I was stoked to hear the Neverminds were finally coming out of their recent hiatus to perform at Charley's last Friday, August 26th. I was not disappointed.
I once again talked Cynthia Clark into hitting the town with me - being the social butterflies that we are : ). We ventured to a birthday party in Pa'ia (happy birthday, Paul Franco!), cruised through the ocean side town's "Fourth Friday" activities and parked ourselves in line at the famous Charley's saloon for the Neverminds show. There were people in line behind us that said they left LA to vacation on mellow Maui and couldn't believe how packed the town was. Personally, I love all the positive activity happening in Pa'ia on Fourth Fridays these days. The past three weekends I was in Pa'ia and it felt like a ghost town. Maybe it was the back-to-school lull after the somewhat busy summer visitor season I was feeling recently.
It was kind of fun to feel Maui's northshore pulsing again. Perhaps it was the anticipation of the upcoming south swell that hit last week (biggest south waves of the year). Seems like people who live on Maui feel the force of the waves rumbling inside them before the waves actually hit the shore. Pa'ia's festive mood and the music from the various street musicians permeated the warm ocean air.
Charley's was full before the Neverminds ever started. Cynthia and I waited in line outside the bar for about 30 minutes, causing us to miss the fashion show at Lophi across the street. We were thinking we'd buy tickets early at Charley's and check out the Neverminds after the fashion show. But we soon realized it was now or never to catch the elusive rock band as the doormen were only letting a few people into the show at a time. The guy yapping behind us in line was starting to give me claustrophobia as he inched closer to us in the barely moving line. I was about to bail when the muscle-bound bouncer finally gave us the green light. We were in and the band was about to start!
The Neverminds are known as one of Maui's best cover bands and I agree. Andy Church, lead singer and guitar player, was in his usual high performance mode, singing the covers like they were his own. The band sounded tight and the crowd was pumping. Putting out very fun dance jams were Nils Rosenblad on lead guitar, Dave Vickers on bass & vocals and Shawn Coullahan on drums. They jammed hard for hours playing goodies from bands like The Clash, Modest Mouse, U2, The Vines, The Killers, Green Day, Weezer, Sublime, Cheap Trick, Nirvana, Lenny Kravitz, and The Sex Pistols. I hear the drummer was new to the band, but I didn't notice. They sounded really good, and I am pretty particular about the bands I like.
By midnight Charley's was packed with lots of surfers, kiteboarders, windsurfers and random others - all smiling and bouncing around to songs like "Sheena is a Punk Rocker" and "I Want to be Sedated". When the dance floor got too packed for my taste, I headed to the back of the house where a friend and I enjoyed the rocking club from our comfortable booth. Now, I love reggae as much as the next Maui resident, but it is always nice to hear so many rock and alternative favorites performed by the Neverminds crew. They go hard and they play songs amazingly similar to the original bands. Everyone (except the guy thrown out for sneaking in the bar's back window) was smiling and feeling the positive vibes of really great dance music.
The Neverminds don't play in public very often - usually only at very private upcountry parties. If you get a chance to see them, make sure you arrive early and wear your dancing shoes. They will rock your slippas off.
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