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Review: The Beach Boys are fun, fun, fun in rare outdoor Pittsburgh show

Scott Mervis, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on

Published in Entertainment News

If you experienced the Brian Wilson shows over the past decade-plus, you know there was an emotional wallop seeing the frail, troubled Beach Boys icon getting through a show with occasional flashes of the old brilliance.

The Mike Love version of the Beach Boys — which legally is the Beach Boys — is a different thing altogether. This is the fun, fast-moving oldies revue more conducive to sing-alongs and flying beach balls.

In recent years, it has been often seen around here in small theaters, often in the fall. In fact, with a few exceptions — like Three Rivers Stadium, the Station Square Amphitheater, and Star Lake — the Beach Boys have mostly played indoors here, which is weird for a band with so many songs about surfing.

In lieu of the beach, we got the Stage AE Outdoors debut Sunday, putting the band in a different light — sunshine!

Hot, abundant sunshine.

“Thanks for coming. Hope you brought your sunscreen,” Love said, greeting the crowd. “I’m sorry I wore black jeans. Maybe I should take them off.”

 

Everyone decided against that.

When they hit the stage, there was an uh-oh moment when Love sounded less than vibrant on “Do It Again.” It makes sense as an entry song, but might not be the best foot forward.

That uh-oh lasted until he sang “Let’s go surfin’ now … ” the opening lines of the next song, “Surfin’ Safari,” and it seemed like Love got his engine running pronto. From there, the 83-year-old’s energy never lagged throughout the 100-minute set.

The beauty of Love is that he’s blessed with a vocal style that isn’t too taxing on the voice in its senior years.

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