Taken at Whisky a Go Go
By Russ Allsup
Dick Dale 6-19-15 at the Whisky A Go Go
Yes it was a night I like to call Whisky Dick. June 19th was when the king of surf guitar Mr. Dick Dale played at the Whisky a Go Go. He said he hadn’t played there since the 1960’s and this time it was a sold out show and the crowd couldn’t get enough. At 78 years young, the guitarist sounded as good as ever. The last time I saw him play was back in 1993 at Virgin Records in Hollywood at a free show, so I was overdue to see him work his unique style of guitar on Hollywood once again. At one point, he picked up a pair of drumsticks as the bass and drums kept a groove, and started playing drums around the drummer. Then he went up to the bass guitar
and literally banged out a rhythm on the neck of the bass. At one point Dick remarked how he hadn’t played the Whisky since the sixties.
Great sets from local heroes the TJ Doyle Band, who played a laid back, pleasant mix of adult oriented jazzy rock. Another opener, The Shagrats, banged out a crowd pleasing garage rock that sounded straight out of the 60’s. The band right before Dick Dale was Issac Rother and The Phantoms, who made you feel like you were watching a band at the Whisky back in it’s psychedelic heyday.
Just a great night of music all around. Yes Dick Dale can still play the hell out of that gee-tar.
