Beach Boys
My first live music concert at a real performing venue with a real stage was on June 17, 1988 headlined by the Beach Boys. Here is the 28-song setlist.
John Stamos, fresh from his second season on the TV sitcom, “Full House,” cameoed as the band’s drummer.
Roy Orbison opened for the Beach Boys, six months before his death at 52 from a heart attack. And John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band (which performed the music of the fictional band in “Eddie and the Cruisers“) opened for Roy.
Dad had received tickets from a client, and I remember the joy of a 13-year-old sitting in the sixth row at Great Woods watching Mike Love’s sweat. Stamos received wild applause, as did the hula-hoop dancers donning bikinis. It was summer, after all.
Fast forward 19 years, and I’ve attended dozens of concerts in the years since: Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, Duran Duran, Indigo Girls, Steve Miller Band, Dave Matthews Band, Bob Dylan, Billy Idol, Natalie Merchant, Rilo Kiley, Kevin So…
Tonight, in about five hours, the Beach Boys take the stage at the Hatch Shell, for a free concert sponsored by local oldies radio station, 103.3 FM. I’ll be at the concert, reliving the memories from 1988, back when life was different and simpler. I’m sure the Esplanade will be a mob scene, but the music will still roar and it will be Fun, Fun, Fun.
