DICK DALE IN CONCERT
Mrs. Skippy and I were privileged to see a concert by Dick Dale at the Redondo Beach Lobster Festival this weekend. Mrs. Skippy had wanted to go for the lobster; I knew from posters around town that Dick Dale, King of Surf Guitars, was playing there. So we showed up Saturday night, cracked open a couple of delicious crustaceans from Maine and stood around in the misty weather by the beach waiting, with a crowd of about 300, to hear the man who taught surfers how the guitar should be played.
Dick Dale, for those of you under 30, is the guy who played the theme song from Pulp Fiction, "Misirlou." Even if you can't place that in your mind, once you hear his signature rapid staccato on his electric guitar, you'll recognize him. Dick's fingers move on his instrument faster than anybody else's, before or since. Where most people will pick the note once and let it reverberate, Dick will churn out 8 rapid plucks in a row. There's no room for half- or eighth-notes in Dick's oeuvre; thirty-second notes are his mainstay.
Accompanied only by a bass guitarist and a drummer, Dick took the stage amidst the audience's catcalls of "Dick Dale! Dick Dale! Dick Dale!" The trio opened with a loud, rockin' semi-improvised number, which this reviewer did not recognize. Dick then introduced the next piece, called "Eliminator," from his new album, Spacial Disorientation. Mrs. Skippy, who likes to study interior design, chuckled at the title of the album. I myself, just rocked out, along with the rest of the mostly over-50 crowd. The next song, "Eliminator," had a recurring line sounded like "Satisfaction" turned on its head, and Dick took it and ran with it, wailing all over the stage, recalling some of the heavier heavy metal sounds from the 80's. Then after that, they went into a dense and fast rendition of "Ghost Riders in the Sky."
Article comments
1 - Eric Olsen
Nice one Skipper - made me feel like home down by the Redondo pier (right after it burned down again). And Dick is a force of nature.
2 - Susan
Great piece, skippy. I was transformed to an evening dancing surfside. Although my eggplant parmesan for dinner tonight pales beside that yummy lobster you celebrated.
3 - SKBubba
Good job capturing a Dick Dale show in words. Got to see him one time in a small club in Florida, SRO, and when he cranked up that "goes to 11 with God talking to Charleton Heston reverb" it was, well, just awesome. It body slammed you against the back walls of the joint.