For the past 31 years, Santa Barbara has hosted the Christmas Parade on State Street. Pretty much the same fare every year. Marching bands, the mayor waving at the minions, some balloons, kids walking with their youth groups and Santa Clause Trailing behind at the end. Kelp has been putting together some instrumental surf Christmas songs for a couple of years. We add them to the mix when we play shows near Christmas. This year we thought it would be cool to build a float and play in the parade. So we did...
The theme was "sleigh bells & sea shells". A perfect fit for us. So we made some calls and enlisted the aid of one my best friends who happens to be a contractor. He brought us an 18 foot long flat bed pulled behind his truck. The band families worked on it all day decording with lights, trees, garland, plants, fish, etc. Our kids were dressed like sea creatures, mermaids, lobsters, dolphins and even a hermit crab. Kelp dressed in red plaid jackets & maskes (yes kids, they're masks) we entered the parade.
We cranked up volume on our amps, enough to drown out the marching band that followed us. The kids waved their flippers and claws at the 50,000 people lined up on the streets. Bubbles were flying from the bubble machine. Two animated dolphins flanked a park bench where some of kids were huddled with blankets and hot chocolate. And we played our versions of Rudolph, Santa Clause is Coming To Town, Carol of the Bells, We Three Kings and a medley of Christmas tunes.
First reactions were great. Applause, smiles and then... a look of what the? as their eyes gazed upon Kelp. In the end, we won Best Theme, a check for $500 and a trophy. A picture of the float was in the local newspaper. Can't wait until next year!
