Link Wray at The House of Blues, Orlando
February 18th, 1998

I had been wanting to see Link Wray for a long time. I've been dancing to his all-instro, nasty songs for years - but always played by other bands. Finally I was going to see the master of switchblade instrumentals himself. The original punk. The legendary Link Wray.

When he took the stage my mind didn't know what to focus on. Yes, he was glorious. But not right away. Maybe it was a clear cut case of, "when in Rome," because Link Wray's attire definitely blended in with the Mouse of Blues tourists. Either that, or he's been hanging with roadies so long he's starting to look like one. Complete with jeans, black sleeveless t-shirt, sunglasses, and yes, the all-important fanny pack, Legendary Link looked like at any second he could whip out a camera and take our picture. But that's where the similarities ended - nothing else about this 68 year-old rocker compared with any musician I had ever seen.

Opening with his classic, "Rumble," Link Wray, the God of Reverb, grabbed the small but mighty crowd and held their attention. With a constant sinister, shit-eating grin on his face, and a hearty ponytail to his hips, Link defied all age limitations. He knew he was great. He knew what his music was doing to us. Hate Bombs guitarist Mick Crowley turned to me after two songs and said, "He's beyond belief - definite proof that rock'n'roll is ageless." In fact, Link Wray has been around so long, most of the young crowd didn't know who he was. But they knew his songs. Murmurs of, "Link who?" were soon replaced by choruses of, "Oh yeah, I love this song!" that could be heard all the way back to the bar.

No other artist's songs, with the exception of the Beatles, have been so coveted. Just go to any garage rock festival. Sleazefest, Garage Rage, Fuzzfest, Treblefest, you name it - Link Wray tunes are there. I have personally seen Southern Culture on the Skids, The Cowlsingers, and Man or Astroman? perform smokin' covers of Link Wray's "Rumble," "Jack the Ripper," and "Branded." Director Robert Rodriguez used Wray's classic "Jack the Ripper" for the opening sequence of his film, "Desperado." For those of you who are still lost, just watch TV for a few minutes until that new Taco Bell commercial with the chihuahua comes on. The theme for this popular ad is, again, "Jack the Ripper." If you're still confused, go see local garage band The Hate Bombs. They've been gladly delivering the great "Jack the Ripper" by request for years.

Many people at the show felt that Link's drummer and bass player "looked confused." Looking more like members of Green Day, they seemed too young to get it. Snare and cymbals were barely audible. Link Wray was amazing but he deserves a back-up band that understands what he's all about.

I did get a kick out of the encore - Link ran out of songs and played most of his set over again, including a ragin' version of the theme from Batman. Once, twice, who cared? It was Link Wray. I was witnessing a miracle. I think Obliterati drummer Nadeem Khan said it best as he watched the show in obvious awe, "I'll be happy when I'm sixty-eight if I can still go to the bathroom by myself. This guy rocks." What a privilege to have seen him in my lifetime.

Carol Benanti I wrote kids books for years. I'm a script coordinator for Nickelodeon, and I'm a frustrated Hate Bombs/housewife. I'm especially fond of rockabilly, surf-punk, and dancing. Other Articles I've Written