Pepper at the Coach House

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Written by Tiffany Tomaszewski

Tuesday, 01 March 2011 01:56

The Coach House in San Juan Capistrano is an interesting venue to say the least. Oddly hidden in a business district, the building is decently sized, comprised mostly of long picnic tables for dinner reservations, in addition to a full bar. There is an area off to the side of the stage, directly in front of the merch table for the “standing room only” crowd—aka those sans reservations. The venue has a cool, old western sort of feel to it, but if you’re looking to dance, look elsewhere. There is a little room, but not much—it’s certainly a venue to chill, up close and personal with the band.

Before Pepper took the stage, their good friends The Supervillains entertained. One of the few bands on Pepper’s LAW Records label, these guys were the perfect openers. With high energy and flawless rhythm, the Florida natives got the crowd warmed up for Pepper with mellow upstrokes and smooth sax.

Nothing but positive vibrations continued once the Hawaiian boys cruised onto the (fake) candle-lit stage. Bret Bollinger (bass/vocals), Kaleo Wassman (guitar/vocals), and Yesod Williams (drums) were brilliant, charismatic, and downright enjoyable to watch and listen to. Wassman played the entire set atop a golden toilet bowl, while Bollinger rocked out comfortably on an exercise ball. The guys played favorites from their five studio albums including Kona Town’s “Stone Love” and “Storm Trooper”, Give’N It’s “Hos”, In With The Old’s “Ashes”, and No Shame’s “No Control”. Oh and who could forget “Splooge” and “Drunk Girl”?! Twenty songs later, the set seemed to linger, but the neither the energy of the band nor the enthusiasm of the crowd showed signs of wavering. Drinks flowed, heads bobbed, and smoke plumed.

The guys encored with a cover of Elton John’s beloved “Bennie and the Jets”. Much to the delight of the crowd, Wassman announced that the acoustic show at the Coach House was also a live recording. He henceforth went into an “I say Pepper, you say live-in-San-Juan-Capistrano” deal, ending in riots of laughter and screams hopefully recognizable later on the album. “Bring Me Along” and “Arena” were also included in the encore.

While the drinks are overpriced and there isn’t much room to groove, The Coach House provides for great acoustics and an opportunity to see some of your favorites in a supremely intimate setting. Pepper was certainly sublime.