CIty
Zu
Every
Mothers Son
Ian
Witcomb
Kingsmen
The
Knickerbockers
Merrilee
and The Turnabouts
Sam
the Sham and The Pharos
Sonics
Swinging
Medallions
The
Stingrays
Stone
Poneys With Linda Ronstadt
The
Tremolos
The
Unusuals
Wailers
Others ??
The Village West was a real popular Dance Hall in the mid 60's. Great talent both from the Northwest and from all over the U.S. played there. Some of these groups were: The Swinging Medalions, Sam the Sham and the Pharoes, Ian Whitcomb, The Knickerbockers, Marilee Rush and the Turnabouts, City Zu, Sonics, Kingsmen, Every Mothers Son, and I believe the Wailers, and The Unusuals also played there. This was a great place to go and the Birch Bay resort area with its beachs and the girls made it a great place to party.Randy Riffe, December 2001
My band, The Stingrays, played Village West in Birch Bay a number of times. The most memorable dates were a weekend on which a group of Hells Angels and a Canadian biker club (I can't remember their club name) faced off at an intersection right near the club in the middle of the day Saturday.
The Washington State Patrol and local law enforcement agencies were aware of this confrontation in advance and had an army of police on hand to send both groups back in the direction from which they came.
The other thing I remember is that there was a radar installation nearby and every time the radar sweep came around it buzzed in all of our equipment and the PA.
Bobby Summers, April 2008
____________________________________________________
Great site -- thanks for putting this together regarding PNBs. I frequented the Village West in the 60s and saw many of these bands there. A favorite was the Sonics and I filled in one time when their keyboard player couldn't make it to the gig. It was a thrill as a young kid. I put together a short instrumental as a newer take on memories of the Village West, and thinking about Village West led me to your sight. If you're interested, the tune is on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-268314837/village-west thanks and regards,
Bob Mustacich, December 2018
