Bromance in Santa Ana – A Gathering of the Tribes for Phil Alvin

The saga of the Alvin Brothers has been legendary. I recall one reunion (if I recall correctly, the first Blasters reunion after a ten year hiatus) at Slims.  The room was packed to beyond fire safety levels. Sweat coming down the walls.  The crowd had endured some warm up act that did their best to entertain the fans while they waited the main attraction. The Blasters were suppose to hit the stage at 10:00.  Ten fifteen came and went….ten thirty, ten forty five and finally around 11:00 the band took the stage.  If I recall correctly the band started with “Crazy Baby”. The entire band was roaring and Dave Alvin stood there smoking a cigarette.  Finally Bill Bazz walked over and shouted “play the fucking guitar.” The rest of the evening was a typical balls to the wall Blasters rave up.  Turns out the brothers had had a little tiff backstage that resulted in some fisticuffs…nothing the band hadn’t seen before over the years. It was these kinds of incidents that led one of America’s most promising and spectacular rock n roll bands to hang it up in the nineties and go their separate ways.