I saw Dick and his son Jimmy play Saturday night at the Birchmere in VA. What a great place. We sat about 20' from the stage, had dinner and drinks through the show.
It was not what I expected, each played new Fender signature 3" acoustic guitars. Dick did one song on a harmonica and piano.
The connection with his son was amazing, this definitely felt like a guy who was on the brink and pulled thru, that much stronger by the experience.
He played his hits along with a number of cover songs, including "Rumble" in a nod to Link Wray.
During the show, Dick shared a lot of great stories from his years as a player and teased his son a good bit. (one Dale wisdome - good guitar players don't make mistakes, great guitar players make a lot but hide them).
Afterwards, he stayed to sign autographs and sell CD's. I was near the front of the line with my "Checkered Flag" CD cover. Dick seemed surprised to see this CD and talked about several of the songs before signing it. The lady in front of me bought his latest, "Spacial Distortion". Dick asked me if I had this and I told him I bought from your site two years ago. I told him I was floating in the pool the night before listening to the CD and my kids were kidding me about playing "Silent Night" in the summer. He seemed pleased I had the disc and told a story about why he included that song. The signed cover will be hung in my garage, near the bikes.
My wife, while not a huge Dick Dale fan, loved the show as well and Dick's cover songs. It was a great night in an interesting venue.
