'Kokomo' in Cohasset: Beach Boys bring 'Good Vibrations' to South Shore Music Circus

REVIEW: The Beach Boys, at South Shore Music Circus, Cohasset, Wednesday night.

COHASSET – There aren’t many bands with the string of hits the Beach Boys can call on, and in the fashion of the day, most of them were tidy little gems of fewer than three minutes. Those two factors allowed the Beach Boys touring band to deliver 38 songs over two hour-long sets Wednesday night at the South Shore Music Circus before a nearly sold-out crowd of about 2,300 happy fans.

The touring unit includes founding member and lead singer Mike Love, 81, and singer/keyboardist Bruce Johnston, who joined in 1964 when songwriter/arranger Brian Wilson drew back from touring. The original quintet included Brian Wilson and his two younger brothers Carl and Dennis, with their cousin Love, and friend Al Jardine.

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The most important thing to note about Wednesday night’s giddy romp through the songbook is that the nine-piece current band has several musicians who can capably re-create the falsetto and high tenor vocals of Brian and Carl Wilson, and Jardine.  Love is still the lead singer on most songs, his baritone clear and surprisingly resonant. But band members, such as guitarists Brian Eichenberger and Christian Love, lead guitarist Scott Totten, drummer John Cowsill, and Johnston all provided sterling vocals on the classic hits. Bassist Keith Hubacher, keyboardist Tim Bonhomme, and Randy Leago, on saxes and flute, filled out the sound remarkably well.

The Beach Boys also included several covers that fit in neatly with their own tunes. An opening nine-song sprint in the first set peaked with a sequence of “California Sun,” and “Surfin’ USA” sandwiching The Ramones’ “Rockaway Beach,” and it fit in flawlessly. Love mentioned that it was an adjustment “singing on a lazy Susan,” referring to the venue’s rotating stage.

The Beach Boys’ debt to doo-wop was evident on the shimmering harmonies of “Getcha Back,” and a gauzy take on “Why Do Fools Fall in Love.”  Drummer Cowsill had vocal spotlights on “Darlin’” and second set opener “California Dreamin’”, the Mamas and Papas hit, and proved he could be a headliner himself. Eichenberger’s lead vocal on the dreamy “Don’t Worry Baby” was a sublime bit of falsetto, before the first set ended in a hot-rod medley of “Little Deuce Coupe,”  “409,” “Shut Down” and “I Get Around.”

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The Beach Boys, who had sold out their Cape Cod Melody Tent show on Tuesday, returned for the second set with that marvelous “California Dreamin’” merging into “California Girls.” Their affinity for surf rock guitar was obvious on “Dance Dance Dance,” and the party vibe of “Sloop John B.” Johnston got the spotlight for “Disney Girls,” and if his voice was a bit raspy, he still hits all the notes. Totten deftly delivered the sweet tenor vocal on “God Only Knows,” which ended with the video screens – which showed vintage photos all night – adding a tag line “We Love You Carl.”

Meditation stalwart Love explained how the band and the Beatles had shared a stint in India with the Maharishi back in the ‘60s, and explained how he’d written the ballad “Pisces Brothers” to remember his pal George Harrison. The band followed that with a cover of The Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun” re-done as slow-burning r&b.  The Beach Boys later hit “Kokomo” generated a big singalong, and “Help Me Rhonda” had the all-ages crowd delirious with joy.  The energy kept surging with a boisterous singalong of “Barbara Ann,” and then a groove-laden “Good Vibrations.” The night ended with the irresistible pull of “(We’ll Have) Fun Fun Fun (‘Til Her Daddy takes the T-Bird Away),” with 2,300 people feeling like teenagers once again.

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This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Beach Boys bring Good Vibrations to South Shore Music Circus Cohasset