Dick Dale started performing with his guitar at the Rinky Dink Ice Cream Parlor at this corner beginning in 1959.

By 1961, the film Gidget had been released and sparked an interest in surfing culture. Dale had a large enough crowd to start playing the Rendezvous Ballroom, and his first big hit with the Del-Tones was "Let's Go Trippin'."

view full location details...

Built in 1928, the Rendezvous Ballroom was constructed on the Balboa peninsula in Orange County, CA.

Capitalizing on the popularity of swing and big band music, the ballroom featured numerous performers of that era: Artie Shaw, Ozzie Nelson, Benny Goodman, Guy Lombardo, Bob Crosby, Tommy Dorsey, Stan Kenton, and more.

In the early '60, Dick Dale was playing at an ice cream parlor in the area. He added members of a backing band to form the Del-Tones, and he played his first gig at the Rendezvous on July 1, 1961. Only 17 people showed up, most of them his surfer friends.

But Dale continued to play and within four months, thousands of people were attending nightly to see the band perform and dance "The Surfer Stomp." Several other bands formed as a result of these shows, and surf rock was born.

The Rendezvous Ballroom burnt down in 1966 (coincidentally, a band called the Cinderman played the night before). In 1986, the O.C. Historical Commission dedicated a plaque here.

view full location details...