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Review
THE BEACH BOYS ARE DEAD? LONG LIVE THE BEACH BOYS! Wow, let me tell you I had the shock of my life at this 3.00 pm show. There was an extremely bad comedian opening the show whose schtick was using a bullhorn, When the band took the stage, I slunk down in my chair awaiting the tepid play-by-numbers routine I witnessed in Mahwah, NJ last summer. What unfolded could be nothing further from my expectations. "California Girls" was predictable followed with "Do It Again"- but when the supposed King of the Surf Guitar David Marks sang "Do You Wanna Dance," relegating Bruce back to his proper spot in the harmony mix, I realized I was in for a bit different show. The band was tight and the arrangements of the fast rockers were more uptempo than I had seen in years. Mike himself sounded really good vocally and he expanded his joke repertiore (and he was much funnier than the comedian). The harmonies were superb. Some highlights of the show:
When Mike was introducing the band and came to the end of the introductions, someone in the audience yelled "Where's Al?" So Mike said "This next song is dedicated to Al Jardine..." and they did "Surfer Girl."
Bruce was respectable on GOK, and the Carl tribute was touching and brought a rousing applause. Mike was also effusively praising Brian at various points throughout the show.
I had an eighth row seat, and was able to see handwritten lyrics for "Wendy" on Bruce's keyboard for the parts he was designated to sing.
If this band ever gets tired of the Mike Love show, Frankie Valli should look them up. Mike designated a part of the show as a tribute to the East Coast, and Adrian Baker did the Four Seasons' hit "Sherry." I can't begin to describe how great a version this was. I had always thought that while Adrian does a respectable job on the BW high parts, his voice had a little more of the Valli-like grit. Well, I'm proud to say my instincts were correct. The whole theatre gave him a standing ovation at the end.
The Westbury Music Fair is a theatre in the round with a revolving stage that was not roomy enough for Mike Meros, whose keyboards provide all the "ear candy." He was off stage literally directly in front of me and I had a birds eye view of him for the whole show. Not only is he a great player but he's fliting back and forth between 5 different keyboards. Forget James Brown, Mike Meros is the hardest working man in show biz!
Dave Marks appears to be just a riffs kind of guy. He doesn't really play chords unless he's using a weird tuning I don't recognize. His plinky solos sounded really good and authentic, even though he'll never fill Carl's shoes even remotely.
I got to see the types of amps and guitars everybody was using, except for the orange Strat clone used by Dave Marks. Adrian Baker uses a genuine Stratocaster and both he and DM use Roland JC-120 amplifiers. Phil Bardowell alternated between a Danelectro 12-string and a gold top Gibson Les Paul, played through two late model Fender Twin Reverbs (although when he had the Les Paul on he sounded more like the Eagles than the Beach Boys!). Chris Farmer played a Fender P-Bass through a Hartke. Mike Kowalski was rocking the house and it was a pleasure to finally see him cut a little loose on the properly fast rockers.
The performance was energetic. The vocals were spot on. If Mike C.'s show that he saw in Australia was anything like this, it's no wonder he sounded so positive in his posting. I'm glad my putrid memories from Mahwah are erased. Carl Wilson may be gone and things will never truly be the same, but his spirit was all present and accounted for today. Mike pulled the band together, mixed it up a little, and- as the setlist shows- shrunk his ego a bit to allow the talent of the others on stage to shine. Mike and Bruce have done well with this "BBs" and I can't wait until the next traveling jukebox show.
Contributed by: Gil McLean