Thee Hot Rod Luau 2015

Well that was a whirlwind! I have to say that the first ever Hot Rod Luau was a success. There are a lot of things that we'll do to improve it in the future, but for the first one, it went very smoothly and people seemed to have a blast.

We had vendors outside, pinup and custom car contests, and live music, non-stop in the Hidden Village and in the Dagger Bars, with DJ's Big Tiki Dude and Mad Matt spinning between sets.


Morning at Thee Hot Rod Luau




Judy Luck and Neva Moore at the merch booth




Buddy Lee of Buddy Lee and the Dungaree Dogs




Great traditional rockabilly from Pat James and the No Names



Wild rockabilly with The Rayford Brothers



Relaxing day of music and fun in The Hidden Village. The trophies are on the table to the left.



Meanwhile, we had a small tattoo art show, curated by Jill Sarratt Chavez, in the Fugu Room.
 Certainly something that we would like to build up in the coming years!




Pin-Up photoshoots with Vestige photography were happening too!




Some scoots showed up. These are three of the ten or so that were there... 




In the afternoon, the car show really filled up! 
Red Dodge at the car show. Photo: Doug Stidham 




This guy couldn't believe what he was seeing.














Then The Hula Girls played. I haven't seen any photos of us yet... but we had a blast! Here's a picture of Christian, cooling off after our set.
































The car show awards were all voted on by the crowd. We had a great response in participation with it.













This 5 window with a flathead motor was the winner of Best HotRod! This photo is actually from the one time that this car showed up at one of my cruise nights. I thought it was amazing then too!




Winner of Best Paint AND Best Custom went to this 1960 Impala. Shaved door handles and trunk, nosed, lowered, and riding on Astro Supremes with skinny whites. Gorgeous and immaculate car. 








Winner of Best in Show! 

Mike Collins' 1954 Cadillac! 
He also won Best in Show at 
Tiki Oasis this last year. 

Tiki loves Cadillacs, I guess.









Some girls with Mike's Caddy

Photo: @theashley

The Pinup Contest

photo: Dave Klein
And the finalists with hostess, Miss Red Dodge











Miss Fae (on the right), won the Miss Don the Beachcomber contest.













Once Agent Orange started up, the room went from fun rockabilly/ country/ and surf to ABSOLUTE punk rock mayhem.









It didn't even look like Don the Beachcomber anymore. THIS is where the Tiki Marketplace is held?



Anyway, back when it was Sams Seafood in the '80s and 90's, bands like TSOL played here. It's not a new thing, just something that hasn't happened recently.


Photo: Tom Stratton

Photo: Tom Stratton

Check out Kelly Merrill, in the center of the picture, 
making sure that he doesn't get stampeded by the circle pit. 




Agent Orange played some surf stuff (Mr. Moto, Miserlou, and Pipeline, among others) as well as their own punk rock stuff. They ended with their classic, "Bloodstains."


Photo: Tom Stratton

Me, with DJ Mad Matt, Agent Orange's Mike Palm, and Don the Beachcomber's Emerson
Photo: Tom Stratton
After the show, our dancers and a couple of friends headed to 
Matsu in Huntington Beach for a relaxing, after-show, meal.


It also happened to be an early birthday dinner for Christian!





Thanks again, to all of the bands, our two DJs, Big Tiki Dude and Mad Matt, Don Chartier for helping with the cars, Lance, Nancy, and Neva for helping with the merch, our sponsors, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Coruba Rum, and Appleton's Rum, and of course Don the Beachcomber.











Event tees as well as a new girl's tee are all on sale in our store now!






Even bigger and better event, next year. 
Aloha!


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