Listen To The King Of The Surf Guitar

[ltmurnau]

Friday night, quite to my surprise, I got to see Dick Dale, King of the Surf Guitar!

Quite by accident, I was looking through Monday magazine and wondering if Dick Dale would ever return to Victoria, and there he was - Friday night at Logan's! I called up shadesofwinter, who has been wanting to see him since he was 13, and he started gibbering like a confused Fred Flintstone...
"Dick Dale, man!"
"Haaah hahwhha hahumina, haw..."

So off we went - show was a little late starting, and not quite what was expected, though none of us knew what to expect, precisely. The tour was called "Acoustic/Electric" and was just Dale and his son Jimmy, playing acoustic/electric hybrid Fender guitars Dale had designed. It was touching how much praise and regard Dick Dale had for Jimmy (who looks -and is - about 18 years old!), letting him play and take the lead on many pieces.

What an incredible guitarist! The man is 73 and has lost little of his power, compared to the original recordings I've heard (or even from watching his performance in Back to the Beach 23 years ago now...). It was a great show and of course he kept "Misirlou" for the last. Certainly one of the best shows of 2010 I attended.

Comments

[cherdt.livejournal.com]

Last time I saw Dick Dale & Jimmy, Jimmy was about 10--and I guess that probably was 8 years or so ago. When I saw them play, Dick had a spring-loaded guitar pick dispenser mounted on his guitar, because he burned through them so fast. He's an amazing guitarist--I'm glad to hear he's still touring!

[ltmurnau.livejournal.com]

I don't know how much longer he will be touring, at age 73 he has had his share of health challenges but apparently was OK to tour - he looked good but there were no encores (at his age I'd want to get my sleep too).