Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

I had wanted to see The Beach Boys at the Alabama Theater earlier this year, but could not get it together. In the event, I believe the date may have been rescheduled for later this year. Had it taken place, it would likely have been my last time to see two Beach Boys together, as long-time member Bruce Johnston announced his retirement from touring last month. With Bruce spending his nights in his own bed, Mike Love & Al Jardine are the only two official Beach Boys still active, though they don't get along well enough to tour together.

Anyway, when I mentioned I was going to the Beach, my sister pointed me to a news article mentioning that Mike's Beach Boys would be at the OneFlight Myrtle Beach Classic golf tournament at the Grand Dunes resort, so I picked up a ticket (a really odd and frustrating process, ending up with something you can't just print out), and headed out Friday afternoon.

It turned out that the shuttle parking lot was the old Myrtle Square Mall site (which is still completely vacant after all these years), so i parked and got on a bus which took us a mile or so north. I had never been back in Grand Dunes, which is gated, but it is quite nice with golf, houses and a country club all right on the ocean. The concert site was backed up against the shore, and you could see boats passing by behind the stage. It was quite a chilly evening for May, and I had my sweater buttoned up.

The opening act was an Italian singer I had not heard of, Benedetta Caretta. She sang to backing tracks, without a band (aside from one song where she brought out a guitarist). From where I was standing, I could barely hear her, but she seemed to have quite a nice voice.

After she finished her set, which was probably about five songs, the roadies starting setting up for the main show, and Mike & co opened with a 1968 top-20 hit, "Do It Again", moving directly after that into the more well-known "Surfin' Safari".

John Stamos mentioned Mike's recent 85th birthday, and yes, I have to admit, Mike was not having a great voice night. He was certainly game, and the audience was appreciative, but the numbers which were originally sung by another Beach Boy back in the day came off better as the band was quite good, both vocally and instrumentally. I'm not quite sure why Stamos was there, whether it was a one-off, or if he is on the tour, but he has been associated with the band since the 1980s so it's never a real surprise to see him turn up. I thought he did a very nice version of Dennis Wilson's classic song, "Forever".

I didn't capture any of the first songs on video because from where I was standing, the sound was trash. I thought it was down to the wind and the sound system, but when I walked just a few feet closer a bit later on, I was suddenly in the focus zone, and the sound was excellent, and I did record several numbers (fumbling the start a few times) and the traditional closing duo: "Barbara Ann" & "Fun, Fun, Fun".

The setlist was something like this, though I won't vouch for the order except for the first two & last two numbers:

Do It Again
Surfin Safari
Catch A Wave
Surfin' USA
Surfer Girl
409
Little Deuce Coupe
Shutdown
Don't Worry Baby
I Get Around
Darlin'
Help Me Rhonda
Be True To Your School
Sloop John B
God Only Knows
Wouldn't It Be Nice
Good Vibrations
Forever
California Girls
California Dreaming
Rockaway Beach
Kokomo
Barbara Ann
Fun, Fun, Fun

Given the venue and time limit, there weren't a lot of deep cuts, but probably "Rockaway Beach" surprised some folks.

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I think Mike had a cold, but he was game..

The last time I saw The Beach Boys was on the now legendary 2012 50th Anniversary Reunion Tour in Atlanta. Since then, Mike Love and Bruce Johnston have been leading the "Beach Boys" flagged tour with the permission if not the participation of the other members, and Friday they brought the show to the North Charleston Performing Arts Center, a fairly intimate venue with great sound (in marked contrast to some of the outdoor venues I've seen them in over the years).

I got there about 40 minutes early and decided to have a concession stand hot-pretzel and beer while waiting: $13.50. Talk about your captive customers!

The shows started before the band came on with a video presentation with bits of Beach Boys' history and footage of performances from the last 50 years. Then the band came out and started into a back-to-back presentation of the surfing songs including "Surfin' Safari", "Catch a Wave", "Hawaii", & "Surfin' USA". The touring band is (at least for this venue) eight people. Mike & Bruce, of course, Jeff Foskett who has been with various band permutations since the 80s on guitar and falsetto, John Cowsill (from the 60s group "The Cowsills") on drums, Scott Totten on guitar and vocals, a Brian (not Wilson, obviously) whose last name I did not catch on bass and an energetic sax player whose name I did not catch at all as well as a second keyboard player.

I thought the sound was a little thin at the beginning on "Surfin' Safari", but they either made adjustments or everyone warmed up because things were much more solid after that. Mike did the MC duties and seems to be slipping into the role of "Elder Statesman" fairly well, something you might not have expected from the younger Love. His speaking voice had a bit of quaver, and at times you could hear his age in the leads, but on the whole he came over very well, including a long segment of "Do It Again" where he was completely unsupported by any other vocals for whole verses.

One of the criticisms Mike has gotten over the years is of running a greatest hits show rather than displaying the breadth of the Beach Boys catalog. In fairness, I think he knows what a festival audience wants, but in this venue he definitely showcased some of the lesser known gems including "Farmer's Daughter", "Kiss Me Baby", "Good To My Baby", "Surf City" & "The Warmth Of The Sun".

Although surprisingly Mike did not mention his recent memoir, the weight of history was definitely part of the show. One device, used several times, was having historical footage play behind the band while they performed a song. It was somewhat eerie at times to see current Mike singing in front of young Mike, closely in sync and often making the same gestures. That had to have taken a lot of practice. The band also paid tribute to the late Carl & Dennis Wilson by singing backup to historical leads: Carl on "God Only Knows" and Dennis on "Do You Wanna Dance?". This led into a segment where Mike touched on his Eastern beliefs about what goes on and what remains and introduced a well received new song "Pisces Brothers" that was largely a tribute to his late friend George Harrison.

Bruce got two notable leads during the show. One was, of course, his often covered and much loved "Disney Girls" while the other was "You're So Good To Me" during which he altered the original phrasing quite a bit, which was unexpected but largely worked, I thought. Speaking of which, I also noticed that Mike had written a number of new lyrics to "Getcha Back".

After a brief pro-forma walk-off, the band was back for an encore to close with two of their biggest crowd-pleasers Barbara Ann & Fun, Fun Fun (I can't put the version I recorded last night here, because it was very much a sing-along -- and I can't sing). I do have a few more videos to upload, so check this space again..

I got my ticket just after the North Charleston show was announced. Shortly after that, they also announced a show for 29 January 2017 at the Koger Center in Columbia. Folks, these guys are in their 70s: I highly recommend you go to the Columbia show if at all you can, because a) It's a great show & b) You may not have another chance.

UPDATE 22 February 2022 -- I'm finally getting some of these videos uploaded. Also adding map icon.

Surfer Girl (partial) -- I missed the start of this one:

UPDATE 26 February 2022 -- Missed the start, somehow turned the camera off, then turned it back on. Enh, there's no undoing it now...

Surfer Girl (continued):

Be True To Your School:

UPDATE 27 February 2022

Summer In Paradise:

UPDATE 28 February 2022:

Little Deuce Coupe / 409 / Shutdown / I Get Around:

Normal posting to resume in two weeks or so.

Have a great holiday weekend folks!

But I got mine yesterday!

Since I reviewed their 50th Anniversary Tour show in Atlanta, I've been waiting for the accompanying album That's Why God Made the Radio.

I am happy to report that it is a "real" Beach Boy's album, much moreso than 1992's lackluster and Brian-less Summer in Paradise which heretofore had been the group's swan-song. The songs are all new, and Brian is fully involved. Is every one a gem? No, but that's never been the case even on Pet Sounds.

If you don't want to risk the whole album, splurge $0.99 for the incredibly catchy Isn't It Time or The Private Life Of Bill And Sue.

[Front Row Bottom left-to-right: Brian Wilson-Piano/Vocals, Jeff Foskett-Guitar/Vocals, David Marks-Guitar, Mike Love-Vocals, Al Jardine-Guitar/Vocals, Unknown, Bruce Johnston-Keyboards/Vocals]

(Wanted to get this out last night, but my uploads didn't finish..)

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