Live Review: The Beach Boys

Good old-fashioned family fun, as clichéd as it sounds that's exactly what's on offer from the Californian kings of surf rock, The Beach Boys. The legendary group's collection of inoffensive hits is so extensive there's a scheduled intermission in order to endure a setlist that's 52 tracks strong. With the youngest surviving member well into their sixties, the question existed as to whether The Beach Boys could still deliver with the kind of gusto necessary to pull off such spirited music. Yet despite physically showing their age, the Boys quickly prove that their rich trademark harmonies have lost none of their shine as various vocals intertwine over the session band's massive sound.

Mike Love's vocals are especially defiant of time, with a pitch and tone akin of his younger self. Love handles most of the verbal interaction with the crowd, wisecracking about the band's age and dubbing Al Jardine as a 'Doo-wop-ologist' who explains that the harmony-heavy Come Go With Me was initially performed before the band could afford instruments. As the set moves through favourites such as When I Grow Up and Don't Worry Baby the crowd begins to rise from their seats in greater numbers. By the time the first half of the show concludes with high-tempo classics Little Deuce Coupe and Get Around the casual stroll down memory lane has morphed into a highway cruise with the top down.

The second half of the show opens up with a focus on the obviously beloved Brian Wilson. His vocals are perhaps the most weathered but still work perfectly for his sombre ballads. I Just Wasn't Made For These Times feels expressly weighty as does Sloop John B, each touching on a displacement that seems to haunt Wilson onstage. Tribute is paid to Wilson's departed brothers Dennis and Carl, with the latter's prerecorded voice is used for the lead vocals on God Only Knows. The vibe begins to lift behind blistering renditions of Good Vibrations and Help Me, Rhonda with everyone up singing and dancing, often being led by Bruce Johntson, who spends half his time conducting the crowd with his hands and is clearly having a blast.

The encore concludes on Barbara Ann and Fun, Fun, Fun before the arena erupts with a standing ovation. In a time when pessimism is often traded as artistic truth, The Beach Boys prove music doesn't have to edgy to be moving.

[This review has been edited. Initially the writer had incorrectly referred to Al Jardine as AJ Jardine and misquoted Love's description of Jardine. It was also implied that Come Go With Me was written by The Beach Boys - it is, in fact, a cover.]