Toronto’s all female surf guitar combo The Surfrajettes made a stop at The Magic Bag Theatre in Fabulous Ferndale Michigan this past Wednesday July 6 and performed before a crowd of enthusiastic fans of their unique style of music.
The band consists of Shermy Freeman-guitar, Nicole Damoff-guitar, Sarah Butler-bass and Samantha Maloney-drums. Bassist Butler didn’t make the trip due to travel issues and was replaced by Detroit musician Via Mardot for this run of shows.
Evoking memories of Dick Dale and The Ventures with their sound and looking like they jumped out of a Beach Party movie with their beehive hairstyles and miniskirts, the band definitely presents as vintage 60’s but their music is refreshing. The guitar duo of Freeman and Damoff are marvellous musicians and connect like two pieces of a puzzle when they play. Forget more cowbell, these girls are all about the reverb! Samantha Maloney was tearing it up on drums, she was fun to watch. Via Mardot did a commendable job filling in for Sarah Butler but I hope to see Sarah play next time around.
The setlist consisted of original surf tunes penned by Damoff and Freeman as well as a mix of covers, some of which you would never dream could be played surf guitar style. Hello Inna Gadda Da Vida! Their cover of Britney Spears’ Toxic is well, intoxicating! It was that cover that really garnered a lot of attention on You Tube four years ago and is responsible for over 6 million views and 118,000 subscribers to their channel.
To say I love this band is an understatement. I’ve wanted to see them live for a while now and this was a great night of music. If you haven’t heard them you need to check out their YouTube channel or listen to them on Spotify. Their debut album Roller Fink was released in April and is available at shows or through their website https://www.thesurfrajettes.com/ as a first pressing limited edition pink candy floss vinyl.
The Surfrajettes
The Magic Bag Theatre
Ferndale, MI
July 6, 2022
All photos by Dan Boshart
Set List:
- Hurricane
- Undercover Secretary
- Cha Cha Heels
- Gandy Dancer
- Warm Up
- Roxy Roller
- Couch Surfing
- Train Kept a Rollin
- Tahiti
- Surfer’s Slide
- Slush Puppy
- Heart of Glass
- Siboney
- Diamond Head
- Roller Fink
- Priscilla
- Snowball
- Party Line
- El Condor
- Salty Sister
- Too Much To Dream
- Inna Gadda Da Vida
- For Your Love
- Walk Don’t Run
- She Loves you
- Malaguena
Encore:
- Toxic/Satan’s Holiday
