MARK THOMAS DEMING:GARAGE GREATNESS >>>

This isn’t a story about how I talked my way into all-access passes for my brother-in-law (the camera man) and me at the Moore Theatre Friday night.  It’s not a story about how the press passes I was supposed to find at will call weren’t there.  It’s not a story about how no one I met at the Moore had heard of me.  I’m saving that story for my editor, Matt Driscoll, on Monday.

This is a story about two of the greatest bands in Tacoma history. In Northwest history. In United States history. In the history of rock and roll.


I’m standing backstage by the guitars. Wilson Bros., Ventures Model guitars. Guitars named after the band that will at any moment pick up them up and take the stage.  Meanwhile, the opening act, a group of 60-somethings dressed like mobsters, loosens up the crowd. 

Ever hear of a little band called the Fabulous Wailers?

Now, standing in the shadows watching the Wailers finish their set, I’m joined by a gentleman with a handlebar mustache and slicked-back hair.  He wears a black shirt with guitars embroidered on both lapels.  I put out my hand, introduce myself.

“Nokie Edwards,” the man replies. 

Nokie Edwards, who joined the Ventures in 1960, when they â€" along with the Wailers â€" were still jamming in South Sound garages. Nokie Edwards, who between sets watches the video screen behind the stage as members of Agent Orange, Mudhoney, The Presidents of the United States and Aerosmith (Aerosmith!) tell him how cool he is, how he changed their lives, how he’s their hero. Nokie Edwards, who puts his arm around me for a picture. Nokie Edwards!

Onstage he mostly sits, slouches, sandwiched between guitarist/bassist Bob Spalding and founding member and rhythm guitarist, Don Wilson. (While co-founder Bob Bogle still records with the band, he doesn’t perform much nowadays.) He looks like someone who’s been parked in front of a slot machine in Reno for 11 hours. Then you notice his hands. They glide effortlessly over the frets as he plays the riffs from “Hawaii Five-0,” “Secret Agent Man,” “Surf Rider” and “Walk Don’t Run.” Classic riffs. Riffs as recognizable as the Star Spangled Banner.

The song that stole the night, though, was “Apache.” (While best known for surf music, the Ventures’ oeuvre contains instrumentals of all kinds â€" even westerns.) While Don Wilson and Nokie Edwards coaxed war whoops and arrows from the strings, whoops of approval rose from the crowd.  Not just from fogies, either, but X-ers and Y-ers too â€" kids in full punk regalia.  

Lt. Gov. Brad Owen guested on sax, looking exactly how you would expect a lieutenant gov. playing a saxophone would look. Alan White, the drummer from Yes (Yes!), played timpani and snare on “Hawaii Five-O.” 

(When I ran into him in a basement corridor, he shook my hand and said, “Where’s the door?” Um, awesome!?)

The night ended with a grand revue, both bands rocking the Wailers’ “Louie, Louie,” before conceding the stage to some randomly appearing go-go girls, which â€" looking back â€" seems the only appropriate sendoff.

Photography:  Matt Regan