Ventures live on Santa Monica Pier last Thursday

Just wanted to give a shout out for The Ventures, who put on a smokin' show at Santa Monica Pier last Thursday evening. A great scene, golden sunset warming the surf, and later almost-almost full moon, and The Ventures (who I haven't seen since about 1987 at the old Palomino Club - anybody remember "Hooper"?), blazed through solid renditions of Pipeline, Telstar, Hawaii 5-0, lots more. What an honor to feel those chords tremble through the pier planks, right from those guys playing 'em...

Does anybody know if they actually did the awesome "Munsters"-theme cover that I've seen attributed to them?

SOK

The Ventures will be here in Japan for two months from early July . I was hoping that both Bob Bogle and Don Wilson would be coming along with Leon Taylor and another guitarist , but I was told that Bob wasn't coming so that means only one original member in Don . A bit of a drag but I might go see them anyway as they will come to Kumamoto and I've never seen them .

I envy your seeing The Ventures outdoors at the beach . Here they play dark , ho-hum halls .

[ Edited by: sushiman 2007-07-02 21:18 ]

And yes , I believe they did do The Munster's theme song.

[ Edited by: sushiman 2007-07-02 21:30 ]

One Venture is still The Ventures, if what you dig is experiencing a live performance from a band member(s) who was(were) right there at the start. Wish you could've joined us on the pier, matey, you would've been among friends.

Cheers and aloha,
SOK

(edit-ps: Thanks for the mostly-confirm on the Munsters theme. I'm 99% sure it's them too; a killer cover absolutely.)

"Don't let it be forgot,
That once there was a Spot,
Where Blowfish all wore sunglasses,
and Tiki-times were hot..."

[ Edited by: Son-of-Kelbo 2007-07-03 19:38 ]

On 2007-07-03 19:36, Son-of-Kelbo wrote:
One Venture is still The Ventures, if what you dig is experiencing a live performance from a band member(s) who was(were) right there at the start. Wish you could've joined us on the pier, matey, you would've been among friends.

Cheers and aloha,
SOK

(edit-ps: Thanks for the mostly-confirm on the Munsters theme. I'm 99% sure it's them too; a killer cover absolutely.)

---

"Don't let it be forgot,
That once there was a Spot,
Where Blowfish all wore sunglasses,
and Tiki-times were hot..."

[ Edited by: Son-of-Kelbo 2007-07-03 19:38 ]

Just curious ....How much did you pay to see them ? Over here $ 45 !

Dude, it was FREE.

And thankfully, that didn't make the artists seem at all undervalued -- the crowd was poppin' up and down like a stroked 409 on laughing gas, and they did a great encore following a mezmerizingly-killer drum solo. FYI, everybody in the LA area who can get to the pier on Thursday nights, there'll be more free concerts on the pier in the coming weeks, so come and raise some cheer for the local talent.

SOK

Just bought three tickets ...$ 140 ...Yikes ! But what the F , right ?

That'll keep the torches lit, Sushiman! Post some pics of the scene there if you can, neh? Hope they put on a rockin' show for you!

Cheers and best aloha,
SOK

[ Edited by: Son-of-Kelbo 2007-07-05 10:30 ]

To get myself in the mood I just yesterday ordered the Ventures DVD " Beloved Invaders " which is complete concert footage from 1965 in Japan and The Ventures messing around at pachinko , restaurants , temples , etc...Got it from Video Beat online for $ 29 .

1950s & 1960s rock n roll movies, music & TV on DVD!

http://www.thevideobeat.com

SOK ,

Saw The Ventures last night in Fukuoka . The audience was an exceptionally ( even by Japanese standards ) sedate bunch , but it was a full house and the band was rockin' . The Vs did a couple of vocal numbers ( e.g. Time Won't Let Me , sung by Leon Taylor the drummer ) which I could personally could have done without ( they ain't singers ) , but they performed a varied mix of tunes inc. 4-5 acoustic numbers ( stand up bass , snare & bass drum ; acoustic guitars ) which opened the second set . The encores featured a drum solo which inc. Leon banging away on the bassist's guitar while Mr. Bassman played some deep notes and slide .

The guys are doing a 40 date tour of Japan which started on 7/20 and finishes on 9/11 ! They still got the power !