The temperature wasn’t exactly California hot, but the sun was out and Mike Love yet again led this New Millennium version of The Beach Boys through a passel of surfin’ classics. (Review, photo gallery)
Fun, Fun, Fun: Mike Love and the Beach Boys entertained a sold-out crowd at Meijer Gardens on Thursday. (Photos/Anna Sink)
By Mary Mattingly
LocalSpins.com
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What’s summer without a visit from America’s original beach bums?
Of course, a couple of these particular beach bums, aka The Beach Boys, have logged about a half-century on their surfboards. But they still drew a sellout crowd to Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park on Thursday, with 1,900 fans jamming the outdoor amphitheater in standing-room-only fashion on a sunny, though not scorching, evening.
“Every time I see them, there are less of the original members,” remarked audience member Dan Gangwer, who was catching the Beach Boys wave for the fourth time. “It’s kind of scary.”
With lead singer Mike Love, 72, and keyboard player Bruce Johnston, 71, carrying the torch, the band once again reproduced the hits that cemented the Beach Boys in American, popular culture.
Bringing the Beach to the Amphitheater: The sold-crowd on Thursday.
“I’m telling you, this is so overwhelming that we’re going to take an intermission,” Love quipped after the band’s seventh song, “Surfin’ Safari.” “Followed by a nap.”
POKING FUN OF THEIR ADVANCED YEARS
The singer continued to playfully take jabs at the band’s advanced age throughout the set, even calling one of the group’s previously released albums “one of Lincoln’s favorites, released in 1872. I mean, 1972, I get confused sometimes.”
Nevertheless, the band remains an energetic bunch, touring for their fans, who clearly still adore The Beach Boys. And that appeal covers a broad range age, from families with young children to seasoned fans. Many rocked loud Hawaiian shirts and leis, with some bopping beach balls around the amphitheater.
(The Love-led band plays Freedom Hill in the Detroit area tonight; founding member Brian Wilson, meanwhile, played a series of shows earlier this summer with Al Jardine and David Marks.)
The show, split by a 10-minute intermission, spanned an impressive 2-1/2 hours, trotting out the hits “Surfin’ U.S.A.,” “Kokomo,” “Barbara Ann,” “Surf City,” “Good Vibrations,” “California Girls,” “Little Deuce Coupe,” and “Get Around,” with faster tunes such as “Dance, Dance, Dance” bringing fans to their feet. Band members also traded lead vocal duties and showed off their ability to still pull off those characteristically tight harmonies.
The encore included “Honeysuckle”and “Goin’ to the Beach,” off the band’s upcoming compilation box set, “Made in California,” being released on Aug. 27, nearly 51 years after The Beach Boys’ debut when Love was just 21. But for enthusiastic fans made in Michigan, Thursday night’s show proved that age really is nothing but a number.
THE BEACH BOYS: THE LOCAL SPINS PHOTO GALLERY BY ANNA SINK (AUG. 1, 2013)
Email John Sinkevics at jsinkevics@gmail.com.
Copyright 2013, Spins on Music
