Never let it be said that RAMzine has a blinkered approach to its music coverage! We were lucky enough to be catching the inimitable Beach Boys on the third leg of a relatively short UK tour, celebrating over fifty years of their music which had them referred to, in some quarters, as Americas first, best rock band (certainly their US chart hits would suggest this) and the influence that their PET SOUNDS album had on the Beatles SGT PEPPER album is widely documented.
Whilst the current touring line up no longer features the Wilson brothers, Dennis and Carl sadly passed and Brian touring solo, we still have original member Mike Love and 1965 recruit Bruce Johnston at the helm of Sloop John Beach Boys. Support on tour is from drummer John Cowsill, bassist Randell Kirsch, guitarists Scott Totten and Christian Love with Tim Bonhomme on keys. Tonight, David Marks, a member as far back as 1962 for a short while, will also be joining in the fun.
Famous for their surf rock music the evening opened with, not surprisingly, a song called ‘Surfin’, which was the first of no less than fifty-four tracks about to be unleashed on the people of Birmingham, over two 75 min sets. I don’t know about ‘Catch A Wave’, but there was hardly time to catch a breath as the first eight songs or so were rattled off with barely a pause between. A sea of mobile phone flashlights accompanied ‘Surfer Girl’, “one for the ladies” as announced by Mike Love, but it wasn’t until ‘Little Deuce Coupe’ that the audience really got into the dancing mood, something that didn’t go unnoticed by Messrs Love and Johnston. A little persuasion by these guys was all that was needed and the last song of the first half, ‘I Get Around’ had virtually the whole crowd on its feet. That first half, which had some wondering what they were going to see and hear, proved that the very essence of what the Beach Boys were about is still well and truly with us and also very much loved. A trip on the nostalgia train possibly, but it all seemed so fresh and very now. The air of expectancy was high as the second half opened with ‘Califiornia Dreamin’, a Mamas and Papas cover which went straight into ‘Sloop John B‘, the signal 
for the crowd to rise once more. Song after song had them dancing and singing along, all the time being treated to some amazing archive footage being shown on a big screen behind drummer John Cowsill, including that of Carl Wilson singing ‘God Only Knows‘, the band playing along with stage lights suitably dimmed. We had footage of Dennis Wilson singing ‘Do You Wanna Dance’ shortly after. The fun the boys on stage were having had well and truly infected all present as we were treated to the trademark harmonies, perfectly executed, glorious melodies and the full range of music created by one of Americas greatest bands – surf rock, rock,
prog and psychedelic were all there in the mix, the willingness to experiment evident in bucketloads.
All good things have to end and ‘Help Me Rhonda‘, ‘Barbara Ann’ and ‘Surfin’ USA’ closed the main set in some style.
A three-song encore ensued with drummer giving a fine vocal rendition of the awesome ‘Wild Honey’ and special surprise guest Roy Wood joined the band for the final two, his own ‘Fire Brigade’ and finally the iconic ‘Fun, Fun, Fun’, which is what tonight had been all about, a fun time enjoyed by fans and band alike.
Thanks guys!
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