Photo by Jeanne RiceCosta Mesa band Rebel Fever's 1972 Winnebago is a dive-bar-on-the-go; thanks to a lovely peculiarity in vehicular law, you can legally drink till you could set your sweat on fire inside a moving RV, and so they do. Which makes driving to the show as fun as the show, playing the show as fun as the afterparty, and the afterparty either an extended tantric orgasm or a howling void of vitamin depletion, depending on how many people are in jail at that point. Of course, the last time they had to go get a dude out of jail, the girls onboard didn't stop making out for a second. Which is exactly the sort of thing summer is about; disbelieve if you want, but Keats wrote several poems about it.
OCWeekly:Explain the 'bago.
JoeyJosh(singer): It's Paul Frank's old one. It's a pile of crap, but it always makes it.
Would it be accurate to call it a booze-a-bago?
Yeah.
Is there an official drink?
Chris Lisk(guitar): We're sponsored by 3 Vodka, so I'd say 3 Vodka and Lost Energy Drink. We bring lots of vodka, so everyone gets drunk for free. That's why dudes start going to jail.
Okay, how about a babe-a-bago?
Josh: Well, sometimes, but sometimes it's a weenie-a-bago. There's not always a guarantee of babes. Sometimes it's just 15 dudes.
Lisk: Twenty-seven people was the last record—we beat 23.
Josh: It's more exciting with girls—people are stoked when hot girls are in the car with you.
Lisk: How about we call it “the STD Adventurer”?
What are the accommodations like?
Lisk: We got three beds. Josh likes to go into the bathroom because there's privacy.
So it's like joining the mile-high club, except the twenty-some-inches club?
Lisk: And you never know what you'll catch off the toilet. You can't poop in the 'bago, but everyone goes in there to pee, and they always miss.
What's a typical 'bago babe like?
Lisk: Anyone who is spontaneous, anyone who is a willing partner.
This sounds like a personals ad.
Lisk: Anyone willing to have a good time and get completely wasted. Every time we take a trip, someone gets some or someone ends up in jail.
The 'bago sounds unforgiving.
Lisk: If you're going in it, you're going on a ride. You gotta be open for anything. And if you're not partying hard enough or if you're running around town opening up your mouth, you'll get banned.
What happens on the 'bago stays on the 'bago?
Lisk: Because there's a lot of sleaziness. Exactly.
Hitch a ride at WWW.REBELFEVERROCKS.COM, or get in the RV yourself at the Club JFK festival with Rebel Fever, FM bats, Innaway, Sendaero, Geisha Girls and more at Din Din at the Bamboo Terrace, 1773 Newport Blvd., Costa Mesa, (949) 645-5550. Sat., 1 PM. $10. 21+.
