Who does not know and love one Beach Boys song? If you answered, “Me!”, then you may as well move to the next task on your to do list and cease reading now.
With 50 years of wear and tear on the BB trademark, this was the golden opportunity to roll out at least 50 songs for Australian fans. Al Jardine, Mike Love, Bruce Johnston, Brian Wilson and David Marks are all there, backed by a tribe of musicians who help the elder Beach Boys make it through what proved to be a lengthy gathering of the old and young surfers among us.
With a catalogue this extensive, there are going to be hits and misses (or “Heroes and Villians”) in any audience members mind. During the first set, more so than set two, Brian was having a difficult time keeping it from sounding flat. Sitting off to the left of the stage his demeanour never seems to change and that is something we have been used to over the last sightings of Wilson during his solo visits to Australia.
All that said, the man is a musical genius and the songs and arrangements shone through, whatever quibble there was about his vocals. It was a miracle to see these existing Beach Boys back on stage and entertaining a crowd in a huge arena.
The first half of the show gave us some of the most memorable surfing songs: “Surfin’ Safari”, the excellent “Surfer Girl” and “Catch A Wave”. The Crystals cover of “Then I Kissed Her” was another highlight, but “Cotton Fields” came across as almost dirge-like in comparison to some of the other numbers.
Besides the surf and the girls the Beach Boys loved their cars and Mike Love rambled about automotive love before the gang revved off with “Little Deuce Coupe”, “409”, “Shut Down”, and “I Get Around”. Most of the audience got their motors started and jiggled around a bit before we could take the intermission and get our oil changed.
Watching the legendary this far down the track is something that is almost surreal. The songs are as golden and youthful as ever, and watching the videos at times was preferable to seeing Mike Love point and try to urge the audience on one too many times.
The footage and photos played during the songs took you way back and were a charming accompaniment to the fabulous hits that washed over the smiling throng. Even the departed Dennis and Carl Wilson were in attendance to sing “Forever” and “God Only Knows” by the magic of technology. This charming and moving remembrance of brothers passed was a well executed tribute.
But we had to head back to the Califronian beach to get this marathon to a close and the whole band really brought it home for the finish. “Good Vibrations”, “California Girls”, “All Summer Long”, “Help Me Rhonda” (with all in attendance adding backing vocals) led us into some Chuck Berry (“Rock N Roll Music”) and the main set closed with “Surfin’ USA”.
“Kokomo” had to be rolled out (being a #1 in Australia in 1988/9 for many a week), the crowd-pleasing “Barbara Ann” and “Fun, Fun, Fun” finished the evening off with Brian up from the piano and strapping on a bass… and that was all she wrote.
They may never pass this way again and they pulled it off with more panache thea most artists this late in their career can do. The Beach Boys may not be made for these times, but they did prove that their hits are timeless masterpieces that will live with us long after they ride off on that wave into the sunset.
– Paul Busch
