|
Even after 40 years, things are never simple in the world of the Beach Boys.
In one corner, you've got Brian Wilson, the group's troubled genius. Wilson is now beating his demons, touring the album of his life (last year's long-delayed ``Smile''), and playing emotional shows like his concert at the Bank of America Pavilion last month.
But there's still an official group of Beach Boys playing the oldies circuit. That group, led by singer Mike Love, played Thursday to a sold-out Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom. Brothers Dennis and Carl Wilson, who respectively died in 1983 and 1998, of course weren't there. Neither was Al Jardine, who fell out with Love a few years ago. That leaves Love as the sole original member, along with perpetual also-ran Bruce Johnston, who first joined the band during the mid-'60s as Brian's touring replacement.
As far as Brian Wilson's fans are concerned, Love is the enemy. And it's not hard to see why: As far as Love's concerned, the Beach Boys' music was never anything more or less than a party soundtrack.
That much was clear Thursday night, when Love's group came on like a well-oiled oldies machine. They played many of the same oldies Wilson played last month but with a difference: Instead of ``Smile'' for the show's climax, you got ``Kokomo,'' the Jimmy Buffett-sounding hit that the Beach Boys scored without Wilson's participation in the '80s. With Love's group, you get all the party spirit and none of the emotional context.
By that modest standard, the show really wasn't bad. Thanks to a reduced budget, the sillier excesses of '80s and '90s Beach Boys shows were missing - in other words, no cheerleaders. A little of Love's nasal voice still goes a long way, but he had enough substitutes on hand to take the higher parts. The best was John Cowsill from the Newport, R.I., family band of '60s pop fame, who did a nice job with ``Darlin'.''
A little of Love's personality also goes a long way: At two different points, he joked about the group's macho image and noted this is the Beach Boys, not the Village People. Heck, this guy is so macho that his most up-to-date gay reference is from 30 years ago.
Since Brian Wilson never toured much with the original group, the most-missed presence onstage was easily Carl Wilson. An underrated singer, Carl also provided much of the group's trademark guitar sound. And he'll forever be associated with the great ballad ``God Only Knows,'' which on Thursday was sung, not especially well, by Johnston.
The group paid respectful tribute to Carl after that tune, but one name was never mentioned onstage during a 90-minute show. That would be the man who wrote nearly all of the material: Brian Wilson.
|
