Beach Boys Retain Followers

by Bruce Husten, The Times Record, August 28, 1973

The 13,000-plus people who turned out at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center last night are a living testament to the fact that the Beach Boys are both a legend and a miracle within the realm of rock music.

The same nice, all-American guys who told you to “Be True to Your School” in the simplistic shlock style of the sixties came back to SPAC last night having successfully built themselves a completely new image and having built up an entirely new breed of audience — without, however, having lost a single one of their original, faithful followers. And in the transient, temporal world of pop and rock, that is a veritable coup.

The formerly carefree, young Muscle Beachers were there in their glory — now respectably accompanied by wives and sometimes by children — lapping up the reminiscent part of the long, hot show when the Beach Boys took them back to the idyllic, escapist days of the Surfin’ Safari when they drove their souped-up Chevy down to Dead Man’s Curve.

And while John Q. Surfer sat not far behind on the ter enjoying the show, the new and entirely different breed of Beach Boys fans sat not far behind on the lawn, soaking up the acid rock and saturating the air with the now-familiar smell of marijuana — the very stuff that is anathema to the surfer fans sitting in the more expensive seats.

But the two groups peacefully coexisted for the durațion of the event, both hating one part of the show and wailing during the other. It all depended on your point of view — and probably only your age.

The fact that the Beach Boys – then or now — have never really done anything to add to or alter the concept of music was irrelevant to the audience of mesmerized worshippers. Their old style was sophomoric at best and their new style is so deafening that it defies analysis anyway. None of that, however, mattered.

The Beach Boys were back and the cultists were there to cheer them on. Whether from the new breed or the old, the Beach Boys provided the bond that united them, and that was clearly stronger than the rifts that divide them. For a few moments last night, there was no such thing as a generation gap. And for that alone, the Beach Boys are worth their weight in surfboards.

Post Views: 10