Revisiting the Rendezvous

Angelique Flores

The Rendezvous Ballroom wasn’t just an old venue where bands would play.

The Balboa Peninsula establishment conjured up good vibrations. Before it

burned down in 1966, the ballroom created memories, long-lasting

friendships, even romance. And it gave birth to the music that introduced

the word “wipeout” to a nation.

On Surfin’ Sunday, the ballroom will rise from the ashes for the second

year in a row with the Huntington Beach International Surf Museum’s

Rendezvous Ballroom Reunion 2000. The event will reunite nine original

surf bands -- headlining with the King of Surf Guitar, Dick Dale -- and

the loyal audience who helped create the surf culture in Southern

California.

“Some of these bands haven’t seen each other for 25 years,” said Bob

Frederickson, vice chairman of the museum.

A number of the bands came out to last year’s sold-out Rendezvous

Ballroom Reunion at the Hard Rock Cafe in Newport Beach. Band members who

attended last year seem eager for Sunday’s event, which will be held at

the Galaxy Theater in Santa Ana.

“It was a huge party atmosphere,” recalls Jon Blair, guitarist for Jon &

the Nightriders who will play again at this year’s reunion. “It was the

same people who attended the Rendezvous in the ‘60s.”

In the early 1960s, the Rendezvous Ballroom was o7 thef7 place for

surf music. It was where many of the original surf bands developed their

style.

Band members and concert-goers alike are looking forward to the

camaraderie of the old Rendezvous regulars at this weekend’s show.

“It’s fun to reminisce with a lot of the guys playing,” said Blair, whose

ties to Surf City date back to when he used to be a delivery boy for the

Independent.

The Chantays played many shows at the Rendezvous and will return again

for the reunion.

“I’m glad to help and support Surf Sunday and the museum and support my

city,” said Bob Spickard, guitarist for The Chantays.

Spickard holds more than musical memories of the place. At the Rendezvous

in 1964, he met a girl named Kathy who had just moved from Minnesota.

“I saw her before the introduction to a show and did a double take,”

Spickard said.

Lucky for Spickard, this was the girl that a friend set him up with later

that night. Married the day before the Rendezvous Ballroom burned down in

1966, Bob and Kathy have remained together for 34 years.

The concert will be divided into the three waves of surf music. The first

features bands from the 1960s, including Dick Dale, who invented the

loud, reverb guitar and vocals that distinguish surf music.

Returning to this year’s reunion concert are The Nocturnes; The Chantays,

known for their hit, “Pipeline”; and The Lively Ones, known for their

song “Surf Rider,” which was featured in the movie “Pulp Fiction.” The

Belairs, know for the classic surf band song “Mr. Moto,” will also

perform.

Dean Torrance of Jan and Dean fame will appear with his group, the Surf

City All-star Band, in a special videotaped performance before the

scheduled start of the concert.

Representing the second wave of the 1970s and 1980s is Jon & The

Nightriders. The lineup for the third wave, bands from the 1990s,

includes The Space Cossacks from Virginia and Orange County’s own The

Eliminators.

The money raised by the concert will help the surf museum move from its

2,000-square-foot location on Olive Avenue to its Ultimate Museum site --

within the new commercial complex to be built north of the Waterfront

Hilton, Frederickson said.

The museum’s wants to have a 40,000-square-foot building with a gallery,

theaters, aquarium, tide pools, archives and more. Frederickson hopes to

match the $10,000 that was raised through last year’s concert.

“The intent of the event is a fund-raiser, but it is also a celebration

of the bands and the place where surf culture developed,” Frederickson

said. “Surf music is the glue that keeps everyone together.”

The Galaxy Theater is at 3503 S. Harbor Blvd., Santa Ana. The Surf City

All-star Band will perform at 2:10 p.m. The live bands will perform from

3 to 8 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $30, or $50 for reserved seats. They are

available at the Galaxy, 957-0600. Contact the Huntington Beach

International Surfing Museum at 960-3483 for special VIP tickets, which

cost $100. The museum is at 411 Olive Ave., Huntington Beach, or can be

reached through its Web site: o7 https://www.surfingmuseum.orgf7 .