August 12, 2016
L.Kent Wolgamott/Lincoln Journal Star
The Beach Boys were happy to be in Pinnacle Bank Arena Thursday.
So were the 4,800 in attendance who made it to the concert while thunder rolled and rain poured down on Pinewood Bowl, where the show was supposed to happen.
“I’m so glad we moved inside,” said singer Mike Love. “It would have been brutal trying to do a concert in that weather tonight. Brilliant move to move it inside. This is a nice place too.”
That comment came after the sixth of 33 songs by the Beach Boys, who ended the main set with “Good Vibrations,” the song that gives this 50th anniversary tour its title.
It’s also the 50th anniversary of “Pet Sounds,” the band’s best album of the ’60s.
Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys composer and producer, played the entire album in Council Bluffs last month with his band that included Beach Boy Al Jardine.
Love’s Beach Boys, which includes longtime member Bruce Johnston, did three “Pet Sounds” songs, “God Only Knows,” “Sloop John B” and a very nice “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” that measured up to the Wilson band’s version.
There was also a hot-rod segment with “Little Deuce Coupe,” “409” and “Shut You Down,” a harmony rich “Don’t Worry Baby,” an organ pumping “California Girls” and a cover of Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers “Why Do Fools Fall in Love?” that linked the Boys harmonies with street corner singing.
The six-piece band with Love and Johnston sounded good on the system that was moved inside for the show, and the simple-as-arena-shows-go staging and lighting did the job as well.
The Temptations minus an ill Ron Tyson opened with a spirited 45-minute set. Backed by their 5-man touring band and a 10-piece horn section made up of local players, the four Tempts delivered the sharp suits, steps and classic Motown songs.
Beach Boys and Temptations combined for a fun, satisfying show that would have washed out at Pinewood. That would have been a shame.
