Fourth of July … Beyond the Fireworks
The Beach Boys Are In Town!
Review by, Kristen & Diana
The perfect setting, on the beach outside of one of the east coast’s popular tourist spots, Atlantic City was all aglow on the Fourth of July but it wasn’t from the fireworks. Southern California’s legendary band, the Beach Boys graced the northern shores of the east coast with their incredible presence. Hosted by the Hilton Hotel and casino, the Beach Boys gave a free concert right on the beach. With expectations of huge crowds as the beach is quite vast and can hold a lot of people, the actual count was even higher than originally expected. The estimate was somewhere at 50,000 + people on the Atlantic City, NJ beach, the scene couldn’t be more perfect or reminiscent of the huge concert the Beach Boys gave back in 1983. On this 25th anniversary of that concert, the boys were back. While they had a different look than the 1983 group, the music, the sounds, and the rhythms were still stellar.
It was sweet…
Mike Love’s 12 year old daughter, Ambha was in attendance for this special fourth of July. During the song, “Surfer Girl” he brought Ambha on the stage and danced with her. It was really sweet and you can tell how close the two of them are.
Awesome sounds…
Christian Love worked the rhythms and melodies on his guitar. Sometimes some instrumental sounds just really stick with you and this is the case with Christian’s performance. The syncopated rhythms of songs like Rhonda had Christian shining on the stage for all who heard him.
Double the Fun…
John Cowsill is the usual drummer extraordinaire for the Beach Boys concerts. Always keeping the band in check with his quick moving drumsticks, music fans are always in for a treat when listening to him play. This time though, it was John squared. That’s right, John Stamos was also on the drums and doubled up on all the great Beach Boys rhythms. It was really fun to watch the two play those drums, they were so in synch.
All over the stage…
John Stamos has some amazing amount of energy. We mentioned that he was on the drums, well that wasn’t all. He also for certain songs, would leave the drums and move up to the front line near Mike Love where he sang and played the guitar. John sang “Good Timin’” and with his sensual sounding voice, he performed the song with great emotion.
Hitting the keys…
Tim Bonhomme sliced and diced up on the keyboards. With a set of multi-level keyboards, Tim had total control of the piano sound for the band. Bruce Johnston, another almost – original member of the Beach Boys, also kept it going with his work on the keys, great smile, and warm – toned voice.
Don’t Worry…
Randell Kirsch, the quiet, tall bassist of the group, will completely knock you out with his angelic voice. Songs like Don’t Worry Baby and “Hawaii” are sung with such emotion and love, all fans will feel the true meanings of the songs.
Directed, produced, and ready…
New musical director, Scott Totten has been said to be going back to the “original” sounds of the Beach Boys songs. So did he reach that goal? We would definitely say so. The songs are at the right speeds and in the right keys for the respective voices of the soloists.
Our view…
The band performed 40 songs straight. With very few breaks, (breaks in Beach Boys language mean that one of the guys speaks a little while the others gear up for the next song on the setlist.) Mike Love of course also spoke to the 50,000+ people there and had a funny banter back and forth with John for a little while. It was amazing to see all those people in one place and at the same time look to the east and look out at the tranquil ocean waters with a few boats sailing.
This was an event that anybody who was there will always remember. The Beach Boys will be performing and touring all around the United States and Canada this summer. If you haven’t yet, please definitely get your tickets for when they come to a city near you. You will have a blast!
Editor of Feeling the Vibe Magazine. We have all the scoop on the latest celeb news, makeup tutorials, and so much more.