Concert Review: The Beach Boys – Endless Summer Gold

The Beach Boys Endless Summer Gold tour. Image: Jambase

CONCERT REVIEW: THE BEACH BOYS – ENDLESS SUMMER GOLD

Last night, The Beach Boys came to Colorado Springs as part of their 2024 Endless Summer Gold tour. The tour kicked off in February in Honolulu and will wrap up in December in New York. They appeared at the new Ford Amphitheater. More on the venue later.

CONTENT

• History of The Beach Boys
• My History With The Beach Boys
• Last Night’s Beach Boys Concert
• The Endless Summer Gold Setlist
• Ford Amphitheater Venue: Not Ready for Primetime

History of The Beach Boys

They’re among the most successful American bands ever, with over 100 million records sold and over 80 charted songs worldwide.

The original band consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their pal Al Jardine. They started in Hawthorne, CA, in 1961 as a garage band in Southern California.

The band’s lineup has changed many times over the years, with more than 60 musicians counted among its touring members, including John Stamos (the actor has periodically performed with the Beach Boys since 1985) and Glen Campbell, who temporarily replaced Brian on tour in the mid-’60s, and rose to fame on television as the summer replacement for the popular Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.

After a lengthy legal dispute over rights to The Beach Boys’ name was settled amicably in March 2008, with Mike Love owning the name and agreed to by the Wilson Brothers. Al Jardine was no longer allowed to use the name for his touring band. Mike Love has been the consistent lead singer for the band since the 1960s.

This tour is called Endless Summer Gold. It celebrates the 50th anniversary of their greatest early hits album, Endless Summer, released in 1974, which revived the band’s career. The tour also promotes a new documentary ironically titled The Beach Boys, which is streaming on Disney+.

Endless Summer album cover, 1974. Image: Wikipedia

My History With The Beach Boys

1964: My love of The Beach Boys goes back to the early ’60s. One of the first record albums I bought was All Summer Long, their sixth album, which came out in 1964. It was the same year The Beatles came to America. Considered one of the first true “concept albums,” it featured more autobiographical songs of a typical teenager in Southern California rather than cars and surfing. I was too young at the time to understand all the concepts, but five years later, I would be on a Southern California beach as a teenager where I watched the Girls On the Beach (a song from the album).

The Beach Boys, All Summer Long, 1964. Image: Wikipedia

I got the song I Get Around and enjoyed cruising up and down Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood in 1969. And the song Little Honda inspired me as I rode my Honda 350 throughout my university days. The lead song All Summer Long was featured in the closing credits to George Lucas‘ autobiographical film, American Graffiti.

The author, during his Honda phase

1972: My first Beach Boys concert was in early 1972. I did not just attend it; I participated with my college roommate in producing the light show for the concert.

Brian Wilson at Winterland, by Paul Natkin. Image: Getty Images

In the psychedelic days of the early ’70s, the light shows used gels and fluids pushed around with concave glass dishes. I was up in the rafters of San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom.

Last night’s psychedelic light show. Author’s photo

2009: The second Beach Boys concert I attended was in 2009 at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. Many attendees were older than I was; last night, I was older than most attendees. Here is my Concert Review from fifteen years ago.

Beach Boys concert, 2009, Bruce Johnson and Mike Love. Image: TicketMaster

2012: The most recent Beach Boys concert I attended was in 2012, when they celebrated their 50th anniversary. The band reunited Mike Love, Al Jardine, Bruce Johnson, early member David Marks, and, for the first regular tour in almost three decades, Brian Wilson. The tour also paralleled the release of a new album, That’s Why God Made The Radio.

Brian said the concert tour was dedicated to the memory of his two brothers: Dennis, who had drowned in 1983, and his youngest brother Carl, who died of lung cancer in 1998.

Beach Boys 50th Anniversary Reunion Tour, 2012. Image: Wikipedia

I saw the concert at the Red Rocks Amphitheater near Denver, CO, where The Beatles performed in 1964. Brian occasionally had a hard time and used a teleprompter, but we didn’t care; we were listening to a legend.

The Beach Boys at Red Rocks, 2012. Author’s photo

The Beach Boys at Red Rocks, 2012. Author’s photo

2018: But wait, there’s more. In 2018, I saw Brian Wilson, Al Jardine, and early band member Blondie Chaplin do a 50th Anniversary of Pet Sounds concert world tour that came to Colorado Springs at the Pikes Peak Center. He struggled a bit, but no one cared; we were listening to a legend. Here is the setlist.

Brian Wilson, Pikes Peak Center, 2018. Image: The Gazette

Last Night’s Beach Boys Concert

Beach Boys Endless Summer Gold Concert, Ford Amphitheater, Colorado Springs. Author’s photo

As I watched the band come on stage, I reflected that this was the “America’s Band” defining the California Sound that typified the California Dream. They were famous for their complex harmonizations. As the music started, beach balls were bounced among the audience. All of the “orchestra section” was on their feet. As the songs played, there were photos and film clips of earlier performances across the last six decades. There were tributes of an idealized nostalgia.

The band lineup included:

• Mike Love: writer, vocals. He is 83 and was married five times. President Biden is only 81.

• Bruce Johnson: Keyboard, bongos. He joined in 1965 and is the longest non-original Beach Boy.

• Christian Love, son of Mike Love, took the stage with purple hair. He did vocals and guitar. He played a Rickenbacher guitar, like his uncle Carl Wison and Beatle George Harrison)

• Brian Eichenberger, musical director

• Jon Bolton on drums seemed to channel Keith Moon of The Who. His playing was vigorous, but he did several vocal solos and was very good, especially for songs that initially featured Carl Wilson

• Keith Hubacher

• Randy Leago

• John Weidemeyer, lead guitar. He did the falsetto vocals originally done by Brian Wilson.

The Endless Summer Gold Setlist

Mike Love begins the concert. Author’s photo

The concert started with:

• Do It Again

• Surfin’ Safari There were photos on the monitors of surfers younger than Mike Love’s grandchildren

• Hawaii My Apple Watch told me the ambient sound exceeded 90Db, but I have worn earplugs since seeing The Who

• Don’t Back Down

• Rockaway Beach originally done by The Ramones

• Surfin’ USA

• Little Surfer Girl was dedicated to all the ladies in the audience. Mike Love asked everyone to turn on the flashlight on their phones. It might have worked better later in the evening.
  

  Honoring the ladies. Author’s photo

• Summer (vocals by Christian Love)

• Getcha Back (Mike Love had trouble hitting all the notes, but no one cared; we were listening to a legend)

• Wendy (vocals by Bruce Johnson)

• Good To My Baby

• When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)

• Darlin’ Wild Honey (vocals by Jon Bolton) from the album Wild Honey

• Be True to Your School from 1963 (vocals by lead guitarist John Weidemeyer. Mike Love shared that Brian Wilson’s son graduated from local Colorado College)

• In My Room

• Still Cruisin’

• Don’t Worry Baby written by Brian Wilson and lyricist Roger Christian, inspired by the Ronettes‘ Be My Baby and later inspired The Byrds‘ Mr. Tambourine Man. (vocals by Leichenburger)

And then some motorized songs:

• Little Deuce Coupe

• 409

• Shut Down

• Little Honda

• I Get Around

INTERMISSION

The Beach Boys, Ford Amphitheater. Author’s photo

• The Warmth of the Sun, Mike Love related that Brian Wilson began writing it in November 1963, after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. “The melody was so haunting, sad, melancholy.”

• I Can Hear Music, a cover of the Ronettes‘ song. But his version includes acapella, reminding me of CSN&Y or Eagles. (vocals by Jon Bolton.)

• Pisces Brothers (Mike Love related that while in India, he met George Harrison, who had a birthday close to his, making them born under the sign of Pisces.

• God Only Knows from the Pet Sounds album, originally sung by Carl Wilson. Mike Love dedicated the song to him, as he was lost to lung cancer over 20 years ago. The song is featured in the end credits of the hit British film Love, Actually. Paul McCartney says this song “reduces me to tears every time I hear it.” I describe the relationship between Brian Wilson and The Beatles in my article History of the Summer of Love – 1967: Part 4, Rock & Roll.

• California Girls featuring photos of beautiful models and actresses. They added a lyric, “I wish they all could be Colorado Girls.”

• California Dreamin’ is a cover of the hit by the Mamas and the Papas.

• Sloop John B

• Wouldn’t It Be Nice was featured in the film Shampoo

• Then I Kissed Her is a cover and rewording of Then He Kissed Me by The Crystals.

• Do Ya Want to Dance was initially sung by Dennis Wilson. (vocals by Bruce Johnson.)

• Help Me Rhonda (vocals by Christian Love)

• Barbara Ann People from the audience were invited on stage to dance, especially young children and pretty young women

• Kokomo featured in the film Cocktail was written by Mike Love and Terry Melcher, as well by “Papa” John Phillips and Scott McKenzie. who did San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair.

• Good Vibrations (vocals by Christian Love)

• Summertime Blues is a song covered by everyone, including The Who

The concert closed with:

• Fun, Fun, Fun where the intro was taken from Chuck Berry‘s Johnny B. Goode.

Ford Amphitheater Venue: Not Ready for Prime Time

Ford Amphitheater, looking west to the Rocky Mountains. Author’s photo

Not that I’m complaining, but:

• The venue is not complete; it’s only been open for a week.
• There is no queue (line) control; it snakes around the block and then doubles back on itself. The gate doesn’t open until 45 minutes before the concert.
• The venue holds 8,000 people; the parking lot holds 500 cars.
• Seat ushers were not to be found; seat sections are only labeled when approaching from the bottom of the amphitheater, and the entrance is at the top.
• The noise abatement walls are temporary; 144 neighbors have complained about the noise during the first weekend of its opening.

Ford Amphitheater noise abatement walls. Author’s photo

However:

• The seats had cup holders!
• And the venue had giant water dispensers… with a warning.

Water Dispenser. Author’s photo

It was fun, fun, fun.

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood historian
billpetro.com

[kofi]