Rock this town

Mike Sciacca

They packed the joint Sunday at Taco Surf -- the young and

not-so-young, and nearly every age in between.

All had come to the restaurant and bar in Surfside to have a good

time and enjoy the food and surf sounds on this cool and crisp late

winter afternoon.

And while the age range of the crowd wasn’t a factor in the

dancing and singing that overtook the small building on the beach

side of Pacific Coast Highway, a Mid Life Crisis was taking place

center stage.

It was quite the happening, too.

Mid Life Crisis,a Huntington Beach-based band consisting of four

men between the ages of 47 and 52, rocked Taco Surf. Sunday’s

performance was the band’s final show of a busy 2002 schedule.

The foursome, who banded together in 1998, have played local

restaurants and bars in Huntington Beach and such well-known

establishments as The Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, Studio Cafe

in Newport Beach and Belmont Station and The Upper Circle in Long

Beach.

The group has opened for the likes of The Little River Band and a

band consisting of members from The Doobie Brothers and The Marshall

Tucker Band.

The group was asked to open for the ‘60s group Eric Burden and the

Animals on New Year’s Eve at The Coach House, but declined because of

the short notice and because it had recently performed there in

mid-December.

They did not want to stage the same show twice, said the band’s

mainstay, Bram van Steenbergen.

Van Steenbergen, a professional drummer who left his native

Holland in 1985 and settled in Huntington Beach, plays bass guitar,

lead surf guitar and vocals. The band also includes Eric Matheson on

guitar and vocals, Kenny Gale on guitar and Blair James on drums.

The band, which encourages audience participation, revels in the

revelers who come to listen and watch them play.

“The secret is that we love what we do and are serious about it,”

said van Steenbergen, who began playing the drums in 1963 and took

lessons from famous Dutch drummer John Engels Sr., a guest drummer

with Duke Ellington’s big band. “We are having so much fun and we

never tire of it. We involve the audience and literally take them

back on a musical trip in time. We range from harmony songs to a surf

set and a little dance show.”

Playing classic songs from the ‘60s and early ‘70s, Mid Life

Crisis seems to gain fans wherever they play.

They began playing at The Longboard Restaurant and Bar in

Huntington Beach in 1998, a favorite restaurant of van Steenbergen’s.

The band headlined Saturday nights on the restaurant patio for two

years. Their reputation for putting on a good show packed the place,

said Dave Lautner, principal owner of The Longboard.

“They were very popular, especially with our clientele,” said

Lautner, who was on hand for the band’s performance Sunday at Taco

Surf. “Our patio was packed to capacity. Their music appealed to

everybody.”

Just last week, the band had its first appearance at Perqs on Main

Street, where they played for a packed house.

The band will perform again at Taco Surf on Jan. 3, and is

scheduled to play for the first time at The Huntington Beach Brewery

on Jan. 25.

As is customary at each of its shows, the band concluded Sunday’s

set with The Doobie Brothers’ hit song, “Listen to the Music.”

“It’s our signature ending to our performances,” van Steenbergen

said. “The people who come out to see us are just great. They bring

their kids and they really seem to enjoy our shows.

“The older people love it because it takes them back on a trip to

their childhood; the younger kids love it, too, because they finally

hear live the music their parents have talked about. For a bunch of

middle-aged men, we’re having a blast.”

* MIKE SCIACCA covers sports and features. Reach him at

michael.sciacca@latimes.com.