Please sign petition for Beach Boys to withdraw from performing on 2/5/20

[marcella27]

So I contacted Ticketmaster about the tickets for the Mike and Bruce show I have tickets for in April.  I explained that I wanted to contact the artist and/or the artist’s management about a refund as I am no longer comfortable supporting this artist.  They responded in true Ticketmaster style.  Despite me explicitly saying that I was not seeking a refund from Ticketmaster, they said “After further review, we determined a refund is not available for your order. Unfortunately, we have no contact information for the artists or their management”.  I wrote back saying that I found it hard to believe that they had no contact information for the artist or their management because, you know, how else do they work with the artist?  How dumb do they think we are?!  Anyway, they wrote back again saying that they “do not provide that information due to being private internal information”.  So helpful.  

Does anyone have any suggestions as to where I can reach M&B’s management?  I can’t seem to find anything that looks right.  I’d like to write a letter/email politely stating why I am no longer comfortable attending this concert.  I sincerely doubt it will matter, but at least I’ll have said my piece.  

[MyDrKnowsItKeepsMeCalm]

A quick google search brought these links up:

https://bookingagentinfo.com/celebrity/the-beach-boys/

https://mikelove.com/contact/

I know emotions have been running high the past couple weeks, so I'd just encourage everyone sending messages to be polite and respectful. I'd imagine disappointed, well-reasoned BB fan letters will make waves more than angry ranting will. (Not directed at anyone in particular, just thinking out loud.)

[super sally]

A quick google search brought these links up:

https://bookingagentinfo.com/celebrity/the-beach-boys/

https://mikelove.com/contact/

I know emotions have been running high the past couple weeks, so I'd just encourage everyone sending messages to be polite and respectful. I'd imagine disappointed, well-reasoned BB fan letters will make waves more than angry ranting will. (Not directed at anyone in particular, just thinking out loud.)

Wonder if some venues will get some complaints. Maybe at the New Orleans Jazz fest?

[guitarfool2002]

This debacle of playing that gig made international news and was picked up by even the network news divisions and late night comedy shows...Easily the worst PR this band has received since the end of C50 in 2012. It wouldn't be unexpected if some of it rubs off regarding bookings and demand.

[MyDrKnowsItKeepsMeCalm]

This debacle of playing that gig made international news and was picked up by even the network news divisions and late night comedy shows...Easily the worst PR this band has received since the end of C50 in 2012. It wouldn't be unexpected if some of it rubs off regarding bookings and demand.

Sadly, I think Mike's calculation was that the controversy will blow over and ultimately make no difference. And sadly, I think that is probably correct.

[All Summer Long]

This debacle of playing that gig made international news and was picked up by even the network news divisions and late night comedy shows...Easily the worst PR this band has received since the end of C50 in 2012. It wouldn't be unexpected if some of it rubs off regarding bookings and demand.

Isn't it probably one of the few news stories the band has had since C50 sadly?


- archival dumps
- Pet Sounds 50
- SMiLE 50
 - competing B&A and M&B Christmas tours
- Dennis/Queen/Hawkins "Holy Man" (if that counts?)
- SiriusXM channel and reunion
- this

[CenturyDeprived]

The latest and greatest - to follow up on his stellar pro-killing-animals-for-fun event last week, Mike once again is hijacking the brand name for even more political BS - with "The BBs" appearing on Mike Huckabee's show not once but twice this coming weekend.

Fan-f*cking-tastic to keep pushing awful politics into where it has no business being. Especially in such polarizing times. 

**** This does not help the brand name. This does not help the brand name. ****

These are very, very different times than the 1980s when the band was hobnobbing with the Reagans. Hell, I just read an article in 1992 where Mike parted company with Bush Sr. and was supporting some TM 3rd party candidate because of a pro environmentalist stance. It's not like the band in the past came across as some 100% conservative, heavily political entity.

To follow up the pro-hunting, Trump Jr.-approved event with this really makes an extra political statement.

You'll now notice that virtually every Facebook person who likes and comments positively on Mike's posts is a MAGA hat-wearing Trumper. And… Anybody who isn't a "yes man" is deleted. Gross.

[Gettin Hungry]

...

You'll now notice that virtually every Facebook person who likes and comments positively on Mike's posts is a MAGA hat-wearing Trumper. And… Anybody who isn't a "yes man" is deleted. Gross.

Yeah, I belonged to a group that started doing that, and then they just closed all comments to every post. What's the point of belonging to a Facebook group where you can't even comment on any posts? I left.

[guitarfool2002]

...

You'll now notice that virtually every Facebook person who likes and comments positively on Mike's posts is a MAGA hat-wearing Trumper. And… Anybody who isn't a "yes man" is deleted. Gross.

Yeah, I belonged to a group that started doing that, and then they just closed all comments to every post. What's the point of belonging to a Facebook group where you can't even comment on any posts? I left.

That type of overly censored moderation is close to what this community could have turned into had certain factions and their recommendations for changing this place had gotten their way. They didn't, and it won't. Fans should have a say.

[CenturyDeprived]

...

You'll now notice that virtually every Facebook person who likes and comments positively on Mike's posts is a MAGA hat-wearing Trumper. And… Anybody who isn't a "yes man" is deleted. Gross.

Yeah, I belonged to a group that started doing that, and then they just closed all comments to every post. What's the point of belonging to a Facebook group where you can't even comment on any posts? I left.

Mike:

I'm gettin' hungry... hungry for my kind of comments

I'm gettin' hungry... hungry for yes men and blind followers

I'm gettin' hungry... searching for the delete button

[SMiLE Brian]

Mike really is busy these days...

[BBs Footage Saga]

The proof that shows that Mike Love is an Hypocrite:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4_kEbup-rw

[HeyJude]

If anyone is still interesting in this further being dredged up in an incompetent, non-substantive fashion, Beard/ESQ put a link up on their Facebook page to another article written by some other blog/clickbait site ("Rock and Roll Globe").

Click at your own peril; I'm not sure whether this will make you feel more or less like throwing a rock through your computer monitor compared to Beard's article:

https://rockandrollglobe.com/music-journalism/a-deeper-look-at-the-call-to-boycott-the-beach-boys-or-at-least-dont-play-for-people-who-hunt-people-like-sting/

The article might just be worse than Beard's own article. It essentially argues that every band plays gigs for horrible people for the cash, so leave Mike Love alone. The article seems to misunderstand how the "Beach Boys" tour setup works legally.

The guy who wrote the article managed to get an "exclusive" quote from Mike on the subject, I'm guessing because of it's overly-sympathetic tone towards Mike. Mike's quote is not really a quote about the subject at hand, as it's literally a paragraph of gobbledygook that goes on and on but doesn't really say anything. It reads like when you get called on in class to answer a question, and because you don't actually have an answer, you just talk about how peace, love, and understanding are great things.

[Robbie Mac]

That particular blogger is a champion of the current Mike and Bruce band who has written pro-Mike pieces in recent years.

[HeyJude]

What fascinates me is that in both Beard's piece and this newer one, they indicate they are disappointed Mike's band is doing the gig. So there's this impasse that they both simply ignore. I guess they kind of try to use old C50/2012 argument of "it's out of his hands, the gig is already booked, what can be done?", but this ignores that the gig *absolutely* could have been canceled.

This blog dude, for all of his "industry" history, ignores that REO Speedwagon canceled on this Safari thing, and Mike easily could have.

What a dick move to suggest Brian give his "share" of the gig proceeds to charity (and we'll ignore how the writer seems to slightly misunderstand how the licensing setup works with the BB name and how the licensing fees would seem to work). How about Mike cancels the gig, *eats* whatever cost is involved in canceling it (which may have been little to none), and then donate to a charity? Or even *do* the gig, and then still also donate to a charity?

I think a few of these writers overly-sympathetic to Mike don't want to admit that by every word and deed expressed thus far, Mike *is* an enthusiastic Trump supporter, and seems to have gleefully, enthusiastically supported this Safari Club organization by doing the gig.

[CenturyDeprived]

If anyone is still interesting in this further being dredged up in an incompetent, non-substantive fashion, Beard/ESQ put a link up on their Facebook page to another article written by some other blog/clickbait site ("Rock and Roll Globe").

Click at your own peril; I'm not sure whether this will make you feel more or less like throwing a rock through your computer monitor compared to Beard's article:

https://rockandrollglobe.com/music-journalism/a-deeper-look-at-the-call-to-boycott-the-beach-boys-or-at-least-dont-play-for-people-who-hunt-people-like-sting/

The article might just be worse than Beard's own article. It essentially argues that every band plays gigs for horrible people for the cash, so leave Mike Love alone. The article seems to misunderstand how the "Beach Boys" tour setup works legally.

The guy who wrote the article managed to get an "exclusive" quote from Mike on the subject, I'm guessing because of it's overly-sympathetic tone towards Mike. Mike's quote is not really a quote about the subject at hand, as it's literally a paragraph of gobbledygook that goes on and on but doesn't really say anything. It reads like when you get called on in class to answer a question, and because you don't actually have an answer, you just talk about how peace, love, and understanding are great things.

A classic case of "whataboutism"... it's really not that bad because if you keep looking you'll find people who did worse stuff. That's a really great tack to take. 

O.J. Simpson isn't really that bad because people like Ted Bundy exist. That's the same argument.

At least there's a first here, I never in a million years thought I'd read a big long blog post about this band with "circumcision" in the text.

[HeyJude]

Well, to be fair, Mike showed a love of love and gratitude back in 1981 when confronted regarding the issue of the band playing Sun City:

“It’s nice money.  The U.N. can go screw themselves.  They never buy tickets to Beach Boys concerts."

[Debbie KL]

Well, to be fair, Mike showed a love of love and gratitude back in 1981 when confronted regarding the issue of the band playing Sun City:

“It’s nice money.  The U.N. can go screw themselves.  They never buy tickets to Beach Boys concerts."

I always said that "America's Band" was truly that, in every great and hideous version of that idea (metaphorically and literally) - reflecting the US through 20th and 21st history.

Everything about this is so disgusting.

I've always wanted to be empathetic and kind to David Beard. He's made it impossible for several years.  I know I'll take flack for this, somewhere. I really don't care. M&B have supported this guy. I liked him many years ago. Brian has passively endured what Beard has said in the past, given how he has positioned himself. I wonder if that will continue.

Part of me hopes Brian's oblivious, another part of me hopes he's had enough of the sugar-coated lies.

[Pretty Funky]

Well, to be fair, Mike showed a love of love and gratitude back in 1981 when confronted regarding the issue of the band playing Sun City:

“It’s nice money.  The U.N. can go screw themselves.  They never buy tickets to Beach Boys concerts."

It’s not inconceivable that Mike looses more in ticket sales this year and in the future, that this one-off private gig payed him. I live in hope. Go see REO Speedwagon instead.
Not to mention any remaining goodwill he may have had for not standing up for his cousin.

[CenturyDeprived]

Well, to be fair, Mike showed a love of love and gratitude back in 1981 when confronted regarding the issue of the band playing Sun City:

“It’s nice money.  The U.N. can go screw themselves.  They never buy tickets to Beach Boys concerts."

It’s not inconceivable that Mike looses more in ticket sales this year and in the future, that this one-off private gig payed him. I live in hope. Go see REO Speedwagon instead.
Not to mention any remaining goodwill he may have had for not standing up for his cousin.

Absolutely. The money is one thing… The goodwill is quite another. You can't buy goodwill, and once it's truly gone, it's gone. I will never look at him the same way again. I'm somebody that has stuck up for him many times to fellow fans in person, despite my issues with the guy - I felt it was the right thing to do. Now I couldn't care less. He is a short-sighted, narcissistic fool. Like so many fans, I had given him chance after chance after chance to demonstrate that he deserves such.

That he had the chutzpah to now newly follow up his silence on the president's SOB son trying to publicly humiliate Brian with some babel about showing love and tolerance to everybody is the biggest crock of sh*t I've ever heard of.

Also, where is that blogger addressing Mike staying silent on Don Jr trying to publicly humiliate Brian? Once again, that is brushed under the table, because it's just too inconvenient to talk about it. Because there's no way to defend Mike staying silent on that. None. Absolute ugly hypocrisy.

The man may have done some great work in the past but he most definitely acts like a POS, craps on the legacy, and history will record it as such. Very sad. I'm sure Mike has many moments in his life where he acts like a decent person. I understand that people are complex, and that Mike is not some evil cartoon character.  But truthfully this ugly side of him is too much to take. It's vomit-inducing to think about how many people around him must coddle this behavior, pat him on the head and tell him that the behavior is ok, and somehow not morally bankrupt.

And as Debbie said, the parallels to this wonderful band, and this country, both the really good, and the really shameful and awful, are unbelievably striking. It's worthy of a book being written on the subject.

The letters "POS" are the first three letters in Mr. Positivity.

[GoodVibrations33]

I hardly contribute and just read, but adding endless negativity on top of an already horrendous negative situation (SCI gig) does no good. Brian wouldn’t do that. And quite honestly, we don’t know what happens behind closed doors in regards to the band and corporation, and decision making. All we can do is speculate, if we don’t know, and that’s part of the reason why we’re all here - I get it, but it can be done in a cordial manner.

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black though. I get that these guys live in the public eye, and everything is magnified, but the endless degrading language has to stop at some point. When do you move on from this, what good does it do? Try to have a more forgiving heart, and focus on the positives of this great band and music made. Wouldn’t you want to be afforded the same opportunity? I think we are all codependent to some extent on there always being a villain in this band, someone to blame. I’m definitely guilty of that at times.

[Ang Jones]

If anyone is still interesting in this further being dredged up in an incompetent, non-substantive fashion, Beard/ESQ put a link up on their Facebook page to another article written by some other blog/clickbait site ("Rock and Roll Globe").

Click at your own peril; I'm not sure whether this will make you feel more or less like throwing a rock through your computer monitor compared to Beard's article:

https://rockandrollglobe.com/music-journalism/a-deeper-look-at-the-call-to-boycott-the-beach-boys-or-at-least-dont-play-for-people-who-hunt-people-like-sting/

The article might just be worse than Beard's own article. It essentially argues that every band plays gigs for horrible people for the cash, so leave Mike Love alone. The article seems to misunderstand how the "Beach Boys" tour setup works legally.

The guy who wrote the article managed to get an "exclusive" quote from Mike on the subject, I'm guessing because of it's overly-sympathetic tone towards Mike. Mike's quote is not really a quote about the subject at hand, as it's literally a paragraph of gobbledygook that goes on and on but doesn't really say anything. It reads like when you get called on in class to answer a question, and because you don't actually have an answer, you just talk about how peace, love, and understanding are great things.

A classic case of "whataboutism"... it's really not that bad because if you keep looking you'll find people who did worse stuff. That's a really great tack to take. 

O.J. Simpson isn't really that bad because people like Ted Bundy exist. That's the same argument.

At least there's a first here, I never in a million years thought I'd read a big long blog post about this band with "circumcision" in the text.

"If someone really is making the argument that an action is no longer unethical because so many people do it, then that person is either in dire need of ethical instruction, or an idiot." https://ethicsalarms.com/rule-book/unethical-rationalizations-and-misconceptions/

[HeyJude]

I hardly contribute and just read, but adding endless negativity on top of an already horrendous negative situation (SCI gig) does no good. Brian wouldn’t do that. And quite honestly, we don’t know what happens behind closed doors in regards to the band and corporation, and decision making. All we can do is speculate, if we don’t know, and that’s part of the reason why we’re all here - I get it, but it can be done in a cordial manner.

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black though. I get that these guys live in the public eye, and everything is magnified, but the endless degrading language has to stop at some point. When do you move on from this, what good does it do? Try to have a more forgiving heart, and focus on the positives of this great band and music made. Wouldn’t you want to be afforded the same opportunity? I think we are all codependent to some extent on there always being a villain in this band, someone to blame. I’m definitely guilty of that at times.

You know, I think the idea of examining fandom’s attitudes is important, and also complicated.

Presently, with social media ruining everything in and around “fandom”, there is indeed an element of “toxic fandom”. (See the difference between 2020 Star Wars fandom versus 20 years ago even, and I say this as not a huge epic Star Wars fan).

The icky sort of dysfunctional aspect of Beach Boys fandom over the years, especially in the internet age, an aspect which is obviously ironically a mirror image of the band itself sometimes, is also something worth delving into and looking at.

Some elements of Beach Boys “fandom” have certainly contributed to the toxicity around the whole BB topic, certainly at least in terms of internet discourse.

However, I think the idea that fans are the *cause* of the ills of this band, or the cause of anything to do with its dysfunction, which is sort of what Beard posited in his recent ridiculous article blaming *fans* for Mike Love playing a detestable gig, is just asinine. Further, I would challenge the idea that fans, or at least all fans, somehow *need* there to be a villain in the BB story to focus on. I may have agreed to varying degrees with such an assertion prior to the C50 in 2012.

But the 2012 reunion proved a few things: First, Mike Love, by simply doing the project, was able to bury a *TON* of the ill will/PR he had amassed over previous decades. He began 2012 as a *hero* of the reunion. Second, and related, to the first, is that as C50 got underway, I had ZERO bad feelings towards Mike. I was stunned he not only did the project, but went along with a Brian-centric album, and allowed Brian’s band to essentially *take over* the touring band for a year. Sure, I and most were probably nervous from the outset about how the whole thing might blow up/fall apart (which sort of eventually did happen).

But a functioning, reunited, five-man Beach Boys, ideally with good management, continuing to write, record, and tour at the level they did in 2012, would have been literally *all roses*. Even Bruce making a-hole comments picked up by TMZ during the tour quickly fell by the wayside when the quality of the tour continued to prove itself, and in fact improved.

So, in 2020, I’m going to say, in general, that: No, fans aren’t responsible for this band being so f---ed up, and no, I don’t need a “villain” to focus on and would have gladly spent the last EIGHT years as a BB fan seeing ALL of the guys recording and touring together. We could have had two or three more albums with that lineup, and probably 500+ more shows by now.

Stuff like that Safari Club gig is, in my opinion, a case of Mike Love actively going out of his way to sully the Beach Boys name/rep, and his OWN name/rep, and to defiantly place his own agenda above the band/brand/fans.

[guitarfool2002]

Sometimes a reality check and a fact check is in order. The reality and fact is that the author of this article, Mr. Sommer, has published articles in the past which made a good number of fans angry. Here they are - and in one case the title alone pretty much sums up where Sommer's opinions stand.

"Beyond the Life of Brian: The Myth of the ‘Lesser’ Beach Boys" July 2015:
https://observer.com/2015/07/beyond-the-life-of-brian-the-myth-of-the-lesser-beach-boys/

"For the Love of Mike Love: It’s Time to Destroy ‘the Legend of Brian Wilson’" June 2016:
https://observer.com/2016/06/for-the-love-of-mike-love-its-time-to-destroy-the-legend-of-brian-wilson/

Read through those, and it will become very clear. Sommer is a flack for Mike Love who tries to boost, support, and excuse Mike Love and his actions by trying to knock down Brian Wilson. It really is that simple.

If you want, search the board's archives for discussions from when those articles first appeared. I would post them, maybe I should so people in 2020 can read some of the nonsense that got posted here in defense of Sommer and Mike Love, but that's entirely the readers' choice. But it's all there.

And I'll note again as I did 4-5 years ago when Sommer appeared with his articles: The timing stinks. It seemed just as Brian and band were out on tour supporting his then-new album, Sommer shows up to "bust" the myth of Brian Wilson, knock him down a few pegs, and in the process boost up Mike Love's profile. When Brian and band were going on tour for the 50th anniversary Pet Sounds tour, Sommer *AGAIN* shows up and pens a piece where he's trying to "bust" the myth of Brian Wilson and in the process boost Mike Love. Only this time, the title of his hit-piece on Brian was screaming "Destroy The Legend Of Brian Wilson!"...while boosting Mike Love.

Now in 2020, when Mike Love had the band name getting more bad press than it has in years, Sommer shows up again defending and boosting Mike Love, while taking shots at Brian Wilson.

Coincidence? Using Sommer's vernacular: "f*** no it isn't fucking coincidence."  Sommer is now 3 for 3 in his attempts to boost Mike by trying to knock Brian down, whenever something is on the record that could potentially take something away from Mike's bottom line via ticket sales or interest from fans and concert-goers in attending those shows. 3 for 3 - Do the math, read the articles, and note what's going on.

We're not stupid. And hell no, as a fan, I will not apologize for the dust-up over the SCI gig. That's as absurd as Sommer's logic used to defend Mike's SCI decisions and his attempts to "destroy" Brian Wilson's reputation.


FYI on the fact-checking.

Sommer posted an "exclusive" statement from Mike Love. In reality, the statement posted by Sommer is a punched-up version with a few additions of a statement Mike Love provided to his fan club via an email sent to members by the club's president the week of the SCI gig, after the initial reports and before the ESQ "apology" article. It is not exclusive, instead it contains most of the exact wording as the "statement" email sent to Mike's fan club prior to the gig. Hmm. Another coincidence?

So, there is that to consider as well. 

I'm all for open discussion and trading thoughts and ideas, but at the same time I have big problems when it feels like the fans are being sold snake oil and are being asked to buy it in bulk. What's that line about those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it?  In this case, I'll go with the great philosopher Yogi Berra: "It's like deja vu all over again."

[HeyJude]

I don't understand why Mike Love chose this hill to die on, and I certainly don't understand why David Beard is putting more effort into defending Mike on this Safari gig than he did covering the divisive 2012 reunion tour (among many other newsworthy stories).

Why is David Beard, publisher of the only BB fanzine, choosing this hill to die on? What would be so difficult about just lamenting the gig and allowing Mike to be apportioned appropriate responsibility for doing the gig, and then moving on?

The sort of mob wife, hands-off, everything's-fine tone of ESQ is something I've long since gotten over lamenting. That's what it is and has always been. I never expected a long dissertation in ESQ about how Mike was wrong-headed about doing this gig. When the magazine mostly ignored the late 90s/early 2000s dysfunction among band members, and mostly ignored the aftermath of C50 (reprinting the LA Times pieces by Brian and Mike and washing your hands and walking away without much comment doesn't count), it was clear this was a true "Fanzine." To be clear, there have been some great scholarly articles contributed by outside writers. But, while I never needed the magazine to go into the most lurid, negative stuff, its penchant for mostly ignoring band politics and related events of that nature always kept it from being, despite the great advice to retitle the magazine, a true "Publication of Record."

But this insistence on these long-winded, patronizing, insulting "articles" that bend over backwards and invert logic in order to blame everybody *but* Mike for this stuff is just puzzling. I mean, I guess the fan-blaming ESQ piece kind of makes sense if you think about the magazine's need to continue to foster relationships with all of the BB members and BRI and whatnot. It's easier to blame fans, because fans can't offer backstage passes, photo ops, and freebies. I guess ESQ isn't worried about alienating the fans that would presumably be buying the magazine (though I guess in some cases these internet "articles" aren't actually published the physical magazine, which, when that's the case, is potentially telling).

As for this other article that Beard linked to written by Sommer, while I was quickly able to sniff out the guy's predictable angle, I had forgotten he was the author of another infamous hit piece, the "it's time to destroy the legend of Brian" article.

Make no mistake, whether its happening purposefully or incidentally, the tactic here of turning Mike Love, and the "band" in general, into the *victim* while turning those protesting trophy hunting into the bad guys, is a pretty typical move in the world of actual politics. Further, Sommer's "everybody does it, so what's the big deal?" logic is quite reminiscent of recent political maneuvering from the top office. I'm waiting for the next article to read: "It was a perfect gig. There was nothing wrong with it. It was a great gig, everybody loved it, and Mike Love is a 100% stable genius who not only is against trophy hunting, but doesn't even know what trophy hunting is. In fact, animals love Mike Love!"