By JOHN DALY
Tiki Oasis, the original and largest Tiki event in the world kicks off today and features five nights and four days of live music, dance, DJs and more in San Diego.
Tiki Oasis 19: “Catch the New Wave” will open today at Bali Hai on Shelter Island in San Diego and Thursday, Aug. 8 through Sunday, Aug. 11 will take place at Crowne Plaza Hotel at Hotel Circle in San Diego.
In addition to music, the annual celebration of all things Tiki novelty will also host marketplace vendors, fashion shows, costume contests, poolside entertainment, morning yoga, a miss Tiki Oasis contest, a vintage car show, daytime kids activities, an art exhibit, a midnight burlesque show and a dance party helmed by DJ Howie Pyro. There will also be top experts giving educational presentations on everything from cocktails and food, art, architecture, pop culture history, and tiki carving.
As always at Tiki Oasis, the event is all about the Tiki lifestyle. In addition, every year, the event explores a theme which adds dimension or explores a different aspect of Popular Culture tangential to Tiki. “Catch the New Wave!” is an obvious nod toward Surf music, while “New Wave” is a blast from the early 1980s. In the 1980s, simultaneous to New Wave, was the “Second Wave” in the swell of Surf Music history. At Tiki Oasis 2019 we present acts that relate to 1980s New Wave with a surf or exotica twist, “Second Wave” Surf music, and a few original “New Wave”-ers to create a totally radical weekend that will leave you stoked.
This year’s musical lineup features a mixture of ’80s surf and new wave legends, contemporary surf and exotica groups, an original ’60s surf band, and Jesika von Rabbit who will kick off the event’s Wednesday Night Meet and Greet with a new-wave themed set. Performers include Agent Orange, Debora Iyall of Romeo Void, Drifting Sand, Tiny Bubbles featuring Gerald Casale of Devo, Jesika von Rabbit, Joey & The Showmen, Jon & the Nightriders, Josie Cotton, Los Freneticos, Los Tiki Phantoms, MongoLounge, Par Avion, Tiny Bubbles. The Fleshtones, The Greasy Gills, The Hula Girls, The Insect Surfers, The Intoxicats, The New Waves, The Outta Sites, The Surfrajettes, Tikitronic, Tikiyaki Orchestra, Tim Polecat.
Among the 40+ seminars this year, wine expert Gerald Casale of Devo will co-partner a wine appreciation seminar with fellow vintner and Tiny Bubbles bandmate, Judd “The Fink” as well as a morning hangover yoga/stretch class headed by nonother than Robert Lopez a/k/a El Vez!
Music oriented seminars at this year’s Tiki Oasis include a New Wave ukelele strum and sing-along, Tiki Oasis Storytelling where participants are invited to tell their most fun ’80s musical experiences, a New Wave music and fashion seminar taught from an 11-year-old kid’s point of view, a talk about how the ROQ of the ’80s gave birth to the retro meets new wave film “Back to the Beach”, a conversation with surf revival legend, musicologist and historian John Blair, the evolution from punk to urban archeologist of tiki expert Sven Kirsten who has written three major books on Tiki, all published by Taschen, and a special screening of the film “The Rise and Fall of The Clash” with Q and A by film producer Vanessa S. D’Amelio.
Event DJs include After School Special, Astro138, Becky & Nikki (Dublab’s Bubblegum & Other Delights), Bigtikidude and Emilio, Farbror Fuzz, Flashback George, Lee Joseph (Dionysus Records and LuxuriaMusic), DJ Nuria, djgirlgroupgirl (of WFMU’s Rock ‘n’ Soul Ichiban), El Nova, Intoxica’s Howie Pyro, Jon Burchard, a crew of LuxuriaMusic DJs, Mike & Anya Stax (of Ugly Things Magazine and The Loons), Paul Cinnamon, Professor Rex Dart, Shindog of New Wave City, Swankenstein, The Stately DJ Wayne Manor and DJ Hardly Quinn, Tiki Thomas, Tony the Tyger, Vanessa Burgundy, Will Torres, Will’mer, Zombierella (of the Russian surf band Messer Chups), Zorch.
And, this only scratches the surface of all that will take place between August 7 and 11! For more information go to www.tikioasis.com
