Morristown gets an October tan, courtesy of Mike Love’s Beach Boys show

Mike Love of the Beach Boys in Morristown. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Mike Love of the Beach Boys in Morristown. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
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Original Beach Boy Mike Love cues guitarist Scott Totten in Morristown. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Original Beach Boy Mike Love cues guitarist Scott Totten in Morristown. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

 

The last time we saw Mike Love onstage at the Mayo Performing Arts Center was 2010.  Our only knock then was that it took a friendly threat from Love to coax people to dance.

A lot has happened since that show.  The surviving Beach Boys staged a successful 50th reunion tour. They released a new album together. And we’re all four years older.

Maybe that’s why Thursday’s crowd for Love’s scaled-down version of the Beach Boys was more sedate. Perhaps fans were waiting for Brian Wilson and Al Jardine to appear.

In that case, they could be sitting for a long while.  Whoever brings lasting harmony to the family that invented vocal harmony will find an ambassadorship to Syria and a Nobel Peace Prize waiting.

Still, one-and-a-half Beach Boys are better than none. Love was joined once again by Bruce Johnston, who joined the Beach Boys roster in 1965.

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Jeff Foskett, who has toured with assorted Beach Boys configurations since the late ’70s, handled falsetto parts and rhythm guitar. Scott Totten, who was here in 2010, played lead guitar and took the lead vocal on Ballad of Ole Betsy.

John Cowsill, from The Cowsills, was back on drums. Bass player Randell Kirsch sang Then I Kissed Her, a cover of the Crystals’ Then I Kissed Him.  Tim Bonhomme doubled on keyboards with Johnston.

Bruce Johnstone, John Cowsill and Jeff Foskett at Mike Love's Beach Boys show in Morristown. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Bruce Johnstone, John Cowsill and Jeff Foskett at Mike Love’s Beach Boys show in Morristown. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

They hit the stage with a seven-song tsunami of surf hits, as hot rods, cheerleaders and surfboards flickered onscreen behind them. Later, they locked in for In My Room.  The Beach Boys have plenty of goodies in their beach bag; one of them, Please Let Me Wonder, featured Johnston and was a highlight.

Another memorable scene was the sea of smartphones, undulating, lighter-like, to the lilting strains of Surfer Girl.

As for Love, 73, who co-wrote many of the band’s hits with cousin Brian Wilson, he still sounds pretty much like he did way back when.  Which is a testament to California sunshine, or to an amazing sound crew.

Either way, we’ll gladly take a healthy dose of whatever he’s dishing on a soggy October night in Morristown.

BEAMED FROM OUTER SPACE? No, just from California. A fan's-eye view of the Beach Boys in Morristown. Photo by Maggi Sellers.
BEAMED FROM OUTER SPACE? No, just from California. A fan’s-eye view of the Beach Boys in Morristown. Photo by Maggi Sellers.

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