After months of last-minute cancellations and vague statements about Mike Love‘s health, the Beach Boys returned to the stage Saturday night at Cincinnati’s PNC Pavilion for their first public show since July. Before the music began, longtime band guest John Stamos took the stage and addressed the crowd.
“[Mike] is here tonight,” he said. “He’s been going through some health issues. He’s had to cancel some shows. But he would not miss tonight. We sort of said ‘stay home,’ but he was like, ‘No, I’m going to Cincinnati.’ … It’s what he loves the most. He loves the audience. He loves the music. He knows how important it is to all of you. We’re all here to support him and give him as much love as we can. So ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to Beach Boys.” Stamos then walked an alarmingly frail Love onto the stage and sat him in a chair, where he remained for the duration of the night.
In keeping with longtime tradition, they opened with “Do It Again.” Love usually handles the lead vocals on this song, but guitarist Brian Eichenberger sang it instead. The next tune, “Surfin’ Safari,” was handled by Mike’s son and longtime bandmate Christian Love, even though that’s another one traditionally done by his father. And for the remainder of the night, members of the band traded off lead vocals, with Mike Love joining in on background vocals at times. He didn’t say much, but did muster “thank you for showing up” after the opening song.
The exact nature of Love’s current “health problems” have been kept quiet, though he did offer an explanation for his gaunt appearance during European tour back in June. “Losing my sister, Maureen, on the first anniversary of cousin Brian’s death, combined with my ongoing recovery from what started out as bronchitis, followed by COVID, has taken both an emotional and physical toll on me,” Love wrote to fans. “I feel stronger every day physically, but I am heartbroken emotionally.”
Love powered through the next few weeks, including a three-night stand at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, but then they pulled the remainder of their shows through September. “We’ve been having a blast out there, and to keep the good vibrations going strong, we’ll be taking a short break to recharge before getting back on the road in September,” the band wrote in a statement. “Thanks for your love—we can’t wait to see you back out there for a September to Remember.”
When September came, the venues they were set to play alerted fans the shows weren’t happening “due to circumstances beyond our control,” while the band said nothing. But the Beach Boys played a private show on October 3 at the Waldorf Astoria Monarch Beach luxury hotel in Dana Point, California; photos and videos of the event showed Mike Love performing in a chair.
The Beach Boys were supposed to play their first public show since July on Oct. 9 at the Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington, Illinois. But it was cancelled three days prior due to “unforeseen circumstances.” They also yanked an October 19 gig in Calgary.
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They have a concert Sunday evening at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. Several hours before the scheduled curtain time, Stamos wrote to fans on Instagram. “I’m boarding a plane to Nashville to play with the Beach Boys at the Ryman Auditorium, struggling to put my feelings into words,” he wrote. “My beloved friend, father figure, musical hero and mentor, Mike Love, is facing serious health challenges. We hope he’ll be doing what he loves for years to come, but we don’t know what the future holds. We have tonight. Mike is a fighter. Despite doctors, family and friends urging him to focus on his health, he insists on being on stage. He says he needs his band, the audience, his friends and drummer surrounding him to lift him up.”
“The Mike Love we see tonight may not be exactly the Mike we’ve always known. But he’s still every bit the Mike we love,” Stamos continued. “Tonight, at the Ryman, sharing the stage with Mike, I want to be completely present. Hear every harmony, familiar joke and cheer. Feel that first chord hit and watch age, illness and time disappear. Just a bunch of guys making music together. Maybe the hardest part of loving someone is becoming so accustomed to the miracle of having them there that you forget it’s a miracle at all. Tonight, I won’t forget. I want to cherish every second without feeling those seconds slipping away. That’s what I’m giving him. We don’t know what tomorrow brings. But we have tonight.”
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The Beach boys have nothing on the books until November 13 when they head to Disney World in Orlando, Florida. They’ll then wrap up the year two days later at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Bristol, Virginia, if those shows take place. The only concert scheduled for 2027 is a makeup date at the River Cree Resort and Casino in Enoch, Alberta, on May 8.
And while Mike Love is at the Ryman this evening, his former bandmate Al Jardine – the only other surviving member of the original lineup – will be 2,000 miles way at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts in Cerritos, California. According to a recent interview with Valerie Simadis, Jardine will be joined by veteran Beach Boys band members Blondie Chaplin, David Marks, and Bruce Johnston. He’s also invited Brian Wilson’s first wife, Marilyn Wilson. She’ll presumably again revive her original vocal part on the Beach Boys Love You deep cut “Let’s Put Our Hearts Together.”
The inclusion of Bruce Johnston at Jardine’s show, presuming it indeed happens, is particularly notable since he left Mike Love’s incarnation of the Beach Boys in February following a six-decade run with the band. Relations between Love and Jardine have also been quite strained over the years. “It’s gonna be quite a show!” Jardine said in the recent interview. “I want cameos from each one of them.”
From Rolling Stone US
