Surf Hat at the Casbah on 11/16

SurfHat, the indie psychedelic band from Squamish, British Columbia, played at the live music venue, the Casbah, in downtown San Diego on November 16 as part of their 2025 U.S. tour. Evan Camm, who wrote the music for Surf Hat, was on the drums throughout the performance. In my experience, I haven’t seen many drummers who write lyrics in general. But in this case, he defied my previous misconceptions. Jon Allan, the lead singer and guitarist carries the beautiful burden of executing Camm’s poetry through his own channel — his voice. Camm controls the pace through the rhythm of his drums and Allan’s connection with Camm makes them the powerful,instrumental duo that created Surf Hat. 

On stage, they had a synthesizer keyboard and rhythm guitar accompaniment. In conversation with the lead singer of Surf Hat after the show, I asked him, “How did all of you [the musicians] meet each other?” Camm then told me, “I found Jon through Facebook Marketplace. We saw the other guys playing at shows and we liked them.” 

Sometimes, it’s just that simple. The band had wonderful chemistry on stage; making one another laugh, building off each other’s solos to create spontaneous melodies and occasionally, dancing for the audience. The band started their show with one of their most popular songs on music platforms, “Automatic Years,” which immediately set the audience into a groove. As packed as the Casbah was that night, every Surf Hat fan found room to dance. 

The indie-rock band makes psychedelic folk music inspired by surf culture. Could there be anything more fitting for a San Diego crowd? In fact, Allan and Camm came up with their stage name when they were on their surfboards out in the water one day and the two saw a man wearing a hat. At the time, they were in the process of writing music but had no name for their band yet, which is when the band,“Surf Hat,” was born. 

“We were trying to think of the silliest possible name, and just thought of that when we were surfing one day,” Camm said.

 As silly and as simple as it was, “Surf Hat” became a big hit in Canada’s indie music community in 2023, just before the release of their album “Surf Hat Ranch.” With this new fame, they released their third album in 2025 and expanded into the U.S. with their North America tour this year. 

Originally from British Columbia, the duo was extremely excited to be traveling to new places to play their music. 

In my pre-show interview with Jon Allan, I asked him, “What’s been your favorite city on the tour?” 

“We played New York City on Halloween night,” Allan said. “Being in Manhattan with all of the costumes and the kids trick or treating.” 

He also mentioned Chicago’s wonderful energy and I can only imagine that after the show that night, San Diego must’ve made the list as well. The crowd was singing along with SurfHat all night and everyone could feel the energy being given by the band and by the audience. Before the show, Allan shared about how he felt visiting San Diego.

“It’s my first time here,” Allan said. “The planes are super scary. Every five seconds I’m constantly afraid.” 

With the Casbah being just a few minutes away from the San Diego airport, the flights were constantly passing overhead during the concert. A unique yet intimate venue, the Casbah must’ve been quite the shocker for the musicians, in many ways. 

Naturally, they played “Rock the Casbah” by The Clash as a part of their setlist for the night. It’s always special when bands cover popular songs that are unique to a certain city. The audience knew that this song was a special addition only for San Diego because it incredibly resonates with the listeners. Their rock and roll cover had the crowd jumping, screaming and grooving all over the dance floor. 

The night’s setlist included songs from their 2022 album “Surf Hat,” as well as their more recent albums, “Surf Hat Ranch” and “Modern World Blues.” I asked Allan, “Which song resonates with you most?” Of course, this would be a difficult question for any artist to answer, but Allan’s feelings revolved mainly around the audience’s feelings.

“I wrote them all, they’re all special, but whatever people sing along with.” 

Allan proceeded to share his reaction to people listening to his music.  “People knowing the words in different cities is nuts,” Allan responded. “The most special thing is just singing along with the audience.” 

During the performance I observed Allan on the drums as he watched the audience singing along to his words with a wide smile on his face. It seemed that he was proud of Camm’s execution of his lyrics. 

I really enjoyed the stories that the songs told. While they were mainly fun, slices into the life of a youngster with lyrics like,  “I wanna go out tonight, to see the movies or maybe go downtown, let the night decide” from their song “Sci–Fi Disco” or one of their biggest hits, “Bowing Alley Thug” which tells a story of a cool, bowling alley thug; “around the edges I might look a little rough but I just need a hug.” It sounds like Allan’s focus is to have an almost metaphorical, fantasy image that is oddly relatable to the average listener. It’s a clear, yet vague style of poetry. 

They ended their performance with the song “Diane,” featuring the harmonica. As the crowd doubled in energy, so did the band. At this point, the four of them had showcased several different hats, or something like a hat, while on stage. Kieran Cowell on the keyboard was balancing a tambourine on his head at some point and Jon Allan wore a sun-visor all night. They left the audience with a steady, almost romantic tune, only to return for an encore in which Evan Camm shocked the audience with a traditional, Irish folk song,executing the powerfully, sorrowful tune with nothing but his voice. 

For the first time all night, the audience was silent, listening to Camm’s vocals ring through the dense air. As obviously challenging as it was, Camm was precisely enchanting through every note concluding Surf Hat’s show with a contrasting ambience that left a charming ring in everyone’s ear. The Casbah was filled with applause and cheering for Jon Allan, Evan Camm and their bandmates, hoping that this wasn’t the last time they’d perform in San Diego.