A NIGHT AT THE OPERA... ER...AH... I MEAN 'PALACE'

BobLeon

GerryDon

Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me...

Actually, this was one of the neatest birthday presents I've had.  Tickets to see and hear The Ventures at Buck Owens' Crystal Palace in Bakersfield on June 1st.  Thanks to the gang on the 'underground fire' mailing list, I found out about this concert a couple of months previous.  A couple of calls to the Palace two weeks before  the date landed me a pair of front row center seats.  As it turned out, I was closer to Gerry McGee than he was to any of his bandmates!

I promised a few photos once they came back from the shop, so here they are.  But first, you have to read about the trip down and the concert venue itself.  Well, you don't HAVE to, but I thought I'd include it anyway.

Like many of the 'faithful', I've been a Ventures fan since the 1960s.  I probably heard my first Ventures song around 1963 or 64 while a freshman in high school.  I started collecting albums and hoped to one day have every one that was issued.  For some reason while most of my friends were jumping into the new wave of British pop that was invading the shores, I still preferred my instrumental guys over all of them.  And like a lot of us here, I had visions of playing in an instrumental band with a few friends.  Well, at least I learned most of the chords... and have messed around with the guitar ever since then, all because of this great band!  My biggest disappointment, however, has always been that I never got to see them live.  And up until a few years ago, I didn't even know they were continuing a fantastic career overseas.  I'd pick up the odd CD at Tower Records (usually a compilation of sorts) and once or twice heard rumors that they were still around and even played gigs once in a while in the L.A. area, but I could never pin down anything definite.

Finally, over the past year or two, I started getting 'hits' on my web searches... the same ones that got all of you into the 5 or 6 great web sites now dedicated to The Ventures.  And to my never-ending gratitude, I made my trek to a concert and walked away just as avid a fan as ever.

My colleagues (and family) thought I was half nuts but I rode my Gold Wing motorcycle the 300 miles from Sacramento to Bakersfield, saw the concert, and then rode right back home (5 hours each way).  I left Sacramento about 10am and got to the Crystal Palace about 3:30pm to find that the doors opened at 4:30pm.  So, with about an hour to kill and nowhere to go, I hung out by the side door like some crazed biker-type (well, okay... a middle-aged Honda rider) and realized that the sounds I was hearing weren't the echo effect from the non-stop listening to the Ventures cassettes on the way down.  The guys were actually rehearsing inside and every time an employee walked in or out, "the sound" came outside, too!  I guess I've lost my touch, but I couldn't figure out a way to talk my way inside.  Or, as I get older, the consequences of appearing too much of an idiot weigh a bit more heavily on my mind.

I met a couple of other early birds outside and chatted for a few minutes, then spotted a fellow wearing a black Ventures t-shirt... which worked somewhat like a magnet on me.  Turns out that Stuart is a friend of a relative of a band member and was volunteering as 'roadie' for the local concert series.  After talking with him for a few minutes and convincing him that I was relatively harmless, he offered to take my (Ventures Limited Edition) Jazzmaster pickguard inside and get their autographs for me.  Sure enough, about half an hour later, he popped out with a newly signed guard for me... which went directly into the trunk on my bike so I wouldn't have to lug it around the concert.  Plan 'A' accomplished.

Then, I watched him hovering around a couple of large boxes adorned with Ventures bumper stickers in the lobby.  A real friendly woman said "Hi" and she brushed past me to talk with him and I suddenly realized it was Fiona Taylor!  Of course I would have never known this were it not for a couple of photos appearing on one of the web pages (thanks again, guys!).  I introduced myself, and to her credit and graciousness, actually smiled back and talked with me for a little while as she was setting up the souvenir tables.  Later, I got to wondering how funny this all must look to an outsider... a mid-40s guy hanging around a mid-60s band for autographs and photo ops.  All I could think of was my parents hanging around a Sinatra concert back in the 1960s...  Aside from that, I plopped down an open wallet and asked Fiona to start piling up the souvenirs: t-shirt, bumper stickers, buttons, picks, CD... which she gladly did.

As I milled around in the Palace waiting for the start (6:30pm) I found myself in the strange position of answering lots of questions by concert goers.  Usually I'd overhear a question that I knew an answer to, and suddenly I'd be surrounded by little groups who thought I must be "in the know".  Well, if it wasn't for you guys on the mailing list and you web site managers, I  wouldn't know 90% of what I've found out in the last year.  So be advised, a lot of your knowledge got passed along to refresh the older fans, and help start some new ones!

Finally, the time came and I plopped down in my two seats (My brother copped out at the last minute and didn't come down (what did I expect?  He's only 37.)  So I tried to sell the extra seat to another fan... no luck because I couldn't find any single fans... all the folks who bought tickets at the door were in couples.)  A short delay and the large video screens went dark.  Finally, they started walking onto the stage amidst a steadily growing round of applause.  A few quick little mike checks, volume levels, and they launched right into the concert.

Their standard show has been described elsewhere from previous HoB concerts and while I didn't take notes, it seemed to be identical to what I've seen reported elsewhere... suffice it to say, they played about a half hour straight through, took a 20-minute break, and then came back for about an hour to close out the show with Caravan and Surf on Guitars.  Buck Owens himself came out to introduce the band for the second part, letting the audience know that he'd worked with a couple of the guys way back in the 60s.

I can't believe it took me all of about 34 years to actually hear them live, but it was worth all my riding time back and forth to see this one!  Like most others, I really feel I missed out on seeing a living legend in Mel Taylor, but it's really fantastic to see son Leon in his place.  Mel must be loving That!

After the concert, they asked for a few minutes for a break and then would come out for autographs, etc.  And they did!  So, with my trusty little camera I managed to get a shot with each of the guys.  I even got the bonus shot when Buck Owens snuck up next to me and got into the shot with Bob Bogle.

That pleasant task done, I got out of the way of the rest of the stampeding crowd and said a couple of goodbyes to Fiona and Stuart, and jumped on the bike for the long trek back to Sacramento... where my staff had to put up with about two solid days of me regaling them with the gory details.

I hope I don't have to wait another 34 years, but even if all I ever get in the future is video or sound, this one trip will have been etched in my memory.

I sure hope those few of you who haven't been able to catch up with them do so soon!  These guys, Don, Bob, Gerry, and Leon (and of course, Fiona) are truly legends of music.  I hope one of the last chapters has their names firmly imbedded in the Rock Hall of Fame.

-Bill Tubbs

Sacramento, California