Having been a hardcore BB fan since 2000, I was thrilled to attend this show even if Mike was the only original in the set. It was after a very boring Florida Marlins baseball game. It was technically a "free" concert if you paid for a ticket to the game but I paid an extra $20-something to be on the field and was first in line to the concert. Sadly, most in the audience were not BB fans just a bunch of punks there for a free show and to mock John Stamos. Regardless, it was amazing. The highlight of the show was when I called Mike and he looked at me and gave me a thumbs up. As you can see from the one photo I am posting, he had an awesome beard thing going on. He was a lot bigger than I expected and didn't move around all that much. Also, his mic wasn't all that great and the guitarist in the band played really, really loud. It sounded almost like a hard rock band, which was awesome!
Uncle Jessie started on drums but then played guitar for the remainder of the 40-minute show. There was a lot of banter, including Mike insinuating that he was John's father. Bruce had little to nothing to do ... played keyboard, sang choruses, but this was definitely a Mike Love show. A couple of months later Brian Wilson was playing at the Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida. My dream was to meet this man who has shaped my life with his beautiful music but unfortunately was not able to attend due to a family tragedy. Now that I live in Sarasota, I was itching to see the reunited Beach Boys in Tampa last month but things fell through.
I am hoping to one day see the Beach Boys, Al Jardine, Brian Wilson, whoever again. Hell, I'd even settle for Matt Jardine, who is awesome. I know I probably missed my one in a million chance to see the real Beach Boys but there is always Mike and Bruce, who put on an awesome show on their own.
Sorry if this is late. I know everyone is reviewing the new shows but I am new here.
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