The Beach Boys, one of the most popular American bands of all time, stopped by the H. Ric Luhrs Performing Arts Center for their Endless Golden Summer Tour on September 26.
Celebrating over 50 years of success, Mike Love, the only original Beach Boy who still tours, sang many of the group’s classics from the 1950s and 60s.
They might have a few helping guitars that have helped the band evolve over the decades, but The Beach Boys are still loud and proud. Love, 83, opened the show by singing himself the first verse of the 1965 hit “California Girls”, and saxophonist Randy Leago let his bari-sax and piccolo loose the entire show.
Tim Bonhomme worked the crowds and the keyboards all night, lifting all ages out of their seats to come toward the front to get up close to a real live Beach Boy, who welcomed all with waves, smiles, and finger guns.
Love also dedicated a song to his old friend and The Beatles guitarist, the late George Harrison, who Love was quite close to musically and frequently mediated with. Love’s son, Christian Love, sang “God Only Knows”, dedicated to his co-founder Carl Wilson, who died of lung cancer in 1998.
The Beach Boys performed all of their greatest hits, including “Kokomo,” “Surfin’ Safari,” “I Get Around,” and, of course, “Good Vibrations”
Towards the end, Love played a trailer for The Beach Boys’ Documentary, which is on Disney Plus. Love says the show “includes everybody, whether they are still with us or not” to honor the legacy and memory of each Beach Boy.
The Beach Boys are touring through 2025, with upcoming stops through the Southeast United States before heading to Canda.
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