Players:    The Ventures and Nokie Edwards 
Date:       May 24, 1998
Place:      Doubletree Hotel  Springfield, Oregon, USA
Report:     D.Halterman  from Canada

From left to right:















Concert Report by J.Etheredge, DJ in Springfield
I thought you might like to know that The Ventures were reunited with Nokie Edwards in concert in Springfield, Oregon, last night.
The line-up: Nokie, Bob, Don, and Leon. Of course you already know that the Northwest is home territory for these guys.
Nokie has been living for the past several years in the nearby community of Brownsville. The concert was apparently thrown together at the last minute.
I host a weekly oldies show on a local radio station, & I did not hear about it until I heard it mentioned on the air at my own station just 4 hours before the show.
It was held at a motel banquet room, with table seating and a free buffet line.
I got the impression it was set up so The Ventures and members of their families could hang out together, much like a family reunion.
They hired a local videographer to tape the show, so they'll have a nice souvenir.
The taping effort was clearly not high-tech enough to make it something they were going to try to market.
I'll bet they didn't sell enough tickets to cover the expenses of getting there.
The concert was the best-kept secret in town.
Nokie began the show on bass for a few number while Bob played lead. Then Nokie switched to lead and Bob played bass for the rest of the show.
The show consisted of mostly very familiar material: their own hits and classic instrumental standards originally done by others.
They played both versions of "Walk, Don't Run." They did "Slaughter," "Surf Rider," "5-O," "Cruel Sea," as well as "Memphis," "Pipeline," "Bulldog Medley," "Telstar," "Wipe Out" (their show closer) and "Caravan" (their encore, wth Leon's lengthy drum solo, including drumming on Bob's bass).
That's not a complete set list, just some of the highlights. They raffled off a couple of autographed guitars.
They hung out after the show to visit with fans (I'll bet here were less than 100 in attendance!) and sign autographs. All in all a great show, a pleasant atmosphere.
I feel very lucky to have been there. You're obviously a fan.
I thought you might like to hear about this unique event.

(The above report is from Arnold's e-mail at "Underground Fire" Ventures Mailing List)