A Whirl with the Wurlitzer Crowd

Bev, Diana, and I attended a Wurlitzer concert Sunday evening at the Old Time Music Hall in El Segundo. I was expecting a concert of old-fashioned music. I was not expecting an engineering marvel.

The organ has more than 2,000 pipes. The console controls a set of hand bells, cymbals, drums, a xylophone, hundreds of flaps and baubles and what-have-you. The organ is something straight out of "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory." To think that the organist controls all that through buttons, pedals, and knobs! It takes up the entire stage, and as one affecionado told us, there's another room behind the stage where more of the organ is housed.

Well over 90 percent of those in attendance were men. This came as little surprise to me, as the organ is a mechanical wonder. Two men in the audience were thanked from the stage for their efforts to maintain this amazing piece of machinery.

Later, at the Purple Orchid, the tiki bar across the street, Diana said that joining this group of organ enthusiasts would be a great way to meet men. She also suggested car shows and gun shows. The only thing is that organ buffs, like train hobbyists, might tend to be wonks. But even if I don't connect with any men at these concerts, I sure would love to see more of the old-time organs of So Cal.

And the music hall is well worth a return visit, as a silent film has been shown there every Sunday since 1968--accompanied, of course, by the organ. Next up is "Charlie Chan in Shanghai" and after that, Gene Kelly "Singin' in the Rain." What fun!