John Cowsill and The Beach Boys
David Lynch Foundation Benefit
Fairfield Middle School Field
September 7, 2009
Fairfield, Iowa

The Show           Photos            Show Review           Video

The Show

It was a beautiful partly sunny day when we got in line for the Beach Boys show. The concept of this show was that Fairfield is one of the top 50 green cities. The show was powered by bio-fuel, recycle stations were set up and everyone was encouraged to bike or walk to the concert.

Mike Love - who has Fairfield ties - had come up with the concept of having a celebration of green day at the same time Fairfield planned to launch an incentive for going even greener. So the two were merged and Mike was deemed "Energy Czar of Fairfield." Mike responded that he would rather be emperor "because you know what happen to the czar." LOL

By the time the BB's took stage, the sun was out fully which made for a hot dance floor. The show lasted two hours and from the first note, the crowd of at least 4,000 was in heaven. People danced on every song - slow or fast. I think Mike only talked twice, other than that it was song after song and song!

The senior class was required to work at the show, so there were hundreds of lime green shirted kids leading waves, sways, and dances. Some also joined the guys onstage for "Barbara Ann."

John was supreme as usual. He joined the seniors wearing the official "Team Beach Boys - Good Vibrations - September 7, 2009 Fairfield, IA" shirt. He only sang lead on "Darlin'" and "Help Me Rhonda," but his drumming was amazing.

Now here came a new one for me. At the end, everyone had left the stage and John came to the front and threw out two sets of drum sticks to the crowd and they went wild again.

On a personal note, I was sharing this show with my brother and sister-in-law for the first time. (Mom was there, but she's seen them before several times and is already a John fan.) You know how you always have that thought "What if they don't like it?" Well no worries! They loved it and I think we now have two more John fans. My brother was also very impressed with Randell's falsetto.

P. S. Bruce didn't play in his usual slot. In fact, at first I thought he wasn't there. He was on the far- far right and I couldn't get any shots of him. Sorry!

P. S. S. Kudos to everyone involved in the show. This was truely a first of anything NEAR this size/type for the little town of Fairfield. The organizers got it perfect first time in my opinion. Also the sound guy - I love you! You did a marvelous job on this show. (Note: This is probably the same guy I was giving dirty looks to at the show a month ago. hee)

P. S. S. S. The Hawk Eye out of Burlington, Iowa wrote of the show:

The Beach Boys, centered around originals Mike Love and Bruce Johnston, included lead guitarist and music director Scott Totten, keyboardist Tim Bonhomme, Randell Kirsch on bass, guitarist Christian Love -- son of Mike Love -- and John Cowsill on drums.

You remember the Cowsills. Sure you do -- that family band with the hit "Hair."

Cowsill provided perfect surf drums for the two-hour concert, keeping many of the more than 4,000 concertgoers up and prancing the entire time.

Click here to read full article.

Photos

Show Review

Beach Boys concert 'fun, fun, fun' for all
By BOB SAAR
for The Hawk Eye

You might guess a band almost half a century old would be populated with superannuated blokes of yore.

Ah, but there are no old guys in the Beach Boys.

There were a lot of "old" baby boomer fans in the audience during Monday's outdoor concert at Fairfield Middle School, but they were as uninhibited as any bunch of today's teenagers ogling the Jonas Brothers.

The Beach Boys, centered around originals Mike Love and Bruce Johnston, included lead guitarist and music director Scott Totten, keyboardist Tim Bonhomme, Randell Kirsch on bass, guitarist Christian Love -- son of Mike Love -- and John Cowsill on drums.

You remember the Cowsills. Sure you do -- that family band with the hit "Hair."

Cowsill provided perfect surf drums for the two-hour concert, keeping many of the more than 4,000 concertgoers up and prancing the entire time. Those "old" folks did the Pony, the Swim, the Shimmy -- long-forgotten go-go dances called up from collective memory by the jungle beat of surf music.

Kirsch, who has the daunting job of covering Beach Boy guru Brian Wilson's high parts, relishes his spot.

"That's the funnest job in the band," he said.

Iowa band The Nadas provided the walk-in music with a solid set of roots rock.

"They were spot on awesome," Iowa City musician Jason Bolinger said.

The main show began when Fairfield Mayor Ed Malloy lauded Love with a proclamation, introducing the 68-year-old singer as "Fairfield's Energy Czar Emperor." The concert was a benefit for the David Lynch Foundation and the Fairfield Arts and Convention Center, as well as a kickoff for Fairfield's new Green Sustainability Plan aimed at energy conservation.

Love practices transcendental meditation at the Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield. MUM was founded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi; the TM master was popular in the '60s with the Beach Boys, the Beatles and other music and movie stars.

"Little Honda" got things up and running. At least a few aging Boomers recalled that the song is about motorcycles, not cars.

The vocals took a few songs to loosen up to the point of being totally tuned in and running smoothly, and that was OK -- after all, the original band didn't always hit all eight cylinders in concert.

And it was good and swell that this band didn't do a clone routine, a "Mike Love Karaoke Hour." They did all Beach Boy hits -- my, those boys had a lot of hit singles -- and they were the Beach Boys, without the Wilson boys, sure, but a real band, not some broken-down fossil staggering around the stage with the rights to a band name and a cadre of grungy sidemen to prop him up.

"Barbara Ann," "Surfin' Safari," "California Girls," "Surfer Girl," "Sloop John B." The concert list was seemingly endless.

"Wouldn't it be nice" was quite nice: "We could be happy," the band sang, and the crowd sang with them, extremely happy to be there on a storybook Indian summer day in Iowa.

Johnston's lead vocals, especially on "Do You Wanna Dance?" were as clean and pure as any 25-year-old crooner touring today.

"Why Do Fools Fall In Love," "Don't Worry Baby," "Good Vibrations," God Only Knows."

Children frolicked with their elders. Beach balls careened in the sky. Souls soared. People grew younger with each new tune.

A hotrod medley, of course: "Little Deuce Coupe," "Shut Down," "I Get Around" -- one of surfdom's best angsty laments -- and "409."

The old people knew the song referred to Chevy's 409 cubic inch V8 engine coveted by hotrodders of the era. It is not known how many youngsters present wondered why this legendary group was singing about bathroom cleaning products.

The encore was not begged; everyone knew what was coming: "Fun, Fun, Fun."

All had fun yesterday in Fairfield, all but the police, who had nothing more to do than direct traffic for the polite, smiling concertgoers.

"No fun for me today," one Jefferson County deputy said. "I gotta work."

Lynch Foundation Media Relations Director Ken Chawkin said the show was special for the band's TM enthusiasts, especially Love.

"This must be a huge thrill for Mike, because he's been coming here for years to meditate and take rejuvenation treatments," Chawkin said of Love.

Perhaps that explains why there are no old guys in the Beach Boys.

Love was not too worn out afterward to echo the enthusiasm of the well-wishers who surrounded him backstage.

"I think it's great here in Iowa," he said. "This place is really special."

The event producer for the David Lynch Foundation, Michael Sternfeld, was as upbeat as everyone else at the end of the show.

"There's something about the audiences at Fairfield. ... There's something special here," he said. "This was the ultimate experience. In terms of energy, we just nailed it." He stopped to smile up into the blue. "We created serious good vibrations."

Yeah, man. Good vibes and a whole lot of fun.

Video

My camera won't video on zoom. Sorry these are better.

Darlin'

Help Me Rhonda - partial

Summertime Blues - partial