Tiki at Burning Man

The Party Naked Tiki Bar at Black Rock City.

And yes, people did.

What?! No pics from inside?

It's been six years since I've been able to go to a burn.......I hate missing it again.

Is that from Burning Man 2011?

Well, I found a pic labeled 2010 with slightly different signage and sans reed fencing;

And another labeled 2009 with a smaller layout and simpler facade;

So my presumption is yes, that's the 2011 incarnation.

When I first saw the original post I thought about asking "beside the word tiki and the reed fencing, was there anything actually Tiki about the place?"

From the rather garishly colored facade, and the rather garish color visible through the entry way, my guess would have been no. The two pics I found resoundingly confirmed my hypothesis. Just more tiki usurpation, nothing more to see here.

Bear

I just got back from the burn. The clientele of Party Naked Tiki Bar was mostly male.
A little further up the esplanade, was Shipwreck Tiki Lounge. Their signature boat was missing this year. STL has plenty of tiki decor, but the music is rave party, thumpa thumpa. Although a bar exists, I've yet to see them dispense any drinks.

On 2011-09-04 20:13, tikituba wrote:
I just got back from the burn. The clientele of Party Naked Tiki Bar was mostly male.
A little further up the esplanade, was Shipwreck Tiki Lounge.

We need a photo documentary!

But, glad to see the Tiki love at Burning Man!

I didn't go inside. I would have been surprised to find real tiki drinks. There was also a "tiki" art/bar vehicle cruising around on the Playa this year. I don't know what they were serving, but they were serving it in plastic tiki mugs.

Tiki Ice on the Playa:
http://www.tikiicebar.com

More Burning Man Tiki:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=38739&forum=18&hilite=burning%20man

http://www.facebook.com/shipwrecktikilounge

oh Great!!
Party City Tikis meet Burning man.
I think I just threw up a little in my mouth.

Jeff(btd)

Burning Man, Bonnoroo....all a little too "hippy" for my tastes!

I've been to Burning Man a few times, and have had some of the best experiences of my life there. So much creativity and enormous amounts of hard work goes into it.

Nobody said that Burning Man isn't a good time.
But when I think of Burning man, the last thing I think of is Tiki.

Jeff(btd)

Techno Tiki Rave Party!

On 2011-09-07 23:58, Chuck Tatum is Tiki wrote:
Techno Tiki Rave Party!

On la playa, i.e., Middle of No Where Desert.

On 2011-09-07 23:14, bigtikidude wrote:
Nobody said that Burning Man isn't a good time.
But when I think of Burning man, the last thing I think of is Tiki.

Jeff(btd)

Don't worry Jeff. There's a number of people at the studio who go to burning man. GROG took a poll, and they said the last thing they think of when they think of Surf Guitar is Tiki.
:lol:

Lucas tend to agree with grog on this. In my mind, surf rock is rock, period. I don't believe it is tiki....however, popular opinion shows that it is very much a part of current tiki revival.

If you look at all the bands that are included in "tiki", you will see that the vast majority of them are in fact, surf rock, or even garage rock, who simply include tiki iconography in thier act to some degree or another.

As much as I respect the musicianship of some of these bands (slacktone and insect surfers being my favorites) I still see little or no relation to the original tiki scene.

Simply put, tiki music was an extension of lounge/cocktail culture, which was the equivelent of yes, "yuppie" culture of that period. The music was influenced by jazz and the hollywood version of ethnic music.

Nowhere in any of it was loud guitar, drum sets, electric basses or any of the trappings of rock. I am sure there may have been some exceptions (such as arthur Lyman's use of electric bass on later recordings during the 70s)but on the whole, the original tiki music was so far away from rock that I have never understood how some make a connection between them.

Doesn't really matter at this point, though. Surf music is firmly established in today's tiki scene. Some of it is quite good, actually. Though not really my cup of tea.

Not to say one type of music is better then the other, but from a sheer technical standpoint, surf music is very easy to play compared to the music of Denny, Baxter or lyman, and hence it's popularity. There are only a handful of players in our scene that could handle the intricate chord changes and music theory issues of real tiki music. yet, I could teach anyone, and I mean ANYONE, to be able to play the few chords needed for surf music in less then one month. Conversly, it would take years of professional quality education to be able to handle the music of Denny and Lyman and make it work. There are exceptions of course...many self-taught people here who have over the years, learned enough theory to be able to pull it off.

But if you look at most of the professional exotica bands still around, they are filled with true musicians. People with classical and jazz training.

On 2011-09-08 10:47, lucas vigor wrote:

Lucas tend to agree with grog on this. In my mind, surf rock is rock, period. I don't believe it is tiki....

C'mon Lucas, you consider The Hula Girls (who you play with) to be "Tiki Music", right ?? I certainly do.

The Hula Girls' music is definitely more rooted in Rock and it is in Jazz. :)

And sorry for the further derail (see what you started GROG !!)

On 2011-09-08 11:36, JOHN-O wrote:

On 2011-09-08 10:47, lucas vigor wrote:

Lucas tend to agree with grog on this. In my mind, surf rock is rock, period. I don't believe it is tiki....

C'mon Lucas, you consider The Hula Girls (who you play with) to be "Tiki Music", right ?? I certainly do.

The Hula Girls' music is definitely more rooted in Rock and it is in Jazz. :)

No, I actually do not. But, considering that there are punk and hard rock bands now being accepted as being "tiki", then I feel the Hula Girls should definitely be considered part of the current scene. Keep in mind, that while they are a rock band, the music is also rooted very deeply in Hapa Haole music, albeit, a suped up version of it. And the lyrics of the band's songs very much pertain to tiki. In fact, some of the songs they have are essentially primers on tiki!

But the honest fact is, if this was 1963 and you were at a tiki restaurant or tiki bar, and any of the surf rock or even rockabilly bands of today had been set up to play that night, it would have caused a huge stir with the generation that grew up with Glen Miller, Perez Prado or ever Perry Como. They would not like any music like that, especially any loud music that caused you to have to yell to be heard by your date that night.

I honestly feel that only a few bands of today would have been accepted by an audience in that type of environment back then. ironically, one of the least popular bands of our current scene, the smokin' menehunes, would have been a top draw back then. The music we play is 100% period correct and what you would have heard if you had been in a tiki themed restaurant back then, and even more so, it is what you would have heard in Waikiki of the 60's.

[ Edited by: lucas vigor 2011-09-08 12:15 ]

On 2011-09-08 12:11, lucas vigor wrote:
...But the honest fact is, if this was 1963 and you were at a tiki restaurant or tiki bar, and any of the surf rock or even rockabilly bands of today had been set up to play that night, it would have caused a huge stir with the generation that grew up with Glen Miller, Perez Prado or ever Perry Como...

You got no argument from me there Lucas. I share your belief that original Tiki culture is at its core, Lounge culture. Tiki's reach however did extend beyond the adults-only environs of the Tiki bar and became part of pre-Hippie youth culture. As documented by the BigBro and Dominic Priore, who devoted entire chapters to this in their respective books, Tiki was part of the iconography of the 1960's Surf culture youth scene.

Also to me, the two styles have more in common then not. Consider...

1. Tiki-style and Surf Music are both art forms indigenous to Southern California.
2. Both peaked at the same time in 1963, the final year of JFK's Camelot and before the Beatles came to America.
3. Both Exotica (as well as the related "South of the Border" sound) and Surf Music were the last instrumental-only musical genres to enjoy mainstream popularity.
4. Both former mainstream styles came back 30 years later as geek sub-cultures, Surf Music even beating out the Tiki/Exotica/Lounge revival by 15 years.

No one is saying that Surf Music is on par with Exotica as the definitive Tiki Music. I've had conversations with BTD on this and even he agrees with that. You have to admit however if you put Tiki in its overall mid-century influential context, Surf culture (and by default, its music) is a part of that. Also several song standards of the time like Miserlou and Bali Hai were covered in both genres.

And here's a vintage cross-over tune you might find interesting. "Tum-Tiki" by the Enchanters...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNIbFtuXb_Y

I'll leave it at that until next month (when it's time to bring up this cyclical argument again :D).

OK, so what were we talking about earlier? A burning man?

[ Edited by: JOHN-O 2011-09-08 15:40 ]

On 2011-09-08 11:36, JOHN-O wrote:

...sorry for the further derail

How can you derail something that was a train wreck to begin with?

The original pic that was posted is Party City/Target bright colored devolved/faux tikis on steroids being peddled as Tiki by people who have no idea (and/or don't care) what Tiki really is. Sadly, for many, this is what they think of when they hear the word tiki, and these types of display and execution continue to drive the general public's impression of what Tiki is about and should look like.

If anything, the shift of topic to "Exotica v Surf Music, ¿Quien Es Mas Tiki?" actually gave this thread some value IMHO.

Bear

On 2011-09-08 14:11, JOHN-O wrote:

No one is saying that Surf Music is on par with Exotica as the definitive Tiki Music.

I would go so far as to state that I think surf has surpassed exotica and lounge-based music in today's tiki scene. For a lot of reasons, but mostly the demographics and age of today's participants. Most, if not all of us come from a background of rock and punk, so surf music is no big stretch. In many ways, it has all the elements of punk and rock, especially it it's "do it yourself" attitude. The crucial difference, as you mentioned, is that surf is instrumental, and that makes it stand out big time from most rock and punk.

My preference will always be exotica and lounge, because my background is more mixed then the average socal-ite....I grew up listening to jazz first, before I discovered rock. Same with classical and world music...all was in my head before I ever got into rock music. That does make me biased.

Because, I am happy to discover that with the tiki revival, old music came back and was not scorned at or laughed at or dismissed as being pure kitsch...in fact, that's the appeal for most people!

But on the other hand, it does make me sad to see the tide turning to other types of music...such as garage rock, and then having people label it as being "tiki", when in my mind, it is not.

That does not make this new music bad at all. And I hope people understand that I am not making a judgement on it blindly. I try to find something interesting and good in even the most sophmoric and simple music. Even the blues, with it's 3 chords, can be beautiful and just plain fun to listen to.

But my preference is rich, luxurious and technically challenging music, which for the most part, rock is not.

But I think one thing all of us can agree on: Burning man and things like it have no place in tiki. There is just too far a difference in style and culture. And when you combine party city with burning man, the end result is truly, truly horrific! I can't think of anything worse then a drum circle of bearded, dirty hippies in loin cloths banging away on djembes inside a tent festooned with decor straight out of margaritaville....oh! The horror!

On 2011-09-08 16:10, lucas vigor wrote:
I would go so far as to state that I think surf has surpassed exotica and lounge-based music in today's tiki scene...

Maybe from the standpoint of what the event organizers are booking but I'm not so sure from the standpoint of the musical preferences of individual Tikiphiles. You'd be surprised of how few TCer's show up for non-Tiki Surf Music events. I'd say out of the hundreds (thousands?) of Tikiphiles in So Ca, there's probably only 10-20 people that cross between both scenes.

On another note, it was shocking how few TC'ers showed up for a seminal Exotica event like Robert Drasnin and Waitiki performing "Voodoo" at Don's.

Do the majority of Tikiphiles these days even care about music other than as background ambiance for their drinking? :-?

Tikiyaki Orchestra seems to be the only act that can bring people out in droves outside of a major Tiki event.

I prefer to think in terms of "Jet-age" culture rather than "tiki."
It tends to filter out things like surf music and let in space exotica for example without resorting to invoking imitation polynesian god carvings.

I ask myself "What would Don Draper do?"

"Go to burning man?"
I don't think he would - I doubt he'd be at Woodstock.

Would he go to a tiki bar?

Yes.

On a jet?

Yes.

With a stewardess?
Yes.

But what do I know - I deep down want a Mad Men / Bewitched crossover.
With burning man hippies, and Ben Franklin.

I forgot what I was replying to....

That's killer, and a new one! WWDDD (what would Don Draper do?)

What Would Jab Do?
WWJD?

On 2011-09-08 19:50, Hakalugi wrote:
What Would Jab Do?
WWJD?

Good Stuff!

Unearthing of a classic thread, Priceless.

Lucas, I am with you on the classic music one would hear in the old school Tiki Bars/Supper clubs
which was Rat-pack & Pop tunes of the era mixed with traditional Hawaiian.
Thank God for the "Martini Kings".

But I also like what alot of the current Tiki Revival bands are bending our ears with (Hula Girls, Ding Dong Devils, Dynotones, Thee Swank Bastards etc.

your right,they are not Tiki as in classic 40s & 50s Tiki, but they are Tiki Revival.

Lucas,
what's yer thoughts on this?

http://www.myspace.com/milescorbinaquavelvets

Spy Music rocks my Tiki World!

Broadly generalizing that all burning man has is dirty hippies and drum circles is like saying all that tiki culture has is fez wearing drunks knocking back fruity umbrella drinks. Having not been there in a few years, I can't speak to the current state of Burning Man, nor what the tiki related content may be but I am curious.
What there is of it may differ from what is generally considered tiki by us here, but I'm not going to look down on it.
I see it this way; Party City stuff is garish and will never have a place in my bar, but a person has to start somewhere.So maybe the tiki bars there are a tad on the Spenser's Gift side of things, but the people involved in building it (and those they may wander in) are gaining some exposure to tiki culture. As horrid as those camps may look and as limited the exposure is to perceived real tiki, it's a starting point that with some luck, and some real interest could grow into a true appreciation.It's like jazz in a way. For some, Kenny G. was their first exposure and they never went past that. For some others, Kenny G. lead to Miles Davis, and Charlie Parker, and Sun Ra and they grew to realizes how far from jazz Kenny G. is. Sorry if my point is wandering (I'm typing fast on my lunch break), but there is tiki at burning man? Great, nice to see it. Am I going to besmirch it because it doesn't fit my ideal of tiki? No, everybody has to begin somewhere. If you don't have some exposure to a culture you know little of, you will always have that frame of mind that Burning man is filled with hippies,horror movies only involve power tools and that tiki is full of dayglo and booze.

Whoa, what the hell happened here? GROG just made joke about Surf music just to bust BTD balls a bit, and Lucas went all ape sh#t on the subject.

On 2011-09-08 20:41, Chuck Tatum is Tiki wrote:
your right,they are not Tiki as in classic 40s & 50s Tiki, but they are Tiki Revival.

On the nose.

GROG miss Tiki-Kate

[ Edited by: GROG 2011-09-08 23:28 ]

On 2011-09-08 23:16, GROG wrote:
Whoa, what the hell happened here? GROG just made joke about Surf music just to bust BTD balls a bit, and Lucas went all ape sh#t on the subject.

On 2011-09-08 20:41, Chuck Tatum is Tiki wrote:
your right,they are not Tiki as in classic 40s & 50s Tiki, but they are Tiki Revival.

On the nose.

---

GROG miss Tiki-Kate

[ Edited by: GROG 2011-09-08 23:28 ]

I would not characterize my response as "going ape shit", because that implies that this thread ilicits an emotional reaction from me. It does not. I merely pointed out why I do not consider Burning Man to be a tiki subject, and then explained why. As to what I consider "non tiki" acts being part of tiki, I believe I did state that I like a lot of them. I also like classical music, though of course, it's not tiki. Can a person not attempt to explain what tiki is, without other people getting all excited? Sven Kirsten, after all, did just that in one simple book: laid it all out for us. And nowhere in that book does it say that burning man or other aspects of hippy culture are tiki. As I have said numerous times, Hippy culture KILLED tiki. Absolutely. Definitively. Starting in 1964, rock music and the long haired youth culture started to dominate, and it still does, to this day. I want no part of it. Isn't that ok, Grog?

Is this "ape-shit" relative to Grog? I mean...Note his brow ridge and long arms. This may just mean "annoyed" relative to us more upright walking folks.

On 2011-09-08 22:12, ErkNoLikeFire wrote:
......all that tiki culture has is fez wearing drunks knocking back fruity umbrella drinks.

Uhhhh....we're not? :D

I don't want no dirty Hippies in my Tiki Bar & no Disco either!

On 2011-09-09 13:08, jingleheimerschmidt wrote:

On 2011-09-08 22:12, ErkNoLikeFire wrote:
......all that tiki culture has is fez wearing drunks knocking back fruity umbrella drinks.

Uhhhh....we're not? :D

You might be, but I'm not !! :evil:

That stereotype annoys me far more than any Parrothead or Party City connotations. I'd like to see more Lounge culture classy cool than the Frat Party "lampshade wearing" excess that Tiki culture is sometimes associated with.

That's something interesting I've observed about the Surf Music scene. Even though it's more youth culture based, most of the fans don't drink very much (if at all). In many ways, the Surf Music scene is more "pure". It's 100% about the music, and less about the commerce and/or alcoholic excess.

And I have no problem with Disco. It has a certain post-Punk ironic hipness to it now. Also that "Tiki Hell" room party at Oasis with the puffer fish disco ball was super fun. And if you think about it, Tiki/Lounge culture has much more in common with Disco culture than it does with Rock and Roll culture.

No John-O it doesn't, because I say so, so there! why you may ask?
It's simple, Disco is not cool, Vintage Lounge, Tiki etc. Thats cool!
I have spoken, now where is my hat and skinny tie?

P.S. Don't make me slap you then buy you a drink the next time I see you

P.S.S. And you will like it! :P :P :P

Uh oh. Chuck's sounding like he's ready to stop the car and come over the back of the front seat. Next thing you know, somebody's gonna be standing on the side of the highway, 10 miles outside of Needles, watching him drive off without them (insert horrible memory flashback sequence here).

Bear

Chuck Tatum already has a bag of cement, tire iron, duct tape, quicklime. and grass seeds in the trunk of his buick.

What? No shovel?

Bear

On 2011-09-09 16:23, Brudda Bear wrote:

What? No shovel?

Bear

Not that I would know this? but protocol states the person (just for legal purposes) being left behind
should dig their own hole with their bare hands.

Not that I know of such things........do you think I'm a funny guy, do you?

On 2011-09-09 16:17, lucas vigor wrote:
Chuck Tatum already has a bag of cement, tire iron, duct tape, quicklime. and grass seeds in the trunk of his buick.

That would make a nice song, Lucas!

On 2011-09-09 11:25, lucas vigor wrote:

I merely pointed out why I do not consider Burning Man to be a tiki subject, and then explained why. As to what I consider "non tiki" acts being part of tiki, I believe I did state that I like a lot of them. I also like classical music, though of course, it's not tiki. Can a person not attempt to explain what tiki is, without other people getting all excited? Sven Kirsten, after all, did just that in one simple book: laid it all out for us. And nowhere in that book does it say that burning man or other aspects of hippy culture are tiki. As I have said numerous times, Hippy culture KILLED tiki. Absolutely. Definitively. Starting in 1964, rock music and the long haired youth culture started to dominate, and it still does, to this day. I want no part of it. Isn't that ok, Grog?

I'm not saying that tiki and Burning are compatible in most instances, I'm just saying that lumping Burning Man culture as a hippie event is like saying tiki culture is loud shirt/kool-aid booze fest. It's these types of generalizing that gives both social cultures such tacky images. You can't defend the "sanctity" of one while perpetuating the stereotype of the other. I'm not saying that this is the place for Burning Man in general, other then "Hey look,there is some tiki at a public venue if your curious".I understand your point of view,it's that I'm just as tired of trying to explain to people that tiki is not lampshades and fez's as I am that Burning Man is not a dirty hippie orgy.

......If there were no disco, there would not have been the greatest disco album ever....Sesame Street Fever. Nor would there have been the fine film Xanadu. Okay, that movie is horrible, but to my little edge of teen brain, Olivia Newton-John was gorgeous.

Great, now I have to search out Sesame Street Fever! Thanks :-}

Yeah,Olivia....I'd love to Newton her John!