at 6:30pm, and set up a table (with their own 9:30 Club tablecloth) for us, in a great spot inside the venue.

We talked with a lot of Matt Costa fans, many of whom had arrived early in order to get a good spot in front of the stage, and had some time on their hands, and were attracted to our very prominently located table, and attractive table layout.

The people we spoke with - average age, early to mid 20's - fell into 2 catergories - had never heard of Surfrider before, or were members from other chapters rececently relocated to DC.

We spoke with a lot of people about the BEACH Act and collected signatures on a petition, educated people about sustainable fishing practices and seafood choices, and handed out the Monterey Bay Aquarium wallet-size seafood guides, and talked about marine debris and plastics in regards to human health. We also helped a VA resident register to vote, and distributed "I Surf, I Vote" stickers, as well as Chapter stickers and Trestles stickers and pins.

The most popular item was a small pocket-sized Chapter upcoming events calendar that Julie had prepared especially for the concert, that listed some of our events including movie night, chapter meetings and cleanups. If everyone who took one of these flyers comes to one of our events (or checks out our website, printed on the calendar) then we should have a large turnout of new folk at our next few events:)

We met members of other chapters who were just in town for Matt's show, who wanted to know what kinds of campaigns and activities our chapter is up to, most notably a member of Surfers Against Sewage/Surfrider Europe from the UK!

While we were setting up the table I ran into Mitch, a member of Matt's band. He was very familiar with Surfrider and was happy that we were at the show.

The show itself was really good. It wasn't sold out (unless it sold out the night of), but was near to capacity. Matt played one long set and an encore. The first set ended with my favorite song off of the new album - "Emergency Call". For the encore, Matt played the first song solo - "Astair", off of the first album. Then the band joined him for "Sweet Thursday" also off the first album. And they ended the show with what Matt said was a new song.

The band lost a lot of their equipment and instruments while on tour in Canada - it was stolen one night, from a venue, where the stuff was stored for the night. Matt is asking anyone with info about this to contact the Canadian police. It was good to see, at the 9:30 show, that this hasn't affected their senses of humor, or the music:) They put on a great show:)

Thanks to Matt and his band, and the 9:30 Club, and Matt's manager, Chris, for hosting us at the show!!!!

Thanks to everyone who came out to help out at the table, and to enjoy the show. It was a lot of fun!

Matt is on Jack Johnson's record label, Brushfire Records. Here is a BBC performance that tells some of the story regarding how they met: