Hello, it is I, your humblest translator. There were some technical difficulties, otherwise this would have been Sparkle Girl's first solo post, so I will again function as trance medium, summoning her ebullient reviews from the otherworld that is Craigslist! Thanks, Michele, I love this stuff. You rock!
Well folks, last night I went to see Dick Dale. I have been wanting to see him for quite the many years and finally got my head out of my spleen to do it. The evening began with me filing in right on time, if not early, to get a good spot in front of the stage. Luckily when I got there everyone was sipping cocktails at the tables, so getting a spot was no problem (thank you rock gods). The show started with a retro band called Tana and The Fascinators. From the first two chords the guitar player strummed I knew they were going to be good. Their style was neo-40's with a tattoo touch of class, making them Portland perfect. They dressed in period clothes, to a t, and looked sharp doing it. Tana the songstress opened her set with the French classic "cou cou"(i will admit i was notably impressed, as I speak French fluently and her accent wasn't too bad). Rounding out her set were other such classic jazz standards as "dir mir bis du chein"(please forgive the spelling), an instrumental version of "life is a cabaret" and finishing off with "it aint what you do." Tana and The Fascinators is the kind of band you would have at an upscale wedding, only Tana is so beautiful she would upstage the bride. Maybe you could see her perform in some sweet ‘hole in the wall’ jazz club, under a bridge, in some seedy dusty neighborhood, after a steamy rain in mid-November… ooops, I got carried away, but then The Fascinators are like that. They transport you to another time. Ya know, I almost expected to see gangsters in the corner, wearing fine striped suits, sipping umbrella-ed cocktails, and two tough guys named Tony , making sure the boss has what he wants… did I get carried away again??? Yeah, I know. And then… then … the fabulous Dick Dale came out and spanked everyone. He was awesome, telling crowd shouters to "shut up", stopping songs in the middle to hear a fan’s question. Yeah, his guitar strap was made out of a car seat belt. I see why… you had better buckle up, 'cause Dick Dale is about to drive this show 90 miles an hour. No wah pedals. No delay pedals. No flange or chorus pedals, no effects of any kind. He just came out and shredded that gold sparkle guitar like he was giving the crowd cool lessons, plain and simple. It was obvious his knowledge of chord placement was excellent, as he improvised about half his set, and the drummer and bass player payed very close attention to what Dick was going to do next so as to not mess up too much. He played medleys of great guitar songs such as “Batman” and the 007 theme song. He even came out and did a very good impersonation of Mr. Armstrong, playing the trumpet and everything, and very well I might add, not to mention playing the harmonica as well. Yes, the evening rocked on overtime without a hitch. On top of all that Mr. Dale sat at the merch table taking all the fans in turn, to sign autographs and drop pearls of wisdom on eager ears, one by one. Yeah man, I got mine. Thank you, Mr. Dale, your next visit is anxiously awaited. Portland thinks you rock, and so do I ,,,,,,,,,,,,,sparkle girl...............,
Well folks, last night I went to see Dick Dale. I have been wanting to see him for quite the many years and finally got my head out of my spleen to do it. The evening began with me filing in right on time, if not early, to get a good spot in front of the stage. Luckily when I got there everyone was sipping cocktails at the tables, so getting a spot was no problem (thank you rock gods). The show started with a retro band called Tana and The Fascinators. From the first two chords the guitar player strummed I knew they were going to be good. Their style was neo-40's with a tattoo touch of class, making them Portland perfect. They dressed in period clothes, to a t, and looked sharp doing it. Tana the songstress opened her set with the French classic "cou cou"(i will admit i was notably impressed, as I speak French fluently and her accent wasn't too bad). Rounding out her set were other such classic jazz standards as "dir mir bis du chein"(please forgive the spelling), an instrumental version of "life is a cabaret" and finishing off with "it aint what you do." Tana and The Fascinators is the kind of band you would have at an upscale wedding, only Tana is so beautiful she would upstage the bride. Maybe you could see her perform in some sweet ‘hole in the wall’ jazz club, under a bridge, in some seedy dusty neighborhood, after a steamy rain in mid-November… ooops, I got carried away, but then The Fascinators are like that. They transport you to another time. Ya know, I almost expected to see gangsters in the corner, wearing fine striped suits, sipping umbrella-ed cocktails, and two tough guys named Tony , making sure the boss has what he wants… did I get carried away again??? Yeah, I know. And then… then … the fabulous Dick Dale came out and spanked everyone. He was awesome, telling crowd shouters to "shut up", stopping songs in the middle to hear a fan’s question. Yeah, his guitar strap was made out of a car seat belt. I see why… you had better buckle up, 'cause Dick Dale is about to drive this show 90 miles an hour. No wah pedals. No delay pedals. No flange or chorus pedals, no effects of any kind. He just came out and shredded that gold sparkle guitar like he was giving the crowd cool lessons, plain and simple. It was obvious his knowledge of chord placement was excellent, as he improvised about half his set, and the drummer and bass player payed very close attention to what Dick was going to do next so as to not mess up too much. He played medleys of great guitar songs such as “Batman” and the 007 theme song. He even came out and did a very good impersonation of Mr. Armstrong, playing the trumpet and everything, and very well I might add, not to mention playing the harmonica as well. Yes, the evening rocked on overtime without a hitch. On top of all that Mr. Dale sat at the merch table taking all the fans in turn, to sign autographs and drop pearls of wisdom on eager ears, one by one. Yeah man, I got mine. Thank you, Mr. Dale, your next visit is anxiously awaited. Portland thinks you rock, and so do I ,,,,,,,,,,,,,sparkle girl...............,
See what I mean? Awesome. Let's hope these keep coming. And on a personal note I realize I have been a bit deficient in my own posting. Hopefully I can remedy that with some new stuff over the weekend, and especially my interview with Mike Kirkland- NYHC veteran, founding bass player of seminal metal band Prong, and now Soundco Records guru and member of The New Evils. It's going to rock!
This rocks so hard it's diamonds!
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to another interview from the Gulbransonian institute.