I Saw Dick Dale Saturday Night

I saw Dick Dale about 9 years or so ago at BB King's in Times Square shortly before it was reported that he had cancer. The show was absolutely amazing- the guy rocked incredibly hard for a man in his 70s. I kept regular watch on his web site to see when he would come back to NYC.

A few months ago he announced a gig in Brooklyn and I immediately got tickets. Having read about how sick he still is with cancer and that he needs to keep touring to pay for his medical expenses, I began to wonder if he would be a mere shadow of the guitarist I saw years ago.

The show was amazing- at least as good as the show at BB King's. The fact that this 79 year old man whose body is racked with cancer could rock so hard, just amazed me and my friends. He even played a kick*ss version of Smoke on the Water.

If he is playing anywhere near you, don't hesitate for a second to go to the show- you will not be disappointed by this living legend and American treasure.

 

Jealous

 

I don't think Dick Dale has it in him to not go 100%. If he comes around here I'd sell a kidney or my house or something to go to the show.

 

Years ago between 1998 and 2002I worked for an ISP taking calls in the Web Hosting department and he called in one night for help with his web site. What a genuinely nice guy he was. He was humble with the praise I gave him and very smart and down to earth.

 

I met him years ago but didn't get to go to the show. Damn law school exams.

 

Sorry to hear about the cancer. Real unsung hero of rock guitar. Glad he's still got his chops.

 

The last time I saw him he looked kinda like Spiro Agnew
...but he was still burnin' up that old gold Strat!.
Yahoo says that he died in 2014? WTF!?!?

 

When I read on his website that he was in the hospital with cancer, I emailed him and wished him well and thanked him for all of the years of enjoyment his music brought to me. He sent me a very nice and humble response within 24 hours.

 

Something that both surprised and delighted me was to see a lot of young people in the audience that were extremely enthusiastic about his music. I think having Miserlou in Pulp Fiction may have had something to do with this.

 

To the OP - have your ears stopped ringing yet?

 

Saw Dale about 3 years ago at Brooklyn Bowl. Small venue, great crowd. Amazing performance.

 

That's where I saw him- great place. I'm sorry that I missed him three years ago.

 

Not quite. He really likes to crank those amps.

 

What a lot of people don't realize is the that volume of the sound system is determined by the loudest thing on the stage - which is always the lead guitar. I'm usually positioned near the sound board with my cameras, and many times I'll look over to the sound engineer, and he or she will have the fader for the microphone on the guitar amp pulled all the way down. So they have to push up the volume of the drums, bass, keys and vocals to match the racket coming from the stack of guitar cabinets on stage.

"My tone man! I can't get my tone unless every knob is on 11, man!" - Every guitarist

 

Saw him in Dallas a few months ago. Great stage banter telling about his woes and love for his wife. What a wild way to play guitar.

He has no set list and the band just follows him along. Miserlou tells you that he's tired and time for the show to end. Don't miss that show.

 

We saw him last night at the amazing Songbirds guitar museum in Chattanooga. He still rocks, and even played a few bars of "Chattanooga Choo-Choo" on the trumpet. A must-see if he's in your area.

 

Not a lot of talk about Dick Dale on the forum, he is 81 and still kickin'.
Here's one from a couple years back, pretty incredible to be doing this stuff still!
A Fender amplifier pioneer too.

 

Cool playing at any age, and upside-down!

 

A dream of mine to see him in person

 

Dale had a couple of neat pets too!

 

He played across the street at Santa Anita Race Track outdoors in the bar after the races a few ago. Had his son with him and he could have played all night. Yeah, he brought it

 

Cancer sidelined Dick's music career during the 1960s. His treatment included one of the early uses of a laser for a medical procedure of this kind. After many decades of being cancer-free, I believe it was around 2008 when they publicly announced that his cancer had returned. By 2009, Dick had returned to touring and has remained active. The main difference I've noticed between his pre-2008 shows and now is that he sometimes has to sit and has since stopped playing trumpet onstage for medical reasons. Dick still delivers a high-energy show and when you think about it, you don't find other guitarists playing sets at that energy level or doing anything musically similar.

I've taken one now ex-wife and several friends to see Dick perform and most of them enjoyed the concerts. However, in 2012 a buddy of mine had a very unusual response. He said "Dick's a good guitar player, but how come it doesn't have words?"
Some people are hopeless. This was my response:

 

The stud himself on a Harley

From the "Calling Up Spirits" album, 'Gypsy Fire' is one of my favorite songs by Dick Dale

 

He's a great guitarist, was (starting going downhill in 2012), but he is the biggest ******* I've EVER met, as far as musicians go. I HATE him.

He was a lot nicer back when I first met him in Santa Cruz when Tribal Thunder had been out and he had been on Conan with his bassist and Max Weinberg.
He even did Mr. Peppermint Man for me.

But the way he acted and treated me in late 2012 was inexcusable; judgemental, assumptive, insulting *******.

I had a friend who interviewed him once and said it was quite an experience and he told me how awful Dick Dale was, the stories...