The Wet Ones!, Original Skiff, Hotel Champlain, Burlington, Friday, March 7:
The ice has finally been broken for live bands at Hotel Champlain’s bar and restaurant. The Wet Ones!, a three-piece instrumental surf-rock band hailing from Starksboro, will forever have the honor of having played the first riff at Original Skiff. Even travelers in the hotel lobby could not escape the Wet Ones! Shout-out to guitarist John Flanagan and bassist Amy Wild for their level of authenticity. They both rock classic all-Fender surf rigs — Flanagan an Ocean Turquoise Jazzmaster guitar with a 1960s Silverface Bandmaster amplifier and Wild an Olympic White Mustang bass with a huge Fender Bassman 100 stack to cover the low end. With Bobby Hackney Jr. on drums, the trio ripped through two sets of tunes. With a hint of ocean fare wafting and cocktails served in fish-shaped glasses, the SoCal vibes were strong enough to make me forget that it was very much still winter outside.
This article appears in Mar 12-18, 2025.
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