A letter to Ventures Resurgence Members:
    Thanks to the Internet, I was made aware of a concert on May 24th that featured Nokie Edwards with Bob, Don and Leon. Advertised as The Ventures in Concert in Honor of Nokie Edwards, fans were informed through the Underground Fire e-mailing list that it was actually a benefit to assist with some large medical expenses accumulated during Nokie's illness several months ago. Fiona advised that she and Gerry McGee wouldn't be able to attend.
    For Resurgence members who may not know, in addition to the seven or eight Ventures pages which can, at any time be found on the internet, Underground Fire is a discussion group dedicated to the Ventures, their music and quests such as their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction. The group even have their own T-shirts, samples of which have been presented to The Ventures as gifts.
    The event was held in Springfield, Oregon (Nokie country) in the ballroom of a sprawling hotel called The Doubletree, which generously supported by donating the venue and offering a significant discount to fans from out of town. Unfortunately, Springfield was thrown into a state of shock around the same time by the quadruple slaying of parents and schoolmates by a disturbed teen. This very likely had some effect on the attendance, although the crowd was large enough that there were people at every table. According to U.F. subscriber Martin Neff, who kindly picked me up at the airport and manned the the door of the concert ballroom, the attendance was well over two hundred. The Ventures arrived with their guitars only, as drums and amplifiers were loaned by local music dealers. The first thing I noticed was the "New Nokie", lean, tanned, with gold-frame eyeglasses and no Stetson hat. Leon and Patti arrived from the Portland airport in a white "stretch" limousine.
    More members of Underground Fire had arrived at the hotel and we were admitted to the ballroom as the sound equipment was being set up. I met Doug Smith and John Westmore, also from Canada, and Dave Gogan from Portland. There really wasn't much time for rehearsal or sound check, but the band ran through portions of Memphis, Hawaii 5-0, WDR'64, Pipeline and Runaway. Then the doors were flung open and the lineup quickly admitted. A local radio personality started things off by announcing that a portion of the ticket sales would be donated to the memorial fund established due to the recent shooting tragedy. Then a moment of silence was observed in memory of the victims. An opening 6 piece band was introduced, by the name of "Happy Days". It is a versatile and entertaining rock and roll band featuring a female singer. They were good but I could hardly wait for the main attraction. As the price of admission included food, seating was at large round tables that could seat eight. The front and center table was reserved for members of Don's family that were present, including two of his daughters, wife Janis and mother Josie. Our group was seated right in front of Don, who remarked immediately that this was the first time Nokie had performed with them in about 16 years and they were about to put him to the test.
    Bob opened on lead with the Ventures medley, followed by Bombora, Peter Gunn, Hurricane and the "Bulldog Medley" which includes Bumble Bee and Journey to the Stars. Nokie, looking ten years younger, played Bob's red Fender Jazz bass until it was his turn on lead. Being up front, we could see that Don was not pleased with his amplifier, and a lack of reverb was obvious. Nokie started his lead with The Cruel Sea. The crowd seemed familiar with him and loved it. He moved into Telstar, Black Sand Beach, Apache and La Bamba to everyone's delight. We noticed him watching his fretboard a bit more than usual and the odd lick was missing or not as intricate as in the past, but this was to be expected. Yumi Bogle could be seen flitting about with her camera between numbers. I should mention how well Yumi has learned to speak English since we first met five years ago. Bob must be a good teacher. The next number was Don singing Runaway, followed by Memphis, and Walk Don't Run '64. A pause in the music allowed tickets to be drawn for a pair of donated guitars. The autographed Fender Squire model was won by none other than Don's son-in-law! In a quieter moment I asked Josie, with whom I have been corresponding with, how does an 83 years old lady stand to sit in the front row at a rock concert? With twinkling eyes she replied "I just turn off my hearing aid!" The group then carried on with House of the Rising Sun, Surf Rider, Slaughter on Tenth Avenue and Secret Agent Man. Here we saw Nokie make use of his banjo-key several times.
    By now it was obvious that the crowd was having a wonderful time, but the excitement rose even higher when Leon Taylor burst into the spotlight in Hawaii Five-O. It could be described as "dynamic." (Where have I heard that word before?) The Diamond Head / Pipeline medley followed and Don flogged furiously to get some power and reverb from his amp. He later told me that the amp was basically what he had asked for except that it was rated at only half the power of the model he uses regularly. The end drew near with Leon featured again in Wipeout. If he didn't steal the show at that point then he surely did with the encore, Caravan. This was also Nokie's "showcase" tune and Leon put on a solo performance that was as good as any I've seen. This, right after Wipeout is an incredible display of conditioning. Anyone buying the '97 Wild Again video will see much the same thing: ..a long solo, broken up by Leon doing his father's "tattoo" on the strings of the bass, then continuing on with his many new techniques.

Del & The Ventures: Nokie, Del, Don, Leon and Bob

    The autographing and photography session followed as many fans lined up with their LPs and CDs to be signed. Near the end, Josie sneaked into the line and thrust a stage-songlist under Don's busy felt pen to see if he would sign it automatically, but he caught her immediately. It was after this that I was able to relax with Don and his family and ask a couple of questions, one regarding the banjo playing on the Live in Japan '76 CD. It turned out to be a 6 string banjo that is tuned like a guitar that was played by Nokie. I can remember seeing these instruments in the '70s and often wished I had bought one for use in my own band at the time. I was still riding on a cloud the next day at checkout time when I noticed the hotel desk-clerk was one of the concert-goers. When I asked how she liked The Ventures, she gleefully replied... "They were great! especially the drummer!"
    This historic event was professionally video-taped and if Venture-approved it will be available for all to share the fun, and help Nokie in a time of need.

  Nokie & The Ventures Forever,  Del Halterman

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