Primo "Bruddah Tour" Hits San Diego

This last weekend in Mission Beach all the elements came together as New Zealand Reggae/Dub/Surf band Katchafire and the Primo “Bruddah Tour” descended on Cane’s In Belmont Park for an evening of good vibes, good friends, and even better beer. 

 For those of you who are new to Primo, it’s a beer conceived in the Hawaiian Islands 117 years ago, having been revived in a big way in just the past couple years.  Brewed with 5% raw Hawaiian cane sugar and developed by the likes of North Shore chargers Shane Dorian and Russ Keaulana, Primo embodies the culture and lifestyle of the Islands.  Put simply, it’s a beer surfers can feel proud to call their own.

So when Primo decided to bring their brew to California for the first time, there was little debate on how to do it: hit the coast from Santa Cruz to San Diego and share the Aloha spirit at every surf comp, art show, beach party and concert they could find.

That brings us back to the Katchafire show.

Kicking off the event, the Bruddahs arrived in style aboard Primo’s decked out, full-sized school bus/woodie surf mobile.  And when I say Bruddahs, I refer to Primo’s ambassadors of Aloha: Keoni Watson (Hawaiian big wave champion and paddler), Spam (Primo’s official “bombucha”), Lanai (#1 morning DJ on 98.5 FM in Oahu), Russ Keaulana (3x longboard world champ), and none other than Brad Gerlach (international big wave charger raised here in San Diego).

As the scene started to heat up with Hawaiian dancers and opening acts, I got to talking with Gerlach over everything from mutual experiences surfing in Northern Peru to growing up in San Diego, and not once did a word he say betray the fact that they guy is a Billabong XXL award winner.  No ego, no attitude, nothing but friendly words from one San Diego surfer to another.  No wonder Primo chose Gerr as their West Coast “bruddah.” 

It wasn’t long before the roar of the crowd and a rhythmic, deep thump from Katchafire’s bassist drowned out my conversation at the opposite end of the venue, signaling the start of the real show.  And a hell of a show it was–a packed house of local San Diegans getting down to some of New Zealand’s best roots music. 

If you could put Sublime, Rebelution, and Pepper in a blender and put on it full power, the result would be something very similar to Katchafire’s rootsy sound.  Hailing from the opposite side of the planet, its fascinating to see how powerful and far reaching SoCal culture truly is.  And in that tradition, the crowd responded accordingly: for the next hour and half the energy at Canes was almost palpable, as every person was rocking out in their own way.

Two sets and about fifty Primos later, we all said our Mahalos and Alohas as the Bruddahs hit the road back to the Islands and I made way over to the beach not 50 yards from Cane’s front entrance.  With an incessant ringing in my ears and a nice buzz going, I stood with my toes in the cold sand and scanned the horizon as a new south swell started to move in and the wind turned offshore, all the while thinking to myself; just another Saturday night in San Diego.